Tired of letting food karma steal the joy of eating what you want? Me too.
As a kid, my eating habits were uncultured and carefree.
My diet consisted of McDonald's chicken nuggets, fruit snacks, bowls of cheese and imitation crab meat. I don't blame my mom for letting me eat this on the regular, because I wouldn't eat much of anything else. Luckily, I enjoyed some the vegetables that mom forced upon me, so I didn't develop any vitamin deficiencies.
Around the age of 13, I began to suspect that I was lactose intolerant (a powerful curse cast upon those of us who deserve it the least). In addition to this misery, I have asthma and was advised not to consume a lot of dairy products. Why? Because they could worsen any symptoms of asthma.
For some people (me), dairy makes the body produce more mucus. But at 22 years old, I still do not take heed when I decide what to get off of a menu, or when I grocery shop.
I don't care what it is. Ice cream, pizza, frozen yogurt, ham and cheese sammies, nachos, lattes, cereal, milkshakes, smoothies, cheeseburgers, cheese fries, or crackers and cheese. Have you ever had quiche? It is delicious, and I don't want to be deprived of it just because my stomach struggles to digest it.
The concept of karma has not been something that I fully trust as an additional tool to my moral compass, but I absolutely believe in food karma. Food karma manifests itself in ways that we simply cannot deny. What we put in our mouth affects us incredibly fast... We reap the consequences of what we eat almost immediately. I digest dairy, thus the fate of my digestive tract is bound to a path of misery and despair.
When I was 8 years old, I ate a bowl of shredded cheese. I didn't defecate for four days and didn't tell my mom. That wasn't the wisest choice, but here I am, alive and well. I must note that I did not eat whole bowls again, but I still ate handfuls of cheese once in a while.
Still today, I eat dairy as I please. I am annoyed that I produce a lot of mucus, and at the I've been dubbed the nickname "slime queen," but there are so many delicious dairy products that I cannot help myself.
I acknowledge food karma. There are consequences for my actions. I love the taste, the texture and the way that it melts when it spreads itself out over my plate.
How can I live without ricotta? Do they make a vegan version of ricotta cheese? The answer is yes, but it's substituted with tofu.
No thank you.
Am I a fool for not listening to my body? Maybe. But I'm willing to live with that.
I've heard that there are simple solutions for lactose intolerance: eating fermented dairy products, digestive enzyme pills, etc. Quite frankly, It's hard to spend money on vegan/organic products when you're on a budget. When I did, I regretted it. I spent $8 for a measly six ounces of vegan cheese, and it was awful.
I've found a way to live with the pain.
My solution is not logical. It really just involves an intense denial that allows me to disconnect and convolute the reality of my problem. It can be seen as self-harm, but also self-care. Maybe someday, I'll get over my love of dairy, but I don't see that day coming soon.
