Dairy – Love it, hate it, thrive with it, or avoid it?
Having a food intolerance is not fun. It can cause abdominal pain, discomfort, and nausea. It also causes embarrassing symptoms like flatulence and diarrhea. Other symptoms linked to food intolerances include muscle or joint pain, headaches, exhaustion, and even skin symptoms like rashes and eczema.
Dairy is one of those foods that many people seem to be intolerant of. Is it the dairy itself that is the culprit or is it the production and processing practices that we’re reacting to?
For the past 30 years, much of our nation’s milk has come from cows injected with a genetically engineered growth hormone. The hormone was introduced into our dairy in 1994 has two interchangeable names: recombinant bovine somatropine (rBST) and recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH).
RBGH has dominated the milk market almost since the FDA approved it in 1993. It was the first genetically engineered product ever brought to market.
So what is rBGH anyway? Although the product is made in a lab, it’s designed to mimic a hormone that’s naturally produced in a cow’s pituitary glands. It’s injected into cows every two weeks to boost their hormonal activity, causing them to produce an additional 10 to 15 percent more milk, or about one extra gallon each day.
If all you knew about rBGH and this hormone was that it increased milk production, you might think it was a good thing. Why shouldn’t we use every means at our disposal to boost the supply of such a nutritious food?
Well, besides increasing milk production, rBGH apparently does a few other things, too.
First of all, the product seems to be hazardous to the cows. The package itself warns of such bovine problems as “increases in cystic ovaries and disorders of the uterus,” “decreases in gestation length and birth weight of calves,” and “increased risk of clinical mastitis.” Mastitis is a painful type of udder infection that causes cows to pump out bacteria and pus along with milk, requiring treatment with antibiotics and other meds that can end up in the milk.
80% of antibiotics are now used on our livestock here in the U.S. And overexposure to antibiotics tends to kill off the friendly bacteria in our intestines—bacteria that we need for our digestion and immune system. Many doctors believe that too many antibiotics at too early an age is part of the reason that kids are more likely to be allergic: their immune systems aren’t being given the “microbial environment” that they require. Wonder how many “extra” antibiotics our kids are getting in their milk, cheese, and yogurt? Maybe it’s not just about those hand sanitizers.
And then on top of that, allergies are the body’s response to proteins that it considers “toxic invaders,” and that genetically engineered proteins may spark new allergies. According to CNN and a recent study published in the Journal of Allergy and Immunology, milk allergy is now the most common food allergy in the U.S., having risen to the number-one position in the last 10 years. It’s even starting to affect the sale of milk in schools. Might rBGH be a factor in that increase?
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The GOOD about Dairy
Milk that is fresh, full fat, organic, grass-fed, and unprocessed is a complete food and a source of a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and other important compounds. Milk that is processed, pasteurized, homogenized, evaporated, centrifuged or otherwise tampered in some way, does not offer this miraculous all-in-one source for nutrients.
Milk is an important source for nutrients like fat-soluble vitamin A, D, E and K2; vitamin C; all the B vitamins, especially vitamins B2, B6 and B12; and minerals like calcium, phosphorus and zinc as well as essential trace minerals. Levels of these nutrients will be higher if the cow is eating green grass. Raw milk contains all twenty-two essential minerals including calcium, chlorine, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, sulfur, zinc, iodine and other trace minerals. Raw milk provides a special enzyme for each of the minerals, so they are 100 percent absorbed. For example, lactoferrin in raw milk ensures the assimilation of iron; it is destroyed by pasteurization.
There are sixty functional enzymes in raw milk. Some of them are native to milk and some are produced by beneficial bacteria that are encouraged by the compounds in milk. These enzymes, such as lipases (for fat digestion) and proteases (for protein digestion), act as catalysts to increase the bioavailability of nutrients. Other enzymes critical for nutrient digestion include phosphotase (for calcium absorption), catalase, and peroxidase, all of which improve the digestion of raw milk to ensure that is the vitamins and minerals completely absorbed. Other enzymes, like catalase, lysozyme and lactoperoxidase help eliminate pathogenic bacteria.
Milk fat (aka butterfat) is an important part of the nutritive profile of milk. Fat is used in the construction of key tissues like cell membranes and hormones, which play a major role in the immune and metabolic systems. Milk fat also contains conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a fatty acid and antioxidant that is believed to protect against cancer especially breast and prostate cancer. CLA has a balancing effect on the metabolic system to enhance muscle growth, lower insulin resistance and normalize fat deposition. CLA is found to be five times higher in grass-fed than grain-fed milk.
Milk is a source of complete protein including all twenty of the standard amino acids and all eight of the essential amino acids. About 80 percent of the proteins in milk are in the casein portion of the milk and 20 percent are in the whey fraction.
Beneficial bacteria
Raw milk contains compounds that support the growth of large numbers of diverse organisms including lactobacillus and bifidobacteria. These act as agents to help build a balanced gut microbiome. The probiotic diversity of beneficial bacteria in raw milk supports the proliferation of healthy flora in the intestines while protecting against potentially harmful bacteria such as salmonella or E. coli.
If you suffer from allergies, reach for the raw milk! Studies have found that raw milk drinkers had 60 percent lower levels of IgE antibodies (allergic reactive antibody causing histamine response) and half the histamine in the blood.
Many studies have documented the ability of raw milk to prevent allergies. For example, a study of 4700 primary school children in Shropshire, England found that allergy-related conditions were reduced by half with just a few glasses of raw milk per week. Studies often find a positive effect on allergies from on-farm living, with some finding that raw milk consumption was the strongest factor for reducing allergies, whether the children lived on a farm or not.
A University of London study found that raw milk protects against allergic skin conditions and that children who drink raw milk have fewer allergic skin problems than children who drink pasteurized milk.
The UGLY about Dairy
Even if you’re not lactose or casein intolerant and are not worried by the weight gain or higher insulin levels, regular grocery bought milk is still a very poor choice. The cows probably ate a diet of corn and soy while confined in a very tight environment. As if it wasn’t enough, we skim the milk to reduce the healthy saturated fat and we pasteurize it, rendering some enzymes and beneficial bacteria infective.
As early as 1998, an article in the Lancet, the prestigious British medical journal, reported that women with even relatively small increases of a hormone known as Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1) were up to seven times more likely to develop premenopausal breast cancer.
And guess what? According to a January 1996 report in the International Journal of Health Services, rBGH milk has up to 10 times the IGF-1 levels of natural milk. More recent studies have put the figure even higher, at something like 20-fold.
Now stop and think about that for a minute, while correlation is not causation, breast cancer used to be something that women got later in life. Premenopausal breast cancer was so rare that when young women presented their physicians with breast cancer symptoms, the doctors often failed to diagnose it, simply because it was so unlikely that an “older women’s disease” would be found among young women.
But according to the Young Survival Coalition, one in 229 women between the ages of 30 and 39 will be diagnosed with breast cancer in the next ten years. Why are all these young women now getting breast cancer? And what about the effects of IGF-1-laden milk on older women, who are already at greater risk for breast cancer?
In case you think that the rising cancer rates have something to do with genetics, stop and think again. According to the Breast Cancer Fund, 1 in 8 women now have breast cancer. But only 10 percent of those cases can be linked to genetics. In other words, 90 percent of breast cancers being diagnosed today are being triggered by factors in our environment.
Grain-fed cows will produce a milk much higher in omega-6 fatty acids and lower in omega-3 fatty acids, which, in the long-term, will trigger inflammation which is the one thing you want to limit for good health.
Pasteurization is known to destroy the good bacteria, enzymes, raw fat, and cancer-fighting conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) that is found in raw milk. Among other things, pasteurized milk is known to cause all kinds of health troubles, from digestive upset to perhaps even autism and diabetes. These ailments are from the processing of milk into something your body can’t optimally use.
Do i have a true milk allergy?
Diagnostic tests for diary allergies can often give false negatives if a patient has recently been on antibiotics, made significant diet changes, medication use, travel, infection, etc. Many people who believe they have a dairy allergy find that they can tolerate milk if it is unprocessed and from grass-fed only cows.
Milk sugar (lactose) intolerance
It’s estimated that up to 75% of adults are lactose intolerant. Lactose is the carbohydrate “milk sugar” naturally found in most dairy products. Lactose intolerance is so common you can buy lactose-free milk in your regular grocery store. Lactose-free products are treated with the enzyme “lactase” that breaks the lactose down before you ingest it. It’s this lactase enzyme that is lacking in most people who are lactose intolerant.
The lactase enzyme is naturally released from your intestine as one of your digestive enzymes. It breaks down the lactose sugar in the gut. When someone doesn’t have enough lactase, the lactose doesn’t get broken down the way it should. The overabundance of undigested lactose ends up being food for the resident gut microbes that can create gases that cause bloating, flatulence, pain, and sometimes diarrhea.
Lactose is in dairy but is in lower amounts in fermented dairy (e.g. cheese & yogurt) and butter. Steering clear of lactose isn’t that easy as it is added to other foods like baked goods, soups, and sauces. And if you’re taking any medications or supplements, check to see if it’s in there too, as lactose is a common ingredient in them.
If you have symptoms of lactose intolerance, keep an eye on food, medication, and supplement labels.
Milk proteins (casein & whey)
“Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet, eating her curds and whey….curd is the cottage cheese and whey is the separated liquid. These are the two main proteins in milk.
Unlike lactose intolerance, casein and whey can cause an actual immune response. It’s an allergy. And this immune response can cause inflammation. In fact, we don’t know how many people have these milk allergies, but most estimates put it far below that of lactose intolerance.
Like lactose, these allergenic milk proteins can be found in other products too. They’re not just in dairy but are often in protein powders as well (Have you heard of “whey” protein powders?).
Some of the symptoms of milk protein allergy differ from that of lactose intolerance; things like nasal congestion and mucus (phlegm) are more common here. And casein seems to be linked with belly fat.
Interestingly, people who have gluten intolerance are often allergic to milk proteins like whey and casein as well. These can go hand-in-hand.
Like lactose intolerance, if you’re allergic to casein and whey keep an eye on labels so you can avoid these.
Can I ever have milk or cheese again?
This will be your choice based on the information that you have about how Dairy effects on your health.
Questions to ask yourself:
- Do I have any autoimmune conditions that may be affected by dairy?
- Do I have any other conditions that warrant avoiding dairy (acne, allergies, digestive issues, leaky gut, etc)
Best choices of dairy products
If you decide to consume dairy:
- Use organic, pasture-raised, grass-fed, full fat and fermented (yogurt, kefir, cheese).
- Use Raw dairy direct from the farmer, which will retain all the original properties of the milk.
- Try Raw organic goat or sheep’s milk (and/or byproducts)
- Fresh Organic Butter. Grass-fed, pasture-raised and organic cows will produce a milk of a much higher quality. Other than the heart healthy saturated fats, it’s high in vitamin K2, omega-3 fatty acids, CLA (Conjugated linoleic acid), a powerful antioxidant and anti-cancer linoleic acid. Note that the K2 and CLA are mostly in the fat so you’ll get all the benefits of it just by consuming butter without the risks associated with milk’s lactose, casein and carbs.
- Ghee (clarified butter) is butter that has been slowly melted and cooked so milk solids separate and traces of water evaporate from it. What you get in essentially pure butter fat, which is absolutely delicious and healthy. It’s heat resistant so you can cook with it at high temperature (regular butter can burn) and it will stay good for a long time, even at room temperature. Unless you’re dealing with severe autoimmune diseases, I only see advantages to consuming generous amounts of clarified butter (traces of casein have been found in organic butter and ghee and have been known to affect some people with autoimmune issues).
Conclusion
If you get gassy, bloated, or diarrhea after eating dairy, you may have a lactose intolerance. If you often get a stuffy nose and mucus, then you may be allergic to casein and/or whey.
If you have removed dairy from your diet OR are a dairy lover, let me know your experience in the comments below.
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References:
https://authoritynutrition.com/11-proven-ways-to-reduce-bloating/
https://www.dietvsdisease.org/how-to-get-rid-of-bloating/
https://www.dietvsdisease.org/11-warning-signs-you-have-a-food-intolerance/
https://authoritynutrition.com/dairy-foods-low-in-lactose/
https://authoritynutrition.com/lactose-intolerance-101/
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/whey-protein-allergies-intolerances-bloating
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-food-sensitivities
https://www.thepaleomom.com/the-great-dairy-debate/
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-milk-and-mucus-a-myth/
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/milk-protein-vs-soy-protein/
https://examine.com/supplements/casein-protein/
https://examine.com/supplements/whey-protein/
http://foodallergycanada.ca/about-allergies/food-allergens/milk/
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blood-pressure/milk-protein-may-lower-blood-pressure
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