Mama PlaygroundA Blog for Moms

I am not sure if it is because I am a scientist by training or if we all do this to some extent, but I am seeking the cause of the constant sickness that has been present in our home this year. My kids have been sick far too much this year. They eat a fairly well balanced diet, fruit and oatmeal at breakfast, plenty of fluids, and vegetables with both lunch and dinner. I try to give them a variety every day and they have vitamins to boot. They sleep well, and get lots of love and attention. I am starting to take the constant illness of this winter very personally. As an attack on my parenting. My new theory is dairy as the culprit.

Sure, sure I could blame that fact that my oldest is in school and constantly bringing home new germs. I could blame a particularly rainy winter and basic exposure to illness through grocery carts, doctors offices, and most of all the library. However I have come to wonder if it is dairy to blame.

My kids eat a lot of dairy. They love yogurt, ice cream, and the babies have milk at least three times per day. They also love cereal with milk, cheese as a snack, and cheese on most meals in some form or another. I make a sort of logical leap from here, but stay with me.

When you are ill, you are informed to stay away from dairy because it causes extra mucous and stuffiness in your sinuses. The same must go for times when you are not sick then too, correct? If dairy generally causes extra mucous and congestion in your sinuses, it would make your sinuses the perfect place for bacteria to grow, and viruses to attract. Bacteria love enclosed, warm, moist environments, and I have been making my children’s heads just such a place. Has the large amount of dairy in their diets created the perfect breeding ground for illness?