Just one more thing.
To answer your question, “Why separate milk and meat in our diet?”
Because Gd said so.
Deuteronomy 14:21
Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.
I have always believed and still do that this was cooking a calf or kid goat before it was weaned.
This is Torah: Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
It is not a general prohibition against mixing meat and dairy. It is a specific prohibition, perhaps to avoid an idolatrous dish common at that timem or perhaps to allow a baby mammal enough time to be weaned before killing it to eat it (think veal). Rabbinical Judaism has made it more difficult for Jewish families who are not wealthy to feed themselves, having to own several sets of dishes and purchase much more expensive products (yes, I understand some of this is specific in the Torah and cannot be avoided, but they should not add to the Torah and make it harder).