Such a challenge for a food allergy isn't reliable.  Being more familiar
with food allergies than I wish I were, I often see that being off an
offending food for a long time "allows" one to eat the food without rapid
or obvious reaction, giving a false assumption that the food is no longer
offensive. Some foods, of course, are deadly even in minute amounts, such
as a bit of peanut broth in a soup. But many others don't cause such a
recognizable reaction until one has been re-exposed several times.

It is my opinion that there is *no* food that is so essential that one
can't be  healthy without it, unless of course we are talking about
breastmilk.  In the case of breastmilk we are eager to remove the offending
substance from Mom's diet so that baby can return to the health that she
deserves.

I know many children who are perfectly healthy without any dairy in their
diets.  Parents have to make themselves knowledgeable about nutrition, but
that will be to everyone's benefit. There are so many healthful foods
containing all of the nutrients that we need for health, that no one need
feel that she has to consume a food that offers sub-optimal health because
one can't thrive without it. And I see far too much reliance on dairy foods
in the American diet to the exclusion of other more healthful foods.
Parents have grown to ignore an inadequate diet in their children because
they feel that they can rely on cow's milk to supply "almost everything",
so they don't have to worry.

My children began to grow taller when I eliminated dairy and began using
other calcium-rich foods and supplements.  I belive that, because of their
dairy sensitivities, the GI environment with dairy was not conducive to
proper assimilation of the desired nutrients.

Also, as has been mentioned by others, allergy symptoms change over one's
lifetime.  What was dairy-induced colic at 2 months, can become ear
infections or eczema, then UTI or strep throat, on to sinus infections,
constipation... even to such symptoms as my older daughter has--her "brain
swells."  She can tell if she has eaten something with dairy in it because
her brain doesn't work well.  In school she struggled with academic
assignments, couldn't play her oboe accurately, she was easily frustrated,
and was susceptible to colds and other illnesses whenever she had dairy
products. At 30, she still avoids all dairy and is in good health.

We need to undo the sell job by the dairy industry on the superiority of
cows milk over almost everything else.  We need to erase those milk
mustaches (on bill boards all over the nation), get over our attachment to
milk as "mother" (from what we were fed as infants), and (big issue) forget
the joy on our mother's faces when we gulped down that glass of milk.

Milk can be *a part* of a healthy diet for those whose systems handle it
well, but it has taken on an inordinate position of superiority, much to
our detriment.

A touch of humor:  Here in Wisconsin there is Wisconsin Sushi at the sushi
bars.  It has cheese in it!

Patricia Gima, IBCLC
Milwaukee
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