I've always eaten dairy. I drank latte's, scoffed yoghurt and cheese like there was no tomorrow and could eat butter spread on ANYTHING. Yep, including my finger.

And then last year I heard the dreaded words from my naturopath....you NEED to stop eating cow's milk dairy.

As you know, I have Hashimoto's disease. You may also know that I'm on that slow and not always steady road of healing my body from it's effects by removing any triggers - healing my gut - changing my lifestyle, basically.

Yes, my naturopath told me to kick dairy to the curb, and I did...sort of. However, I'll be honest with you - it's been hard! I hate being fussy. I hate trying to locate cafe's that use fresh almond milk (not that processed stuff in tetra boxes filled with sugars and oils and only 8% almonds). I hate having to give up and order a long black (blah!). I hate it, especially as I'm not actually dairy intolerant, and have no noticeable symptoms at the time of consuming.

However, it seems that even though I may not notice anything straight away, the damage IS immediate, and internal - hidden from view almost, with reactions appearing a few days later potentially in the gut (think bloating, diarrhoea and acid reflux), the lungs (coughing, asthma, sinusitis) and the surface (eczema, rashes, acne). As described by Dr Izabella Wentz - dairy, it seems, is the second most common food trigger of Hashimoto's (after gluten).

You see it's the proteins found in cow’s milk (including casein, casomorphin, butyrophilin and whey) which closely resemble gluten proteins that can actually cause a similar immune response in the body of someone with Hashimotos, leading to leaky gut and increased inflammation in the thyroid gland.

The more information I gather, the easier I'm finding it to say adios.

One of the things helping me through.....

Ghee.

A form of clarified butter, brilliant for lactose intolerant people and for those of us, like me, needing to steer clear of dairy proteins.

It's filled with fat soluble vitamins A, D and E. It's an immune and energy booster containing antiviral properties. It's also great for our digestion, helping to heal and seal the lining of our digestive system by stimulating the secretion of stomach acids.

I've been using grass fed ghee in my cooking (where in the past I would have used butter) and as an alternative to coconut oil when I'm in need of that delicious sweet nutty buttery taste.