I've been getting conflicting views on this. I drink only water and haven't had milk in a long time. I have been downing cottage cheese and regular cheese however, and was wondering if that was getting in the way of my cutting?

well it affects some people, the real expert on this is jeremy
the cultures in cottage cheese seem to take care of the lactose, so cottage cheese is ment to be "ok" if you wanna stay away from dairy

i was also looking at a product called "yakult" if anyones heard of it before, (http://www.yakult.com.au/) i think its available in europe too, its like a milk drink with active cultures and bacteria in it to help your digestive system
although it kinda expensive :) maybe i'll give it a trial run later

I cant speak very scientifically... but I'll tell you since cutting dairy out completely from my life (except an occasional cheat meal of some Italian something or other) my cutting seemed to go better. Whether this is just my mind trying to reward me and making me think it helped I dont know. Plus there are so many elements to you body's metabolisms it would be tough to say y thing had x effect. For me though, it definately hasn't hurt and I feel better honestly.

Personally i drink an 8 oz glass of milk every morning...i have since i was a kid...i tried not doing it for a while and it didnt really help...so no...for me at least it didnt hinder my cutting...but as deafngari said there are so many elements that affect your metabolism...its hard to put a definite value on how something will affect it. All things in moderation though...thats what i do...if i want milk i have a small glass not a whole gallon...its worked so far...

I've been getting conflicting views on this. I drink only water and haven't had milk in a long time. I have been downing cottage cheese and regular cheese however, and was wondering if that was getting in the way of my cutting?

Yes I think it has. Eliminate it and see what happens in a week.