I want to start by saying that I am one of the biggest cheese and ice cream aficionados you will ever meet. I start my day every day with coffee that has half and half in it and I eat various other dairy-based foods throughout the day. Being someone who struggles with oily and acne-prone skin, I've always heard about the correlation between consuming dairy and acne. I recently attended an acne conference with the brand, La Roche Posay, hosted by Dr. Annie Chu, a cosmetic dermatologist that often works with patients who have acne. Chu talked about many factors that cause acne — food being one of them. She advises her patients to give up a food for at least two weeks to help determine if it is causing the breakouts.

While milk and other dairy foods do not actually cause acne, the hormones found in cow's milk are thought to cause inflammation as well as overstimulate the oil glands in humans. The increase in oil production leads to clogged pores (combined with bacteria in the follicles), which leads to more inflammation and pimples. I take very good care of my skin (I'm a beauty editor after all), but I do eat a lot of dairy, so I thought giving it up might be the missing link in my quest for clear skin.

I first had the idea to try (temporarily) going dairy-free when my mom became lactose intolerant about three years ago and seeing her suffer through the pain and agony after eating her favorite foods (and at the time, not knowing what she was allergic to). After various testing and elimination of different foods, dairy was found to be the culprit. So as an act of solidarity and concern about the possibility of one day becoming lactose intolerant myself, I thought I would give it a go for two weeks. I knew it would be hard to give up omelets, yogurt, cheese boards and so many other yummy foods. On the flipside, could this be the answer to clearer skin, better digestion and possibly the shedding of a few pounds? Instead of phasing out dairy, I gave it up cold turkey. I had no idea how challenging the two weeks were going to be.

Image via Unsplash @max_libertine

Starting out my journey, I was eager to see how cutting out dairy would affect my skin, weight and overall digestion. I stocked up for my challenge with a bunch of non-dairy products to help should I start craving any creamy treats. For my daily cup of coffee, I started using Califia Better Half. For my beloved bagel and cream cheese, Kite Hill Almond Milk Cream Cheese and Almond Milk Greek Yogurt. I seldom use butter, though I found that coconut oil makes a very delicious alternative. I also ate up what I thought was everything containing dairy the week prior. So with my newly stocked and purged fridge, I was ready for the challenge to begin.

Image courtesy Hannah Savin

It just so happened that my no-dairy challenge coincided with "that time of the month" and, if you're like me, you know the struggle is real when it comes to hormonal cravings. I searched my fridge for a chocolate almond butter Perfect Bar, unwrapped it, took a bite and then decided to check the ingredient label. To my horror, there was nonfat dry milk in the bar, which meant I had to put it back. Certain flavors are completely plant-based, this one, however, was not. I decided to go to the grocery store and find some kind of snack to kill my craving. At the store, I quickly learned that just about every packaged food, snack, sweet or bar has dairy in some form (milk, whey, casein, lactose, various other words that look and sound like lactose, butter, cream, curds, ghee, rennet, etc.) You have to read food labels so carefully if you have a food allergy like lactose intolerance or you could really end up suffering the consequences. After much searching, I went home with Hail Merry Chocolate Almond Butter Cups, which totally satisfied my sweet tooth, no dairy necessary. These became my saving grace during my two-week challenge.

Image via Instgram @hailmerrysnacks