Holy Cow! I'd "lactose" share with you some things about DAIRY!
Gluten is King and Dairy is Queen
Why we should avoid *MOST all dairy
Lactose: Cow’s milk contains lactose, a type of sugar that is not well tolerated by most adults. Between 60 and 75% of adults can't properly digest it, making them potentially lactose intolerant. They cannot digest the protein (casein) or the sugar (lactose) found in milk. If your body cannot digest these, then it can cause or lead to intestinal distress and leaky gut. Casein is the main protein found in dairy products such as milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. There are 2 major types: A1 and A2 casein. The A1 can be harmful and increases gut inflammation. It can contribute to gastrointestinal inflammation, brain fog, and digestive problems. A2 milk proteins are not harmful to the gut in the way A1 is. A2 milk is pretty easy to find (Walmart and Costco, major groceries). The label will read A2.
The milk we drink today is not what our grandparents drank. Dairy products today undergo a lot of processing such as thorough pasteurization and homogenization, and are super hard to digest
We’ve been told over and over again that dairy is a great source of calcium; that milk makes healthy bones and we should drink it daily. This is not true. (More on that in another blog!)
There is no biological requirement for milk. It may have not only a lack of health benefits but a lot of potential harms including increase in cancer risk and increase in digestive problems and increase in all kinds of allergic and autoimmune issues such as eczema, sinus, acne, allergies, and autoimmunity. Harvard has removed it from the healthy eating plate. They did a study that showed that pasteurized milk from industrial dairies is linked to cancer.
Cow’s milk from conventionally, industrial raised cattle contains dozens of reproductive hormones, allergenic proteins, antibiotics, chemicals, inflammatory compounds, and growth factors, some of which are known to promote cancer.
What is industrial dairy? It is dairy that comes from modern cows raised in factory farms that are harmful for the animals. They are fed junk, antibiotics and growth hormones. All of that is passed along to us. Dairy can cause eczema, allergies, IBS, sinus infections, gut and skin issues just to name a few.
Cheese is similar to gluten in that it is never easy for anyone to digest and therefore should not be consumed in large quantities. Think about what cheese on a pizza looks like the next day; like a hard sheet of plastic and it really won't change much even after days. It does not breakdown easily. If your gut is a bit off, cheese and gluten are best avoided at least temporarily.
Many people feel better when they remove dairy from their diets. However, if you feel like you are missing out, read the following suggestions:
*Try Ghee. Ghee is clarified butter that has all the milk solids taken out, so only the oil remains and it won't burn like butter so you can cook with it easily.
*Sheep and goat pasture raised dairy is ok. These sheep eat plants which contain phytonutrients which gets into their milk and their cheese which gets into us when we eat them! I am what my eating has eaten. Sheep’s and goats’ milk typically are A2 milk. If milk is your jam, there are an abundance of plant-based milks. Just make sure they do not contain sugar.
*Focus on fermented and cultured dairy products like tasty kefir and Icelandic skyr as they carry probiotics, or compounds that boost bacterial growth. Ingesting them can help with gut health.
Please do share your thoughts and any helpful hints you have found in eliminating or reducing dairy.