There’s a list of my favorites that I might not be able to have anymore. It’s unfortunate. The most shocking of all is cheese.

I mean, who doesn’t like cheese?

I’ll write an ode to cheese. It’ll go like this:

Cheese. I loved you. I’ll miss you. Goodbye.

Maybe a haiku will work better:

Cheese, my love—my heart.
You, I’ll miss more certainly
Goodbye to bloat though

I didn’t say that I was great at writing haikus, but you get it.

The funniest thing is blogging that I’m now lactose intolerant, or might potentially be so. (The lack of affirmation is because this is just recent development). After my visit to St. Croix recently, I had apparent reactions to a stick of cheese one day and a latte the next. The thing is, I tried paleo before. It was back in 2014 and I had great results to it. In fact, I had lost 14 lbs and dropped below 11% body fat. So probably that’s what I should stick with? I read that 70% of adults worldwide have trouble digesting lactose. You can actually also “grow out of milk.” Your body can react differently from another person who has the intolerance too. Some people can drink a glass of milk without reaction, where someone else can have cheese, etc.

Nonetheless, I wanted to share an entry because of what I learned in recent developments. Thanks to my wonderful facebook network I learned that there are enzymes that I can take (Thanks Kyle).

There are also great places to get dairy-free products.
Enjoy Life foods has dairy free chocolate mini chips (Thanks Elaine)
Munk Pack has delicious vegan goodies (Thanks Lulu)
Forager also has snacks that I’m excited to try (Thanks Brianna — she also suggested Earth Balance, SoDelicious and Halo Top).

Another great resource from Nicole was Go Dairy Free.

Now here’s where it’s a little dicey—back in the day, I had a 23 and Me results that read as follows:

Jerlyn, based on your genetics,
you are not likely to be lactose intolerant.

So, what’s going on? This is why I mentioned above that it might potentially be so.

Some people’s personal experience does not match their genetic result. This is because other factors — including your diet, your digestive system, other genetic variants, and other health conditions — can impact whether you experience symptoms of lactose intolerance.

From the further study, they suggested that:

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Diet

Regardless of genetics, there is a limit to how much lactose any person can eat or drink, especially on an empty stomach. Eating or drinking large servings of dairy without eating other food at the same time could contribute to your symptoms.

Other conditions

Symptoms like bloating, abdominal pain, and diarrhea can also be caused by several other health conditions. If you experience symptoms of indigestion on a regular basis, consider speaking with a healthcare professional to determine whether your symptoms may be caused by lactose intolerance or another condition.

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So my next step is to make an appointment and come back with feedback… for the love of cheese.