Craving dairy like a motherb*tch

Sapsorrow

Whenever I quit dairy for any appreciable time, I inevitably enter a phase where I crave dairy products like CRAZY! Nothing else will satisfy me, all I had in the house today was butter and I spent a good minute trying to think of a way to eat a big chunk of it, I didn't manage to think of anything so I didn't and I'm still craving it as I type. It's not the fat because eating spoonfulls of nut butters and the likes doesn't help. What on earth in dairy could I be craving? It's not a hedonic thing at all, it's more chemical like a cigarette craving. The same thing used to happen when I was on a wholegrains/foods vegan diet too. It's wierd because dairy doesn't agree with my tummy at all and my body still wants it!

Tevez101

Sapsorrow wrote: »

Whenever I quit dairy for any appreciable time, I inevitably enter a phase where I crave dairy products like CRAZY! Nothing else will satisfy me, all I had in the house today was butter and I spent a good minute trying to think of a way to eat a big chunk of it, I didn't manage to think of anything so I didn't so I'm still craving it as I type. It's not the fat because eating spoonfulls of nut butters and the likes doesn't help. What on earth in dairy could I be craving? It's not a hedonic thing at all, it's more chemical like a cigarette craving. The same thing used to happen when I was on a wholegrains/foods vegan diet too. It's wierd because dairy doesn't agree with my tummy at all and my body still wants it!

The more we try to restrict ourselves from things, the more we want them.

It's just one of those fundamental aspects of the human brain that nobody understands.

Sapsorrow

It's definately not psychological, I am very fufilled with my diet and don't feel like I'm missing out on anyting. I know for sure it's a chemical thing, it reminds me of the carb cravings that plagued me for so long. It's that desperate urge to eat anything that will provide what my body thinks it needs, regardless of the sensory aspects. I used to eat a teaspoon of sugar to satisfy my carb cravings, nasty but it worked. Similar thing here.

Tevez101

Sapsorrow wrote: »

It's definately not psychological, I am very fufilled with my diet and don't feel like I'm missing out on anyting. I know for sure it's a chemical thing, it reminds me of the carb cravings that plagued me for so long. It's that desperate urge to eat anything that will provide what my body thinks it needs, regardless of the sensory aspects. I used to eat a teaspoon of sugar to satisfy my carb cravings, nasty but it worked. Similar thing here.

Jeez.. I know exactly what your on about with the carb cravings, I'm sure everyone gets them though... It is quite rare to hear of these dairy cravings. Maybe your body is lacking required nutrients/vitamins that the dairy products are rich in? I'm probably totally off the mark there as you said you are very fufilled with your diet.

metamorphosis

Exact same as you K. But, surely butter is the least worst offender? have no problem with most cheeses and butter but as you know milk and yogurt kill me.

El_Dangeroso

Vitamin K2 since you don't eat eggs? Do you eat calf's liver? Kills most nutrition-related cravings quickly I find. How long have you been off dairy? Takes six weeks to fully get over excluding anything from your diet.

There's an easy rule of thumb to discern a nutrition deficiency from an addiction. (I mean addiction as a loose term because my tired brain cannot think of a better word, not for a second claiming that it is in the same league of alcohol or drug addiction.)

If you eat a portion of what you are craving and you are happy with that then it was probably something your body is lacking. If you eat a portion and it makes you want more and more, it's probably an 'addiction' of sorts. This is what it is like for me with refined sugar, just never satisfied with a small bit.

Sapsorrow

He he no I have no problem with butter at all, I just couldn't think of a quick way to consume a load of it there and then! I was thinking of mixing it with cocoa powder and stevia and having it on apple slices but that's a bit wierd even for me

I had 2 cups of cocoa made with milk (and dried milk powder for extra creamy decadence) in the end, it was divine and totally satisfied my cravings but my tummy is in absolute bits now I don't really ever cut dairy 100%, I always have a little drop of milk in my coffee you see and I have one cup of that a day most days and sometimes up to three or four, but when I minimize it as much as I can (as a coffee drinker who hates black coffee) after a few weeks the cravings start.

My boyfriends been getting leg cramps lately, and we eat pretty much the same diet so I wonder could it be a mineral deficiency, maybe magnesium? I've been meaning to get a multi-mineral supplement but keep forgeting, can anyone reccomend one?

I'm 99% sure it's not addiction as such, I'm fairly good at recognizing that sort of craving by now is there some particular element of dairy that could be addictive? Opiods or something like that?

Never braved liver yet, is it strong tasting? Just getting used to lamb now, I'm still a bit of a wuss. I'm open to trying it, I've heard such great things about it. I' guessing it needs to be organic though?

brianthebard

have you tried goat's milk or is it still bad for your stomach? liver is ok but its a bit different, it has a different texture and taste (iron-y to me anyways) to regular meat.

nyeb2007

I adore cheese but that and a small bit of butter would be really* the only dairy I would eat - although a day or 2 before I get a cold/flu or some related illness I would be found drinking the milk by the carton out of the fridge:o - my parents tell me its something I have done since I was a child

Sapsorrow

I can't remember how I react to goats milk tbh, the time when I would have used it I was eating a lot of regular dairy too and wasn't all that tuned into how sensitive I was to different foods. I reckon I'm at the stage where I can trust my body to know what it's doing so I might try and include some goats milk/cheese/yoghurt in my diet for a while (if my tummy's ok with it) and see how I get on. It really feels like my body is craving it for a reason, I just want to know what my diets missing!

My boyfriend loves liver, I just mentioned trying it to him there and he reminded me of when he cooked it a few years ago and the smell literally nearly made me sick. I'm going to try again though, it'd be worth putting in the effort, would frying it in butter with the usual way to cook it?

Khannie

On the phone but...

I started a similar thread a while back about natural yoghurt. Could it be calcium that you're after? I know there's none / very little in butter. Just struck me.

I give in to mine. Go through about 4 litres of yoghurt a week now.

brianthebard

Sapsorrow wrote: »

I can't remember how I react to goats milk tbh, the time when I would have used it I was eating a lot of regular dairy too and wasn't all that tuned into how sensitive I was to different foods. I reckon I'm at the stage where I can trust my body to know what it's doing so I might try and include some goats milk/cheese/yoghurt in my diet for a while (if my tummy's ok with it) and see how I get on. It really feels like my body is craving it for a reason, I just want to know what my diets missing!

I do ok on dairy, get a bit bloated if I drink two litres in a night but that would happen to anyone. Goats milk doesn't cause bloating at all but your situation sounds a lot more severe so hard to know how much benefit it would be. The other option might be seeking out some raw milk, if you know any dairy farmers that might be easy enough to obtain. From there you could make your own yogurt and butter easily and even some of the simpler cheeses.

My boyfriend loves liver, I just mentioned trying it to him there and he reminded me of when he cooked it a few years ago and the smell literally nearly made me sick. I'm going to try again though, it'd be worth putting in the effort, would frying it in butter with the usual way to cook it?

I think flash frying in butter would be a good option, slice it fairly thinly to cook it rapidly so it doesn't dry out. The way my ma cooks it is to put it in the oven on chopped onions wrapped in foil to keep it moist - she's a typical Irish cook though so her idea of tender meat is probably different to others. What I've done before is to chop it into a couple of pieces, taken sausage meat out of the skin and pressed it on the liver, then wrapped it in a rasher and put it in the oven. The fat from the rasher and sausage will keep it moist and will lessen the livery taste, so I think this is a good way of cooking it to ease yourself into liver. (lol imagery)

nyeb2007

brianthebard wrote: »

What I've done before is to chop it into a couple of pieces, taken sausage meat out of the skin and pressed it on the liver, then wrapped it in a rasher and put it in the oven. The fat from the rasher and sausage will keep it moist and will lessen the livery taste, so I think this is a good way of cooking it to ease yourself into liver. (lol imagery)

Not a huge liver fan but look forward to trying it like that - fecking starving now:D

El_Dangeroso

Yeah that sounds delicious BtB.

I like good quality pate myself. Spread on celery or carrot sticks. The iron-y taste is there for a good reason. You don't want to be eating more than 200g of liver a week due to the vitamin A. You can however eat other offal that contains K2. If you can get to a restaurant that does it, heart is lovely when cooked well. Not so lovely when I cooked it myself, horrible in fact!

Sweetbreads are LOVELY, but you'll need a specialist butcher to track them down, I've had no luck up here.

Sapsorrow

Is pate as nutritious as liver? It's made from ducks liver or something isn't it? How do you know if it's good quality? I'd say I could get sweetmeats in the English market though, there's lots of specialist butchers in there, what are they though? Anything with that much bacon/pork involved has to taste good, I'm going to give that a try today Brian nice one! Funny Khannie, didn't think of calcium. I don't tolerate brassicas (one of the other good sources of calcium) well at all so maybe it is that, the only other source in my diet really would be nuts and I don't eat that much of them either. I take a supplement but not that offen, I just forget. Hmmm... going to get some goats milk yoghurt today and see how my tummy gets on, still sore today from that cocoa! :rolleyes: Going to head to the market now for liver, sausages, bacon and pate!

El_Dangeroso

Sapsorrow wrote: »

Is pate as nutritious as liver? It's made from ducks liver or something isn't it? How do you know if it's good quality? I'd say I could get sweetmeats in the English market though, there's lots of specialist butchers in there, what are they though? Anything with that much bacon/pork involved has to taste good, I'm going to give that a try today Brian nice one! Funny Khannie, didn't think of calcium. I don't tolerate brassicas (one of the other good sources of calcium) well at all so maybe it is that, the only other source in my diet really would be nuts and I don't eat that much of them either. I take a supplement but not that offen, I just forget. Hmmm... going to get some goats milk yoghurt today and see how my tummy gets on, still sore today from that cocoa! :rolleyes: Going to head to the market now for liver, sausages, bacon and pate!

Fish bones (as in tinned salmon and sardines) and bone broth are good sources (I think 1 ltr of broth can yield 600mg calcium if you make it with an acid)

Spinach is not a good source of calcium due to oxalate but kale is (better than milk in absorption in fact)

I really do doubt it is the calcium though. The protein and sugar in dairy are usually the cause of problems, how does cream affect you? Did you ever try the lactose free milk they have in tesco? That might narrow it down what you're reacting to.

Sapsorrow

Oh I meant maybe it's calcium I'm craving! Can't do kale unfortunately, kills my stomach. I love the stuff too such a pity

metamorphosis

Sap - id def try the goats yogurt. I can tolerate it no probs and the goats milk iv never noticed any adverse effects on my tummy compared to cows

On aninteresting note, maybe someone can answer me, but i still found i got a mucous lining when i tried lactose free milk. Dont get it with goats though. why might that be?

El_Dangeroso

Sapsorrow wrote: »

Oh I meant maybe it's calcium I'm craving! Can't do kale unfortunately, kills my stomach. I love the stuff too such a pity

I just realised I phrased that completely wrong, what I meant is I doubt your craving calcium, reading back I see how it looked otherwise, -1 for stream of consciousness typing.

I'd definitely try the stock, and by that I mean I need you to put a good chicken soup recipe on your blog..ulterior motives

El_Dangeroso

Oh forgot to say, liver from any animal has a good fat profile so duck/goose/pork pate is all good. I don't like goose though just because I've seen how they feed them and although I eat meat I don't like to eat tortured meat.

metamorphosis

I still havent been brave enough to try liver but sure a good pate might build me up there.

Mr Marri

ULstudent wrote: »

I still havent been brave enough to try liver but sure a good pate might build me up there.

Maybe try some lamb's liver as it has a much "nicer" texture than calf's, and put it in something spicey like a kabab and you'll hardly know your eating it.

brianthebard

lamb's liver is more likely to have fluke though isn't it?

Susie_Q

I wouldn't be keen on eating liver as it is, but I make a chicken liver pate every Christmas and it's ridiculously good - I definitely recommend going down this route to begin eating liver.

Pate is easy to make - fry the liver (I use chicken but you could use other animal livers too) in LOTS of butter until its just cooked through, then add a splash of brandy (optional but delicious) and some orange zest and cook 1 more min. Stick it all a food processor with another few chunks of butter and whizz it really well until completely smooth. There is never any left of this in my house on Stephens Day which is a good sign!

Mr Marri

brianthebard wrote: »

lamb's liver is more likely to have fluke though isn't it?

Wow, that had never crossed my mind, I'll definitely check it out.

brianthebard

My mother used to say something along those lines, there are treatments for fluke obviously but then you have to wonder if you want to eat treated lambs liver. I'm not 100% sure so its something that would need to be researched as you say.

metamorphosis

brianthebard wrote: »

lamb's liver is more likely to have fluke though isn't it?

if i was apprehensive before, ...

--Kaiser--

Maybe you are craving is the sugar in milk? Your gut bacteria can cause you to crave surgery foods

El_Dangeroso

I've eaten lambs liver loads of times and I'm still standing! FWIW calf's liver is the most nutritious, but lambs liver is the tastiest.

I'm totally trying out that pate recipe adelie!

Sapsorrow

Just back from the shops, El D you would be so jealous if you saw the butchers in the English Market First one I went to stocked sweetbreads, altough they were sold out they'll be getting more in a few days so I'll have to wait. I did get a LOAD of calves liver for 82 cents!! :eek::eek::eek: couldn't belive it's so cheap, the old fella working there said Irish people have no interest in it and usually people buy it for pet food, what a shame. Also got a load of streaky bacon rashers for 2 euro (apparantly it's from a more inconsistent part of the animal) which is half the price of the regular cut of rashers. Got a big chunk of 'duck mousse' a french pate that has an inch of butter on top to try too. There's a shop there that just sells dried and cured meats, free-range bacon products, cheese and pates so I had an overwhelming amount of choice. On an irrelevant note I got some Arennes cured bacon and some cured salami type thing (not sure was it beef or pork) with pistacchios through it that I'm looking forward to trying. So the plan is to try Brians recipe, I got some spicey minced pork from O Flynns and the streaky bacon so the boyfriend is going to make it for us. I very nearly wimped out when I saw the big slabs of liver (it really looks so gross and I'm not fussy about these things) but I worked up the courage to try it again and went back for it. On another note I also saw a couple of butchers selling all types of game, venison, veal, ostrich and other strange things like venison and blueberry salami that I must try sometime

El_Dangeroso

So jealous, just went to the supposed best butchers in Galway. Asked to see the ingredients in their homemade gluten free sausages. Soy flour, corn flour, hydolysed veg protein, preservatives, colouring(why!!!)

Sigh..I may have to buy that sausage maker I saw in argos, but I have far too many kitchen gadgets as it is!

Sapsorrow

You should see if anywhere stocks o flynns! They have 6 or so types of gluten-free sausages and no crappy ingredients. I was just at their new grill for lunch, you get 2 big sausages and a huge salad for like 6 euros.

Just tried the pate there, not sure about it. It's kinda ok initially then it gets all metallic tasting. Will take a while to get used to it I think. the boyfriend reckons is amazing.

Oh and not to rub it in or anything (:p) but this is lunch...



The pistacchio thing is really good! Damn I forgot the yoghurt!

brianthebard

That market sounds awesome, great haul there. Did you get goats milk SS? Also will the butter on the duck pate not mess with your stomach or is butter ok?

El D, I said the lambs get fluke, I didn't say it would kill you! it will make the liver tough and unappealling though. What's the supposed best butcher in Galway btw, I'm always on the look out for better butchers to frequent....

Sapsorrow

Ya I've no problem with butter AFAIK, I think it's the lactose that does it to me and butter's got very little in it. Forgot the damn goats milk though Ya El D I'm curious to know which is the best butchers there too, the guy in renmore used to give you stuff on tick if you were broke! Do Sheridans near the church and farmers market do meats? Ok I tried the pate about 5 times there (on apple, carrot, tomato and pepper) and I don't like it at all and feel a bit ill when I think about it. Going to try the mushroom one next time as the boyfriend reckons this one is particularly strongly flavoured. Feeling pretty nervous about dinner...

Mr Marri

brianthebard wrote: »

My mother used to say something along those lines, there are treatments for fluke obviously but then you have to wonder if you want to eat treated lambs liver. I'm not 100% sure so its something that would need to be researched as you say.

I had a quick look an wiki and apprently watercress is the real danger.....who would have guessed .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasciola_hepatica

brianthebard

That's funny. Watercress also ****s up the taste of milk apparently (you would probably never know about it now that all milk is homogenised) and the cattle love the stuff even though its bad for them.

Also, I'm not sure I commented on the awesome title of this thread, great work SS.

El_Dangeroso

brianthebard wrote: »

What's the supposed best butcher in Galway btw, I'm always on the look out for better butchers to frequent....

I know Tormey's gets a good following but they don't do GF sausages.

Collorans (sp) there off shop street was the one I tried. In fairness to them everything else looked spectacular, picked up some free range bacon instead.

Sapsorrow

brianthebard wrote: »

Also, I'm not sure I commented on the awesome title of this thread, great work SS.

Check it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RljdyXeft04

My inspiration and favourite sample of the moment Oh it's from a Dj Yoda album btw.

brianthebard

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

I know Tormey's gets a good following but they don't do GF sausages.

Collorans (sp) there off shop street was the one I tried. In fairness to them everything else looked spectacular, picked up some free range bacon instead.

Hmm I have heard a lot of people say that's one of the best butchers in town but last time I was in there I thought the meat was far too bright red to have been hung for any length of time. I might try them again before avoiding them altogether. Are the 97% m&s sausages not gluten free?

El_Dangeroso

brianthebard wrote: »

Hmm I have heard a lot of people say that's one of the best butchers in town but last time I was in there I thought the meat was far too bright red to have been hung for any length of time. I might try them again before avoiding them altogether. Are the 97% m&s sausages not gluten free?

Yeah but as Kaiser pointed out, more ground up pork-chop than sausage taste-wise.

jdivision

Best gluten free sausages I've had are from Marks because of the meat content. The ones with the black packaging base are almost all if not all gluten free. venison liver is supposed to be awesome, the hunting forum might be able to help