Our coaching question of the week comes from a member of the Metabolic Mastery Club Facebook group, who we will call Beth for the purposes of this post! If you enjoy dairy daily like our Facebook forum member Beth, this Q&A post is for you! We hope you’ll find our response helpful in learning how to better assess if a daily dose of dairy is reasonable or could lead to better results with complete avoidance!

“I’m just starting my journey here as part of the Facebook forum, and I am liking what I see on the food list. My question is that I love at least one cup of coffee daily, and I particularly enjoy the addition of cream to my coffee. Since the food list for Metabolic Renewal doesn’t include dairy, and I love cream in my coffee plus an occasional piece of cheese, any suggestions for how to handle or even potential swaps?”

Beth, we are here to help you understand how to use your own detective skills to fine-tune our food lists, particularly with respect to dairy, and better understand the food choices that work best for you and your SHMEC! 

At Metabolic, we believe that you find your ideal diet through a combination of factors, including how well you are able to maintain your body composition or achieve your body composition goals, as well as how easily you are able to keep your SHMEC in check. The best food choices for you will allow you to keep your SHMEC in check as you work towards your weight loss or body composition goals. 

When we provide food lists for the masses as part of our programming guidelines, we always expect that you’ll want to add some flexibility according to your own personal preferences. Given that you mention enjoying cream and cheese, how have these choices worked for you so far? I’m asking because sometimes the foods you love and enjoy the most don’t work so well for your body. 

Not only may some of these food choices throw your SHMEC off, but they may also lead to the inability to lose weight or body fat. When it comes to dairy, you may not have to completely eliminate this category of foods, particularly if you are finding it possible to see results or achieve your goals. Even the “experts” have mixed opinions about how dairy fits into one’s diet, which is why we ask you to tune into your body more closely to notice how dairy impacts you personally.

Plus not all dairy products are created equally. For example, some folks may be able to digest fermented dairy, such as yogurt, while having a harder time digesting things like milk or cheese. It is important to consider the source of your dairy, including how it was “made” or where it originated from. You may find that grass-fed dairy works well for your system, causing no reaction at all, but other sources of dairy (such as something from cows being fed corn and soy), leads to digestive discomfort or SHMEC going out of check. 

As far as particular health benefits, dairy can be a good source of protein, calcium, B vitamins, and vitamin D. Sources of dairy that undergo fermentation, including yogurt and certain types of cheese, will provide helpful and healthful gut bacteria for your digestion, not to mention they are lower in lactose if you have a slight sensitivity. 

What I notice most from your question is that you seem to be more on the lower to moderate side of dairy inclusions. A splash of cream here or a slice of cheese there is quite low in terms of daily servings of dairy. If these choices lead to overall greater satisfaction, this could help you to create a diet that allows you to feel mentally and physically satisfied often.

Just like I suggest to my own clients regularly, particularly those that love and enjoy dairy products, I’d encourage you to experiment with finding your own personal threshold for dairy. Experiment with your choices and see how you feel on days you avoid dairy versus days you incorporate dairy. If you want to read other blog posts that help to answer your question, but also provide some ideas for amazing dairy-free recipes, explore this link. You’ll notice we have quite a number of recipes that are dairy free and taste amazing!

At the end of the day, if you are able to eat mostly dairy-free meals, then a splash of creamer here or a slice of cheese there could work as a buffer food for you. Meaning, you can still see results while keeping your SHMEC in check! And that is something we are in favour of – particularly if you are seeing results and feeling as though you have found a sustainable plan.

Let us know how it goes if you decide to make some swaps as part of your own experiment!

Photo by Eiliv Aceron on Unsplash