To a dark place this line of thought will take us.

Mace Windu: “I sense a plot to destroy the Jedi. The Dark Side of the Force surrounds the Chancellor.”
Ki-Adi-Mundi: “If he does not give up his emergency powers after the destruction of Grievous, he must be removed from office.”
Mace Windu: “The Jedi Council will have to take control of the Senate to ensure a peaceful transition.”
Yoda: “Hmm. To a dark place this line of thought will take us. Great care we must take.”
Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith

Around January a thought occurred to me, what if Padawan Learner and I are allergic to something we’re eating? You see, Padawan Learner and I have issues. Skin issues, to be specific – lots of very stubborn plantar warts (both of us), eczema on the palms of my hands, and a foul, dirty-hair type smell that just radiated out of PL. The warts were just something we’ve both had for years and assumed that it was something we were just going to have to live with, just part of who we were. I figured my eczema was the same. But there was just no way that PL’s smell was something that could be ignored. Granted, the kid was exercising for hours a a time at trampoline and gymnastics classes, but YEOZA, the smell was intense and no amount of hair washing or showering did anything about it. Within a half-hour of washing up, it was back. I aired his room out daily. We cranked the windows open in the car – even in winter. Something had to be done. Many people  said, “Oh, that’s just how boy’s smell,” and suggested that it would go away once he became interested in dating and cared about his appearance/hygiene. Trust me, he cared. He washed.

I thought back to another person I knew that used to have a similar smell, a very sour dirty-body smell despite being more than adequate in all the usual hygiene behaviors – showering, using an anti-perspirant/deodorant, brushing teeth twice a day, etc. He was a hard-core, junk food & what-are-veggies carnivore. His rancid smell seemed to disappear when he moved in with a staunch vegetarian who then did the bulk of the cooking. His smell disappeared quickly. I thought about what PL ate. Our meals were healthy and well-rounded, but he did eat a significant amount of animal protein in the form of eggs and – especially – cheese. Nearly as much of a “dairy-atarian” as his non-meat-eating friend, Biggs.

I remembered hearing once that vegans don’t stink because they weren’t ingesting any animal protein. Not knowing any, I didn’t know if it was true or not. That was another venue to check out. Dad Windu and I talked it over, including PL as much as we could – despite this one and only refrain of NOOOOO – and decided that February (the shortest month) would be when we went temporarily vegan. Well, lo-and-behold the smell was gone within 4 days. Nothing, nada, niets. The first time he got in the car after one of his marathon trampoline classes and I didn’t have to roll the windows down was an eye-opener. He actually smelled fresh after his workout.

We allowed our systems to clear out for February and began adding foods in, beginning with dairy. A glass of milk, a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup for dinner.  It took about 1 hour for the smell to begin creeping in and 2 days for it to hit it’s maximum again. He also developed a patch of hives along this upper back. Dairy was out. We added everything back in slowly, but nothing else triggered the smell like dairy did and does.

As a side bonus, his warts cleared up without our even noticing once he was off dairy (mine are still there but at least aren’t growing or spreading), his acne has greatly improved, and my eczema is clear so long as I don’t goof up and slip in some dairy unawares. PL and I are walking, talking dairy-detectors now. When there’s dairy in something we don’t expect, his smell will flare up and skin breaks out and my eczema starts up again. Not terribly, but enough to remind us to read our labels more carefully again.

I got to thinking about this again as I made yet another batch of Red Leader’s Soft Vegan Ginger Cookies (or as we call them, Soft Jedi Ginger Cookies) this morning. They’re very good. Even Dad Windu, who doesn’t much like ginger, liked these cookies. Red Leader says these are her go-to ginger cookies, despite the fact that they’re vegan.

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