Mark Bittman, the NYT food writer and general culinary wizard, just published a piece on how within 24 hours of going off dairy, his lifelong heartburn disappeared, seemingly never to return.  A follow-up article appeared as well, sparked by the 1,300 comments he received on the first one, describing ailment after ailment that just went away after dairy was eliminated from the diet. Dairy is now the #2 food allergy after peanuts.

Bittman: “Today the Department of Agriculture’s recommendation for dairy is a mere three cups daily — still 1½ pounds by weight — for every man, woman and child over age 9. This in a country where as many as 50 million people are lactose intolerant, including 90 percent of all Asian-Americans and 75 percent of all African-Americans, Mexican-Americans and Jews… There’s no mention of water, which is truly nature’s perfect beverage.” [Read more…]