IBD
Guest post: The dairy dilemma
28/Feb/12 06:30 PM Filed in: Guest post | Nutrition
Guest post originally published by Shelly Reitkop, ND
The simple truth
Lets start from the beginning. Milk IS good – that is, BREAST MILK. When a baby is born, a mother produces enough milk to help her infant grow from an 8-pound newborn into a 24-pound toddler. Milk accommodates for a 300% weight gain over the first year of life. When the child is anywhere between 12-24 months, a mother’s milk dries up and she stops breast-feeding. It is at this point of life where humans lose 95% of the digestive enzyme lactase, a substance necessary to break down lactose, the sugar in milk. The human body is not meant to digest dairy once the breast-feeding period is over.
Let’s be honest. Most babies DO consume milk after foods have been introduced. Most people consume dairy products throughout their entire lives. The difference between cows’ milk and human milk is that cows’ milk, by design, is meant to grow a 90lb calf into a 2,000lb cow over 2 years. By the laws of deduction, if you want to lose weight, eliminating dairy is a must.
It’s not only about weight management. The sad truth is, dairy is one of the most common culprits of gastrointestinal inflammation. It quickly triggers the immune system to produce inflammatory molecules resulting in a variety of conditions such as Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and dermatological conditions, as well as autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. The reason? We aren’t supposed to be consuming dairy!
Got Milk? Marketing misconceptions & the truth about calcium
Having calcium leech from the bones isn’t the worst part about the dairy dilemma: acidic foods affect the body’s functioning, right down to the cellular level. Acidic blood is a reflection of significant free radical damage and low antioxidant levels. Acidic blood levels are associated with chronic diseases such as diabetes, elevated cholesterol and cancer.
Your heart does NOT love dairy
Your taste buds may LOVE the taste of cheese and dairy products but I can assure you, your heart does not feel the same. Many dairy products are high in saturated fat and high saturated fat intake is associated with heart disease. Eggs, which are classified as dairy products, are widely known to elevate cholesterol and increase cardiovascular risk.
Hormonal havoc: the dairy dilemma continued
One major concern about dairy products is the exposure to hormone disrupting antibiotics, chemicals and growth hormones. Hormonal imbalances are implicated in certain types of cancers such as breast, uterine, ovarian and prostate cancer. According to some Harvard researchers, the hormone composition of milk may increase the risk of ovarian and other hormone-related cancers.
Recent studies have found that male athletes who consumed high doses of calcium (2000mg+) were almost twice as likely to develop prostate cancer compared with men who consumed 500mg per day. Something worth thinking about.
Another study found that elevated levels of galactose, a sugar byproduct that is released when we digest dairy products, may be linked to the development of ovarian cancer. Researchers conclude that high dairy consumption is not necessarily safe.
The bottom line
To learn about substitutions for dairy products, stay tuned for my upcoming blog: Simple Solutions to the Dairy Dilemma. If you have specific questions you would like me to address, please comment and I will be sure to respond!
References:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/calcium-and-milk
Comments
What's the difference between food sensitivity, allergy, or intolerance?
by Kate Whimster, BCom, MIFHI, ND co-authored with Mélanie DesChâtelets, ND.
Do you ever feel confused about the difference between food sensitivity, food allergy and food intolerance? The differences are actually pretty simple to understand and will help you understand how food affects you. First, some basic definitions:
Antibody: A large Y-shaped protein produced by the immune system. Its job is to recognize foreign proteins and neutralize them. It’s what happens when you get a cold, the bacteria or virus is recognized and then neutralized by antibodies.
Enzyme: In simple terms enzymes help breakdown things. Enzymes are very specific for what they break down. Therefore, your body has thousands of different enzymes to break down very specific compounds. Without enzymes the process may not occur at all or at a very reduced rate. In the digestive system, enzymes help break down food into smaller units for absorption.
Both food allergy and food sensitivity are antibody-mediated reactions to food. The antibody recognizes a food protein as harmful and tries to neutralize it. If this is similar then what is different? We have different types of antibodies in our body. Different types of antibodies react differently and cause different symptoms.
Food allergy
Food allergy is mediated by an antibody called IgE. When this type of antibody reacts with a foreign protein it immediately elicits typical reactions ranging from uncomfortable to life threatening. Skin irritation, redness, and swelling are common. Difficulty breathing is more disturbing as it represents tightening of the airway. Other symptoms such as hoarseness of voice, stuffy and runny nose, itchy and red eyes as well as nausea and vomiting can are also seen with food allergies.
Here’s a diagram to demonstrate - imagine the pink line represents the symptom threshold; when you cross this line you have symptoms. The star represents the ingestion of the allergic food item.
With food allergy, as soon as the offending food is ingested, IgE levels rise and react quickly. The allergic symptom threshold is always reached. Avoidance of this offending food is necessary as it can be life threatening. The levels of IgE will also drop relatively quickly and within 5-7 days you typically no longer have symptoms.
Food sensitivity
Food sensitivity is mediated by an antibody called IgG. IgG antibodies react very differently from IgE. When IgG antibodies react with foreign proteins, they elicit a milder, slower, and non-typical reaction. Symptoms can vary from migraines, to increased behavioural difficulties in children with ADHD, to chronic digestive concerns (constipation, diarrhea, IBS, IBD), decreases in energy, skin issues (acne, eczema), and other vague symptoms. Here’s the problem - unlike food allergies, food sensitivities are very hard to diagnose. This is because their impacts can be seen 24 to 48 hours after the ingestion of the offending food. There are two ways that can help identify food sensitivities: the first is a strategic elimination/hypoallergenic diet, which works as both a diagnostic tool (to identify offending foods) and treatment (avoidance of offending foods as a first step towards long-term healing). The other is an IgG food sensitivity blood test - I offer this testing via either Immunolabs or Rocky Mountain Analytical. This tests how reactive your IgG antibodies are against various foods. The higher the reactivity the higher likelihood a food sensitivity might be present. This test can be a good starting point in assessing potential food sensitivity.
Here’s a diagram to demonstrate how IgG works.
With food sensitivity, the offending food is ingested and the IgG antibody levels rise slowly and linger for up to 3 weeks. This is what makes a food sensitivity so hard to diagnose. You first ingest the offending food sensitivity and you are symptom-free. This is because you are still far from your symptomatic threshold. In a few days you ingest this same food item and again no symptoms. What you don’t know is that your IgG antibody levels have accumulated with those of your last exposure. Third time is a charm, you ingest the food and this time you get symptoms, such as migraine, constipation, weight gain, water retention, skin breakouts, fatigue, etc. Please note in this example I used 3 days but this is for illustrative purposes and is not literal. It can be confusing! Symptoms don’t appear immediately, so it is hard to link exposure to symptoms and you are left guessing at which foods is causing symptoms. Unlike an IgE food allergy were every single exposure is followed by symptoms, IgG food sensitivities depends on frequency and dose of the exposure.
Food intolerance
Food intolerance represents an enzyme deficiency, meaning your body can’t break down a component of food and this causes digestive upset. The most obvious example is lactose intolerance or lactase enzyme deficiency. This enzyme is important in breaking down lactose found in dairy products. The lack of this enzymes results in gas, diarrhea, and discomfort.
I work with many patients to address food sensitivities. The goal is not to eliminate a food for the rest of your life although avoidance for a period of time is sometimes necessary while we improve the integrity of the gut lining so that you can once again tolerate the offending food. When you figure out which foods you are sensitive to and understand the symptoms, you are empowered to take charge of your health!
Do you ever feel confused about the difference between food sensitivity, food allergy and food intolerance? The differences are actually pretty simple to understand and will help you understand how food affects you. First, some basic definitions:
Antibody: A large Y-shaped protein produced by the immune system. Its job is to recognize foreign proteins and neutralize them. It’s what happens when you get a cold, the bacteria or virus is recognized and then neutralized by antibodies.
Enzyme: In simple terms enzymes help breakdown things. Enzymes are very specific for what they break down. Therefore, your body has thousands of different enzymes to break down very specific compounds. Without enzymes the process may not occur at all or at a very reduced rate. In the digestive system, enzymes help break down food into smaller units for absorption.
Both food allergy and food sensitivity are antibody-mediated reactions to food. The antibody recognizes a food protein as harmful and tries to neutralize it. If this is similar then what is different? We have different types of antibodies in our body. Different types of antibodies react differently and cause different symptoms.
Food allergy
Food allergy is mediated by an antibody called IgE. When this type of antibody reacts with a foreign protein it immediately elicits typical reactions ranging from uncomfortable to life threatening. Skin irritation, redness, and swelling are common. Difficulty breathing is more disturbing as it represents tightening of the airway. Other symptoms such as hoarseness of voice, stuffy and runny nose, itchy and red eyes as well as nausea and vomiting can are also seen with food allergies.
With food allergy, as soon as the offending food is ingested, IgE levels rise and react quickly. The allergic symptom threshold is always reached. Avoidance of this offending food is necessary as it can be life threatening. The levels of IgE will also drop relatively quickly and within 5-7 days you typically no longer have symptoms.
Food sensitivity
Food sensitivity is mediated by an antibody called IgG. IgG antibodies react very differently from IgE. When IgG antibodies react with foreign proteins, they elicit a milder, slower, and non-typical reaction. Symptoms can vary from migraines, to increased behavioural difficulties in children with ADHD, to chronic digestive concerns (constipation, diarrhea, IBS, IBD), decreases in energy, skin issues (acne, eczema), and other vague symptoms. Here’s the problem - unlike food allergies, food sensitivities are very hard to diagnose. This is because their impacts can be seen 24 to 48 hours after the ingestion of the offending food. There are two ways that can help identify food sensitivities: the first is a strategic elimination/hypoallergenic diet, which works as both a diagnostic tool (to identify offending foods) and treatment (avoidance of offending foods as a first step towards long-term healing). The other is an IgG food sensitivity blood test - I offer this testing via either Immunolabs or Rocky Mountain Analytical. This tests how reactive your IgG antibodies are against various foods. The higher the reactivity the higher likelihood a food sensitivity might be present. This test can be a good starting point in assessing potential food sensitivity.
With food sensitivity, the offending food is ingested and the IgG antibody levels rise slowly and linger for up to 3 weeks. This is what makes a food sensitivity so hard to diagnose. You first ingest the offending food sensitivity and you are symptom-free. This is because you are still far from your symptomatic threshold. In a few days you ingest this same food item and again no symptoms. What you don’t know is that your IgG antibody levels have accumulated with those of your last exposure. Third time is a charm, you ingest the food and this time you get symptoms, such as migraine, constipation, weight gain, water retention, skin breakouts, fatigue, etc. Please note in this example I used 3 days but this is for illustrative purposes and is not literal. It can be confusing! Symptoms don’t appear immediately, so it is hard to link exposure to symptoms and you are left guessing at which foods is causing symptoms. Unlike an IgE food allergy were every single exposure is followed by symptoms, IgG food sensitivities depends on frequency and dose of the exposure.
Food intolerance
I work with many patients to address food sensitivities. The goal is not to eliminate a food for the rest of your life although avoidance for a period of time is sometimes necessary while we improve the integrity of the gut lining so that you can once again tolerate the offending food. When you figure out which foods you are sensitive to and understand the symptoms, you are empowered to take charge of your health!
