Each week, holistic nutritionist Joy McCarthy tells us about a common health problem she's seen in her practice and how she came to a solution.

This Week's Client: Jenna, a small-business boutique owner and lover of all things dairy (especially cheese and milk).

The Problem: Winter, spring, summer or fall, Jenna has a stuffy nose. After a workout or a shower, she has to blow her nose right away. She has been congested for years and can't remember the last time she slept comfortably, with her mouth closed, breathing clearly through her nose.

If Jenna's problem sounds familiar, then you know all too well what it's like to wake up with a dry, scratchy throat because you slept with your mouth open.

There are various reasons -- from allergies and food intolerance, to indoor air pollution and the common cold -- for having a chronically congested nasal passageway. But I can assure you that taking antibiotic after antibiotic like Jenna has been doing for years is not going to do anything good for your body, other than strip your gut of good bacteria, which are essential for keeping your immune system strong.

Your gut is home to literally trillions of bacteria and as jittery as this information may make you feel, most of us provide a warm shelter for bad bacteria. In a perfect world, your body would be home to about 15 percent bad and 85 percent good, but most experts estimate the average person is the exact opposite. Yikes.

Jenna loves to eat and be social, and after a night of socializing with her friends she usually comes home to her favourite snack before bed -- cereal and milk . Then she wakes up to a decent-sized latte with cinnamon. And as I mentioned before, she definitely loves cheese. While they may sound great at the time, these things are exactly where her problem lies.

Dairy, first of all, is extremely mucus-forming. Casein is a milk protein that many people, myself included, have trouble digesting. And as Robert Cohen, author of Milk, the Deadly Poison advises, "when it's (casein) extracted from milk, it's actually a glue used to put a label on a bottle of beer. It's the glue used to hold together the wood in your furniture. When you eat this casein, this glue from milk, your body is seeing this foreign protein, and you're producing these histamines which end up as mucus. And that's why it is mucus-forming."

Secondly, dairy is quite acidifying to the body and pro-inflammatory which may lead to acne, puffiness, Crohn's, and irritable bowel syndrome to name a few health concerns.

My two suggestions for Jenna:

1. Probiotics -- three times a day, one capsule at each meal -- to boost her immune system and start to replenish her gut with good bacteria. (Please consult with a qualified practitioner for your own dosage recommendations.)
2. No dairy of any kind for four weeks.

Guess what? After one week of no dairy, there was a slight difference. And after two weeks? Less puffiness and less congestion. After four weeks, Jenna felt like a brand new woman! Sometimes, the simplest of changes can make a world of difference. She may love cheese and milk, but she loves not having a puffy face and snotty nose even more.

Joy McCarthy, Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Health Coach of Joyous Health, loves to inspire others to eat well and live well. Joy is the resident holistic nutritionist at 889 Yonge, a Yoga & Holistic Lifestyle Spa in Toronto. Joy welcomes your questions or comments.

Please note: This advice is not meant to treat or diagnose, please consult a certified practitioner or your family doctor for any serious health issues.