Just before the pandemic started, I was dabbling into learning more about the non-toxic lifestyle because I had learned a lot about endocrine disruption and candles/household fragrances. It blew me away that candles could create massive hormonal changes, and as someone who has struggled with endometriosis and PMDD for years, this was a red flag for me. 

I began to cut out toxic cosmetics, household care products, and even went organic, but I just could not shake giving up oat milk. Oat milk was life and no other non-dairy option satisfied the craving. I thought, oh well if I do everything else healthy, I can still have my daily iced latte with oatly oat milk and I will be fine. I was blissfully ignorant. 

In the beginning of summer 2022, my hormonal charts weren’t adding up and I had a ‘check-in’ with my NaPro (type of fertility practice) doctor. To my astonishment, based on my charts, I was at nearly 100% risk of miscarriage, my hormones were all over the place, my PMDD was out of control, and I was in the throes of a season of infertility. 

This triggered the need for an entire battery of tests this past June 2022 including bloodwork, ultrasounds, and more. In the first of 6 ultrasounds, the technician found 2 complex hemorrhagic cysts (likely endometriomas), a ‘string of pearl’ appearance suggestive of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and a fibroid, just to name a few of my disaster of results. 

PCOS is an endocrine disorder where women typically  do not release an egg every month during their cycle. It is the most common hormone disorder among women of reproductive age and increases risk of infertility. PCOS seems to be connected with insulin resistance and about 40% of women with PCOS will be type 2 diabetic by the time they are 40. I recommend this listen by Dr Paul Saladino on this topic.

While I was sad to learn about the endometriomas since it had been 7 years since my last endometriosis surgery, I was most deeply disturbed to learn about the early stages of PCOS occurring in my reproductive system. While my endometriosis journey has been extensive, and my case was severe prior to my excision surgery, I never ONCE had an issue with polycystic ovaries and I do not fit 95% of the criteria of the disease.  

Due to this news, it really caused me to reflect deeply on what I was doing and it occurred to me I really needed to make a lifestyle change including addressing my metabolic health. The first step: eliminating ALL seed oils (I wrote about seed oils here). My primary seed oil consumption, was OAT MILK. 

I would go through CASES of oat milk. My husband Albert would order it in bulk to offset cost because of my insatiable consumption of this garbage. This was going to be very difficult for me, but I knew I had to do it. 

While in prayer, it dawned on me that my ancestors would drink milk straight from the cow, lived an average of 95 years, and besides my own mother, no one in my family lines had the issues that I experience today. While I had ‘lactose intolerance’ for the majority of my life, when I would spend summers in Ireland drinking straight from the cow, I had 0 issues. 

Then I realized that the ‘milk’ I was drinking had 12 ingredients, when raw milk straight from the cow has 1 ingredient: MILK. It was truly a eureka moment that I cannot believe didn’t happen sooner. 

Now a little bit more about oat milk: average of 12 genetically modified ingredients in which are ‘FDA approved’ and no one really knows the long term effects of processed and hydrogenated seed oils. Furthermore, Oatly (the #1 brand) has the same blood sugar impact as COCA COLA. Let that sink in!

Additionally, Oats are high in phytic acid, a natural substance found in plant seeds that can impede the absorption of essential minerals such as iron, zinc, and calcium in the human body. Phytic acid binds to these minerals, making them less available for absorption. This binding process leads to a depletion of the body’s mineral reserves.

Oatly = blood sugar spikes = hormonal imbalances

Next, the ingredients in Oatly oat milk: 

  • Water → don’t get me started, learn about tap water here
  • Oats →  not organic, meaning sprayed with glyphosate and other pesticides, depletes body’s mineral absorption and reserve
  • Low erucic acid rapeseed oil → aka Canola oil which promotes inflammation
  • Dipotassium Phosphate → Preservative
  • Calcium Carbonate → Preservative that causes a leaky gut
  • Tricalcium Phosphate → Preservative
  • Sea Salt → don’t get me started, microplastic content in generic salt will be a whole other blog
  • Dicalcium Phosphate → Preservative 
  • Riboflavin → Fortified synthetic vitamins in food and beverages are never trustworthy
  • Vitamin A → see above
  • Vitamin D2 → see above
  • Vitamin B12 → see above

Ingredients in grass fed organic milk: 

  • Milk

Your morning coffee is the first moment of bliss in the morning, but that bliss wears off when you are too bloated to want to wear half the clothes in your closet, or irritable because you’re already experiencing a crash due to the glycemic index in this watered down trash. 

I am not a doctor, but based on the research and my own personal experience, any coffee ‘creamer’ or unvetted non-dairy ‘milk’ could be the reason you’re experiencing bloating, excess weight, hormonal swings, energy crashes, skin puffiness, or even polycystic ovaries and reduced testosterone (yes, men, I’m also talking to you).

Even though these popular ‘milks’ say fun marketing things (I’m a marketer by the way), such as ‘dairy free!’ or ‘sugar free!,’ they are full of preservatives, fillers, gums, processed sugar or sugar substitute, and all ingredients that cause inflammation, bloating and fatigue. Don’t let something marketed as ‘healthy’ fool you. I encourage you to read your labels and know what you and your family are consuming. 

Due to this news, it really caused me to reflect deeply on what I was doing and it occurred to me I really needed to make a lifestyle change including addressing my metabolic health. The first step: eliminating all seed oils. My primary seed oil consumption (that crap is in everything), was OAT MILK. 

Making your body work overtime to process these fake ingredients is NOT the way you want to start off your day. And having to deal with long term effects from the damages of such products is costly in so many ways.

This is something I cannot believe I’m even writing, but never did I dream that I would give up the iced oat milk latte that I would look forward to every morning. 

How hard was it? 

The first week was the hardest, I experienced legitimate oat milk withdrawal (no exaggeration) and regular milk was not sweet enough for me (because the glycemic index of my oat milk lattes were that of coca cola), so I had to add raw honey for a bit. 

The second week was also difficult, but by the third week my head felt clearer than it had in years, even despite now being left with these ovarian cysts and possibly the return of my endo. 

When I wrote this piece,  it was almost 4 months since cutting out oat milk entirely. At that point, my neurologist and he said my brain is the clearest he had seen in years. I also had an MRI in August of 2022, where I still had the endometrioma the size of a lime. 4 months after the lifestyle shift, the polycystic appearance was GONE. Approximately 8 months after the lifestyle changes, the endometrioma and fibroid completely disappeared, which is truly an unheard of situation. I also had a physical with a new internist (my first one in 7 years), where I had a perfect CBC and lipid panel for the first time in 15 years. My overall health and wellness including my daily focus has improved tremendously. I am the most productive I have ever been and manage stress very well. I am still on my own journey, but incredibly proud of my progress, that I feel obligated to share it with you all. Do yourself a favor and remove oat milk from your life and go back. to. basics.! 

If you’re wondering which kind of milk I drink now, I have actually been drinking raw milk for quite sometime and it is divine. I wrote about everything you need to know about raw milk here. Many come to me and discuss their dairy intolerance – trust me, no one was more dairy intolerant than I. If sour cream touched a spoon that I ate, I would be in bloated agony for days. I went 17 years without dairy products. Raw Dairy is different, please give it a read for educational purposes. If you are not open to trying raw milk or low-temp pasteurized whole milk, I recommend organic coconut milk from a BPA free can – it has 1 ingredient. 

Please find my ‘dairy reintroduction guide‘ if you have gone years without dairy the way I did and need help. You can go back! Share this with a friend and show you care!

If that’s not your thing – see my other recommended options on my grocery guide.

 I encourage you to do a deep dive of your own research, question everything and when you go back to basics, it might just amaze you what could happen!

 

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*NOT MEDICAL ADVICE