MY STORY
The majority of my life I have suffered from very bad migraines. This resulted in missing days at school, not going out with friends, and many miserable painful nights. A lot of people who suffer with migraines can take some form of medication and feel better. Not only does medicine not work for me, but it is very harmful to your body. In hopes to ease my pain, I would lay in a dark room lather myself up with peppermint and lavender essential oil and try to sleep it off. These migraines would last for days, sometimes weeks. Migraines were my life. I was used to it. Although they were still one of my hardest trials. It was my norm. At times I thought something was seriously wrong with me. What if I had a brain tumor? Cancer? Was I going to die? (I know it sounds extreme, but honestly you know the stories I am talking about.) I spent heaps of time at the doctors, had surgeries, CT scans, (blah blah etc etc) all in hopes to pin point the cause of the pain. The doctors always diagnosed me as someone with chronic migraines. So I just dealt.
THEN if the headaches weren't enough my stomach wanted to join the pain train. My stomach started being upset ALL the time. It was just all too annoying at this point. I tried cutting out processed foods and sugars. No change. I tried cutting out eggs. Nothing. Then meat. Nothing. I tried multiple diets. I kept food logs. I eliminated all foods and slowly reintroduced new food groups so my body could find a food trigger to my pain. I was cranky and tired and simply not strong enough. I wanted to eat my dang fries and ice cream. I went back to my normal diet. (I promise I normally have a very strong will power. At this point, I didn't think much of anything would cure me. I know, I know, I need more faith.)
Finally, a friend asked why I didn't just go and get blood work done to test my body for food allergies. I didn't know of such a thing helping my migraines...? I had been to several doctors and why have NONE OF THEM SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THIS!? I was honestly a little bitter at the doctors. HA. It's okay, I'm so over it. So I called up my Doc and they drew my blood. (Tons of it I might add.) I waited a few days for the results to come back. I didn't think that they would have any good news. It was always "well you must just be someone who gets really bad headaches." Boo. My doctor called and I could not believe my ears. "It seems to be that you are okay with all foods, except with dairy products. You have a "food sensitivity" to milk." She said. HUH? Milk? She said she wasn't sure if eliminating milk would cure my pains but that it was worth a shot. I was instructed to go off dairy for at least 3 months. That would give my body enough time to heal, clean out all the dairy, and truly see if this was causing me the many pains. Well perfect, I thought. My whole life I have hated milk anyway! This will be simple. I accepted the challenge not really knowing that it was going to be a challenge.
I started with eating foods at home. Home cooked meals were the best way for me to KNOW dairy wasn't existing in my food. As I would look for something to eat, I started really realizing how much dairy was in my diet. Milk. Is. In. Everything. Milk is in salad dressings, soups, protein powder, taco seasoning, chips, crackers, vitamin pills, Mcdonald's FRIES??, the list goes on. I began to become veryyy frustrated. All I knew was my body had SOMETHING against milk and I was determined to figure out what. Literally within a week I felt different. My head was hurting less and less and my stomach wasn't feeling as upset. IT WAS A MIRACLE!! I wondered if it really was because of no dairy, or simply just a coincidence. Of course I had to make sure of it. Wouldn't you?! My fam was having a party and duh bought pizza. I couldn't resist. So I ate one slice, then two, then three, maybe four?... (I like pizza.) Shortly after, my tummy started killing me. Then my head began to hurt. I honestly could NOT believe it. That was the day that confirmed dairy was the source of all evil JK JK... just the cause of ALL my pain!!!
So I thought "Eh how hard can it be to not eat dairy. I feel great. This will be easy because I don't want to be in pain." WRONG. Not eating dairy is so much more than a "diet". It is emotionally trying, physically trying, and for me at times, actually embarrassing. I was never the girl who asked for a nutritional/allergen menu, to substitute, or not want to go to a certain restaurant. I didn't want to be "that" girl. It is such a huge blessing to have Jake (my husband). There are a lot of times that I struggle and am tempted to eat the ice cream or CHEESEburger on a buttery delicious bun. But Jake is always there to hit the food out of my hands! Haha. I am now 10 months into this journey and honestly very proud of myself.
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Now of course this is just MY food life. I am not here to ask or tell you to be dairy-free. Trust me, I envy you ranch dippers and ice cream lickers. I just know that eating healthy gives your body many benefits. I have noticed many benefits from being dairy-free. No migraines and stomachaches!!!!! But also I don't bloat as easily, my face is much clearer, and I have more energy. I still eat whatever I want, when I want (without dairy). If I want a burger and fries, I eat it. (Just without the cheese and I sometimes have to substitute the bun. Oh and not Mcdonald's fries cuzzzz they put dairy in them. Which is actually so annoying, because they are the best fries in the world.) BUT for the most part I do tend to eat on the healthier side. Only because my body craves to be healthy.
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So here at Naked and Natural you'll find a bounteous amount of recipes that are all dairy-free. Feel free to add dairy to anything you like. I will not be offended. But also these recipes wont need the dairy. You'll die when you taste the goodness of Naked and Natural. I hope you enjoy.
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XOXO- B
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