Healing My Dairy Intolerance
I’ll never forget the most severe days of my dairy intolerance journey - my husband had eaten a cheese-loaded sandwich and happened to kiss me not long after. What should have been super romantic turned into a massive migraine and several days in bed.
Let’s back up a bit - I didn’t always have a dairy intolerance. I was raised in the 90’s and “got milk” like everyone else. My college days were full of low fat dairy, sugar-free ice cream, and other chemical nightmares that I had no qualms with at the time, but I did not skimp on dairy at all.
When my second son was diagnosed with a severe dairy allergy not long after he was born, I immediately removed it from my diet. I don’t see that as a mistake - it was the choice we had to continue breastfeeding; unfortunately, that food removal spiraled into other food removals and before long I was eating extremely little, convinced that every symptom I had was linked to an item I needed to cut from my diet.
Even when our nursing journey ended, I had an impossible time attempting to add dairy back into my diet. I always had the same extreme symptomatic response - migraines, headaches, flu-like symptoms and days in bed. Here’s the bullet point version of what finally changed that:
DNRS - this brain retraining program truly changed my life. A simple at-home DVD program led me from 7-10 foods to nearly a full blown Paleo diet. I was still quite limited for some time, but this program took me out of the extreme reactive state I had been in for so long.
Trying raw dairy - this deserves an entire blog post on it’s own! Did you know that lactose intolerance is quite legitimate, that nobody is designed to break down lactose in isolation? Raw, unpasteurized dairy has two vital enzymes - lactose and lactase, which is the other component needed to actually absorb and assimilate lactose. Pasteurizing dairy removes the lactase enzyme, which makes it incredibly hard for our bodies to know what to do with the lactose.
(If you feel like you want some guidelines or assistance trying to introduce raw dairy, I have some incredible success stories from using my dairy-free/dairy-reintroduction meal plan!)Prayer and community - at face value this might seem like the less “functional” approach, but God was so faithful to answer years of praying, individually and with our close community, for my food sensitivities to be healed. Having people around me who truly believed and advocated for my healing was such a gift!
Gut support - Thankfully, some of the foods I could include during my five years of major limitation were things like bone broth, gelatin and collagen, grass-fed beef, and coconut products. Those nutrients and proteins paved the way for my food sensitivity healing!
Eating MORE - Ultimately, one of the singular factors that helped me come off thyroid medication and heal my body was increasing my overall caloric intake and carbohydrates. This may or may not be your journey, but often, under-eating can naturally result in not getting enough nutrients!
To Dairy or Not?
Dairy is possibly one of the most confusing topics in the wellness world. With SO many sensitivites, allergies, etc, how do we know whether to include it or avoid it?
The first important thing to note is that it has incredible nutritional value; it’s loaded with calcium, fat-soluble vitamins, and has the perfect balance of macros. Not to mention, it’s been consumed for all of human existence!
So why has it gotten called evil?
1. Most modern dairy is fortified. The reaction you're having may be from the added synthetic vitamins or other fillers. OR because of the poor farming practices the animal was raised with.
2. Like we talked about above, pasteurized (what grocery store milk is) milk lacks the lactase enzyme. Raw, or unpasteurized, milk provides both the lactose and lactase enzymes.
3. Blood sugar imbalances, eating too many PUFAS (inc. nuts and seeds and highly refined oils like sunflower, corn, canola, and vegetable oil), too many raw veggies, etc, and other gut issues can lead to poorly digesting dairy.
So what's the possible solution?
1. Stop consuming so many nut and seed products, grains, PUFA oils, conventionally raised chicken and turkey, alcoholic beverages, raw leafy greens, and cruciferous veggies.
2. Focus on saturated fat through well-sourced animal protein, coconut products, cacao, and ghee, and include quality carbs like honey, fruit, maple syrup, root veggies, and raw carrot salad daily.
3. Prioritize "nose-to tail-eating" (utilize the whole animal) - bone broth, collagen, gelatin, liver, etc - don't only eat muscle meats!
4. Try local raw milk and/or raw hard cheese in small amounts when you're ready.
It's important to know that while dairy is incredibly beneficial and should be included when possible, some people are not in that place and that just means some more healing needs to happen! Chances are, if you focus on these principles, you may tolerate dairy more than you think!
Milk SourcingHere is the ranking I personally use when buying or consuming milk, from my top choice, to less favorable options. There can be varying opinions here but here’s what I use in my own house!
1. Local, raw, high A2 grass-fed and organic with no additives. If you can’t find high A2, local and raw is still fantastic. Sheep and goat milk that fall into this category are also wonderful choices.
2. Organic, grass-fed, low-temp pasteurized and non-homogenized, and ideally local (like Mill-King in TX!)
3. Grass fed organic, additive-free store-bought (like Kalona, Maple Hill, etc)
4. Organic with no additives
(from here down is a pretty big “never” for me personally)
5. Conventional whole milk with no additives
6. Organic milk with additives
7. Conventional milk with additives
8. Milk alternatives. EXCEPT Aroy-D brand coconut milk or something similar. Everything else is loaded with synthetic ingredients.
(In many countries, including the US, synthetic vitamins have to be added to any reduced fat milk, so whole milk is usually your best choice. For questions about specific brands, I would check if they have additives, if they do, I would personally call it a hard no!)
Is Butter Better?
“Heart disease was rare in America at the turn of the century. Between 1920 and 1960, the incidence of heart disease rose precipitously to become America's number one killer.
During the same period butter consumption plummeted from eighteen pounds per person per year to four. It doesn't take a Ph.D. in statistics to conclude that butter is not a cause. Actually butter contains many nutrients that protect us from heart disease.
First among these is vitamin A which is needed for the health of the thyroid and adrenal glands, both of which play a role in maintaining the proper functioning of the heart and cardiovascular system.
Abnormalities of the heart and larger blood vessels occur in babies born to vitamin A deficient mothers. Butter is America's best and most easily absorbed source of vitamin A.”
© WESTONAPRICE.ORG
And a favorite dairy-free meal plan review, to close 😊
“Hi Fallon!
I bought your meal plan recently and feel so FREAKING good. Honestly I thought for a long time that I was lactose intolerant and I've been dairy free for years... but I reintroduced dairy because of your meal plan and experience none of the symptoms I used to struggle with!”