Got Milk? Well… would you like to?
Are you lactose intolerant? Are you really, truly lactose intolerant?
Avoiding milk because it’s unhealthy?
Let’s consider this carefully.
Milk is a wonderful source of protein and calcium, which women with energy and body composition problems are commonly deficient in.
Milk is most commonly avoided because of a belief that there is a lactose intolerance – or an inability to digest lactose.
When a group of lactase deficient people have been given some milk every day for a few weeks, they have adapted, for example with tests showing that much less hydrogen gas was produced from lactose by intestinal bacteria after they had adapted.
Takeaway message: start slowly when re-introducing dairy.
This next sentence is key
Bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine can be caused by hypothyroidism, and the substances produced by these bacteria can damage the lining of the small intestine, causing the loss of lactase enzymes.
Did you “lactose intolerance” begin during a particularly stressful time? During a time where there was a lack of sleep? Your were diagnosed with low thyroid or an auto-immune problem?
For most people, including myself, this rings a bell – profoundly.
Steps back to dairy
- Manage your stress, sleep, digestion and health (follow what’s in these emails for a great start!)
- Eat more of the YES foods and less of the NO foods.
- Start really slow with dairy re-introduction – a piece of parmesan cheese a day, or a little warm milk in your coffee.
- Add a little more dairy in each weekly, slowly, until you’re satisfied/feeling better/hitting your macros.
Steve is Australia’s leading regenerative nutrition expert, qualified exercise physiologist, sports nutritionist and body recomposition specialist. He created The Way Up on account on his own battle with dieting, digestive problems and auto-immune disease. He spent 20 years studying the human body and nutrition, since beginning study at the University of Queensland in 2001. He fixed his own chronic health condition, and worked in prestigious clinics in London and Switzerland.
Jana
I’ve said it before but I just love your concept and approach to food. Thank you!
Vicky
WOW – so beautifully said!!!! And makes it so easy to share with friends because of how carefully you laid it out! Love the dentist comparison.