It is something I get asked a lot… and I discuss with my clients.

So, my answer below is based on my personal experience from treating 2000 patients in my clinic – many, many with gut issues, allergies and food intolerances.

What is right for one child isn’t right for another.

Cutting out dairy doesn’t always bring all the gains one desires. For some children it’s a huge game changer. It can also be that one sibling needs milk in their diet and the other sibling has an intolerance. If your child is on the spectrum I suggest that it’s always a good idea to try cutting it out once. It doesn’t have to be for life, so don’t get overwhelmed by the idea.

A great many children do benefit and have huge changes ranging from starting speech to small patches of eczema clearing up. It’s an easy thing to do. If it has been a large part of your diet, plan your meals ahead so you don’t go through the “what shall I cook?” scenario every day.

Don’t go straight for dairy alternatives, as many are heavily processed so just cut it out and stay as healthy as you can. Think about it as a short term experiment for a few months.

If your child has Asian heritage, then I highly suggest experimenting with cutting out dairy. These children seem to have the most gains by cutting out dairy (in my experience in my clinic). Ancestrally their milk was always raw and drunk quickly because it was too hot to keep larders. They didn’t eat cheese sandwiches daily or have ice creams and milkshakes in their diet daily. The climate didn’t suit hard cheeses. They used ghee instead of butter. They did cook with yoghurt and many of them start to reintegrate dairy again starting with yoghurt (lots of mums make this themselves with good quality milk).

If your child had eczema or a round rash on their mouth or cheeks as a baby – that’s a clear sign of food intolerance and often milk is the main culprit. This rash can often appear in children allergic to formula. Look for other tell-tale signs of diarrhoea, bloating, gut pain or constipation, after eating or later on in the day. Eczema can appear on other parts of the body.If your child had problems with formula milk definitely cut out dairy for a while. If you do cut it out, don’t start another therapy at the same time.

Make sure you have a good space of time to make observations and notice the gains. It can affect so many things including sleep.

Investigate raw milk, goats milk, sheep’s cheese, camel’s milk when trying to reintroduce it back. See if it’s just a cow issue. Common cow’s milk from supermarkets is so tampered with, the cows are pumped with antibiotics, and the milk is heated to such high temperatures that much of the goodness is removed. Look at good quality organic milk and dairy when introducing it back in. These are still heated but they are still better quality. I used raw milk ( untreated and far less antibiotics) and had it couriered to my house as it was so hard to get hold of here. Do your research on raw milk and see if its something that appeals to you. I now only buy organic milk and have done for 15 years.

I hope this information helps you to make a decision.

I offer milk and formula milk detoxes and help children able to tolerate dairy again later on.

help people with food allergies, hay-fever and help those with allergies so bad they have to carry an epipen and some are not able to leave their home. We help by starting to make the reactions less frequent and less intense and work towards healing the gut.

This is no quick fix I may add, but it IS possible to heal instead of firefighting with meds all the time. If this resonates with you send me a email and we can discuss your case.