“What would you do for a Klondike bar?” is how the slogan goes. I’m not a huge fan of Klondike bars, so I probably wouldn’t have the best answer for that one. But ask me what I’d do for a bowl of warm, creamy, mac and cheese? A crispy, gooey grilled cheese sandwich? A plate of nachos piled high with the works? Oh, I would do unspeakable things. When the craving hits, it hits hard, and at least for me, once I get a taste, there’s no going back. For some people, the same goes for ice cream, sour cream, onion dip, the list goes on. We’re addicted. We’re a dairy-addicted society. It’s like a drug and we’re living in a world full of abusers.

But seriously, it’s just like a drug.

As a kid I was always sensitive to dairy. A lot of people have stomach problems because of the lactose - I’d get all congested, achy, even moody. I’d wake up unable to breathe through my nose and eventually in tears for reasons I could never figure out. Of course, moms know best and mine would always ask, “Alaina Caroline, did you have pizza and ice cream yesterday?” “Yeah, but that’s not why I’m like this!” I’d yell back. (Told you I was moody). Until one day I finally reached the age where I could make the direct correlations that dairy had on my mind and body. Knowledge is power! So, you’d think I would’ve stopped eating it, right?

Wrong.

Granted, I’ve cut back my dairy intake significantly since my younger years, but as we all know, it’s hard to stop once you’ve started. I thought I was crazy for shoveling the macaroni and cheese into my mouth as fast as possible, barely even tasting it, but feeling as though I needed it. Well, yes I was, but that’s not the issue in its entirety. Cheese is truly a drug, an addictive drug.

Casomorphins are protein fragments, derived from the digestion of the milk protein, Casein. Casomorphins are infamous for their opioid effect. You heard that right, opioid. Like opium, known in its “natural” forms as Morphine, Codeine, and Opium tinctures, and the semi-synthetic forms as Heroin, Hydrocodone (brand name Vicodin), Oxycodone (brand names, OxyContin and Percodan), or Hydromorphone.

Cheese specifically is more drug-like than ice cream or yogurt, especially processed cheeses, because as milk is turned into cheese, the extraction of most of the water leaves behind the concentrated casein and fat. In turn, cheese has some of the highest levels of opiates and morphine in comparison to other dairy products.

This shouldn’t surprise us. A mother’s breast milk and later, a bottle of whole milk, have been known and used to calm infants. But we aren’t babies anymore. Cheese and ice cream and yogurt and all of our other favorites aren't bad in proportioned doses, but let's become aware and gain control of our addictions. If not, I'm sure we'll be seeing each other in Dairy Rehab.