Winters in Chicago are legendary: At the peak of the freezing temperatures, you get icy gusts of wind and the occasional slap in the face from a slimy snowstorm. So I was sure my sinus infections were the result of living and working in downtown Windy City and maybe a bit of bad luck or some strange genetic inclination to get a sinus infection after every cold. less.

Doctors used to prescribe different antibiotics, which constantly make me sick to my stomach and make me feel even sicker and weaker. I felt miserable and seemed to have reached a dead end.

One day I spoke to my uncle, who is a scientist and researcher in Switzerland, and he told me that my condition must have something to do with dairy products. It was over a decade from now, so the idea that dairy could cause a sinus infection just blew my mind; it was just hard to believe. Our grandparents and great-grandparents didn’t drink milk and they weren’t well … or were they?

I decided to give this idea a try. After five days without dairy, I felt great. My congestion eased, but it didn’t go away completely. It took another week to see all the symptoms of chronic congestion and sinus infection disappear. Not a single pill swallowed!

So does this mean that dairy is actually not good for you? The answer is, it depends.

The culprit ingredient for chronic congestion and sinus infections is casein, present in all dairy products. It encourages the growth of Candida Albicans, a type of flora that tells your body to produce nasal mucus.

Studies show that the highest amounts of casein are found in cheeses. Goat’s milk contains only traces of allergenic casein and is generally easier to digest than cow’s milk. However, goat’s milk is not casein-free as it is sometimes wrongly suggested.

Of course, it is not easy to completely eliminate dairy products from your diet, especially that they “hide” in cakes, soups, ice cream and so many other things that we cannot imagine our life without.

In most cases, if dairy is the culprit for sinus infections, cutting back on dairy, especially cheese, will produce a satisfactory result.

You should definitely experiment and find out which products have the most negative effect on your condition. Go dairy-free for a week and see if your sinus infection clears up. If so, try adding something like a glass of milk if you like, and anything else you would normally eat that contains dairy, but avoid cheese.

If severe congestion returns, you must make a decision whether you want to continue living with it or eliminate most dairy from your diet. If not, gradually add some cheese and see how it feels. In most cases, cheese is the biggest culprit and should trigger a sinus infection or severe congestion.

What about our ancestors, who supposedly ate a lot of dairy and were fine? First of all, we don’t know for sure if they were okay or they just assumed that many ailments were an inevitable part of life.

On the other hand, our great-grandparents weren’t bombarded by as many chemicals and pollutants as we are today, so perhaps dairy didn’t trigger any allergies. In our case, we are swimming in pollution and man-made chemical materials, so you never know what a tipping point might be to get sick.

And by the way, we are the only mammals that continue to drink milk after being weaned.