[Jackie07]

Having been born premature, I rely on milk - first getting breast fed by my Mother, later drinking powdered milk, preserved milk, and fresh milk - just about all my life. Especially when I was having occasional digesting problems (affected by the huge tumor in the center of my brain.) I looked up the cause of iron deficiency anemia and found that one of the causes is too much milk (deprived of other nutrient from regular meals) and started to pay more attention to what I eat. Then the doctor told me to take a multivitamin every day for iron.

And yes, I was a meat-eater growing up because my teeth were not strong enough to chew many of the vegetables. I think it had something to do with my elevated cranial pressure - chewing hard made me tired easily.

When I was diagnosed in 2003, my friends brought me home-made soy milk and I was completely free from dairy product for more than a year. These days I don't particularly try to avoid milk product, but I don't try to consume too much of it, either.

My Mother became a (1/2) vegetarian after she turned 65. She ate mostly vegies and tofu with some milk and eggs being the only animal product on her menu occassionally. She lost almost 20 lbs and avoided
cardiovascular diseases. She resumed regular diet after she was diagnosed with Nonhogekins lymphoma when she's 73. She's a healthy 86-year-old lady right now with very good appetite.