How I Cured My Lactose Intolerance
Everything I Believed About Milk Was Wrong
There is no other way to put it — too much dairy isn’t healthy, and we all eat too much.
Just a while ago, I found out that one Kilogramm of added Sugar is within the limits of Harvard’s Medical School Guidelines. As I crawled even deeper into the diet rabbit hole, this time for dairy, I faced fake research, politics, and propaganda. Again.
That being said, you can have a healthy dairy containing diet, build lactose tolerance, and be a little greener too if you eat responsibly.
There are approximately 270 million dairy cows.
World War Dairy
Turns out, the older generations rarely had any milk growing up and it wasn’t for financial reasons.
Seeing an adult drinking a glass of milk would be rare. Strange even.
This made me curious, what was up with milk in the early 2000s? How about the 40s?
As far as I can think back, milk was popular. A one-in-all foodstuff with calcium, carbs, fat, protein, and vitamins. It’s an entire food group, yet research studies are either questionable at best and paid for by a dairy corporation or negative, to say the least.
- Researcher Denies Documented Ties,
- Misleading Health Research,
- The Federal Government Is Lying to You About Milk,
- The dairy industry is feeding you lies […]
I tediously dug through the material of both positive and negative sentiment. The outcome is a score of -30 as in thirty reasons why milk is bad for you (assuming you consume average amounts).
Why Is Milk Such A Hit?
In World War I dairy demands became huge so farmers switched from crops to cattle and heavily invested into large-scale production.
A soldier wrote:
“If only I could be home with a big glass of milk and just sitting listening to the radio and reading the paper, I’d give a million dollars.”
Come peace, there was now way too much milk, but it was too late to turn back. The government bought the surplus for billions, created marketing campaigns, and funded questionable research to back it all up.
Make America Gluttonous Again 🧢
Sodas are banned. Chocolate milk, which has the same amount of sugar as coke, isn’t. 70% of milk served in schools is flavored. Not that regular milk is much better given that it’s by far not the only dairy that will be consumed that day.
When schools tried to replace flavored with plain milk, sales dropped by 35%. Schools make up 8 percent of the total milk market which is “a sizable and important piece of business,” says Barbara O’Brian, senior VP of Dairy Management. “Those sales are crucial to lifelong dairy consumption and keeping people positively inclined to our products and our industry.”
The Milk Must Flow
Farmers kept on producing more because the government didn’t set any limits on how much could be sold to them.
Congress was — and still is — receiving contributions from the dairy industry for the milk that we were — and still are — told to consume.
Sales Abroad
Nestle is the biggest food company in the world. Their campaign for selling formula to developing countries crossed the line for many causing a boycott.
Of course, Nestle’s intentions were not to hurt babies or their mothers — but terrible misunderstandings and questionable marketing strategies led to disaster.
The assumptions were that western food was the better choice and that you can dilute formula to last longer.
32+ Reason (Too Much) Milk Is Toxic
Thes following list makes it seem like milk is very dangerous for everybody, but this should be taken with a grain of salt. People are diverse and so should our diet be. The Human digestive system is a marvelous product of evolution, but in recent years we have been eating huge amounts of sugar, artificial sweeteners, meat, and dairy like never before.
Click here to jump to my quest for cottage cheese and how I cured my lactose intolerance.
Research suggests that an infant may be less likely to develop eczema if their mother takes probiotics and avoids drinking cow’s milk during pregnancy.
2. Bone fractures
One cup of tofu contains 868 milligrams of calcium and sardines 569.2. Milk only 305.
Also kale, collards, mustard greens, turnip greens, bok choy, broccoli, and fortified plant-derived milk and juices.
3. Prostate cancer
Milk and dairy products are linked to increased prostate cancer risk due to the hormone-insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I), saturated fat, and dairy calcium and protein.
4. Breast cancer
We found that at relatively low doses of dairy milk, less than a cup a day, there was a steep rise in the risk of breast cancer (+80%)
5. Ovarian cancer
We observed a positive association between lactose intake and serous ovarian cancer risk
6. Rosacea
The proteins found in dairy have been shown to be a common trigger
7. Milk and dairy allergies
It is possible for adults to develop a milk allergy with no childhood history of allergies.
8. Penicillin allergies
It has been recognized for many years that hidden sources of penicillin [milk] might represent a hazard to penicillin-allergic patients.
9. Asthma
Researchers found that across the board, the studies that included dairy consumption demonstrated an inverse relationship between the amount of dairy consumed and the risk of developing asthma. Other studies pointed to statistically significant decreases in lung function, while others found that inflammatory markers (such as IL-7) increased in those who consumed dairy.
10. Constipation
Removal of cow’s milk resolved constipation in a substantial subset of children, and the finding that reintroduction of cow’s milk led to relapse is compelling.
11. Crohn’s disease
Galactose is what scientists use to cause premature aging in lab animals — it can shorten their lifespan
12. Diabetes
I typically advise most of my patients to avoid dairy products completely
13. Heart diseases and strokes
When dairy fat was replaced with the same number of calories from vegetable fat or polyunsaturated fat, the risk of cardiovascular disease dropped by 10% and 24%, respectively.
14. Hormonal issues
The presence of steroid hormones in dairy products could be counted as an important risk factor for various cancers in humans.
After consuming 600 mL/m2 of cows’ milk, participants’ plasma E1 and P4 levels increased while FSH, LH, and testosterone levels dropped significantly.
Research shows a high correlation between MS and dairy products
It’s clear that dairy and obesity go hand in hand.
18. Osteoporosis
The countries with the highest rates of osteoporosis are the ones where people drink the most milk and have the most calcium in their diets. The connection between calcium consumption and bone health is actually very weak, and the connection between dairy consumption and bone health is almost non-existent.
19. Increased risk of cancer development from casein
Casein promotes the proliferation of prostate cancer cells such as PC3 and LNCaP.
Typhimurium infections linked to pasteurized milk.
21. Migraine
Nothing stopped my severe migraines until I dropped milk from my diet
In certain countries (USA and Switzerland) large outbreaks of listeriosis were associated with consumption of fresh cheeses and milk. Studies on presence of L.monocytogenes in raw milk carried out in Europe, have shown that 2,5–6% of samples can be contaminated with L.monocytogenes.
23. Acne
Only cow’s milk was found to be linked to acne
24. E. coli and STEC strains
Dispeptic E. coli are detected in 5.18 percent in those of the pasteurized milk.
25. Uterine cancer
We found a positive association between the cumulative average total dairy consumption and the risk of the endometrial cancer
26. OCP (Organochlorine pesticides)
Despite the ban on the use of OCPs for agricultural purposes since the 1980s, work shows that these compounds and their metabolites are still available in the environment.
27. Arthritis
A study of more than 40,000 people with osteoarthritis (OA) found that those who ate more dairy products were more likely to need hip replacement surgery.
28. DDT (Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane)
A total of 27 packaged milk samples of different brands were collected from Haridwar and analyzed for HCH isomers and DDT metabolites. All the samples were found contaminated with residues of these insecticides.
29. HCH (Hexachlorocyclohexane)
Routine monitoring detected that milk from dairy farms in Italy’s Sacco River Valley had levels of ß-HCH twenty times higher than the legal limit.
30. IBD
Many people with IBD report that their symptoms become worse after consuming dairy products.
31. Polluted
Not even our food regulatory agencies expect milk will be sterile after pasteurization; the heating process is done merely to reduce (not eliminate) the amount of microorganisms.
32. Counterproductive calcium
The protein in milk acidifies blood so bones have to release calcium to get blood back to a neutral pH.
33. Scorched Earth
We mow down a fifth of the rainforest every couple of decades for more cattle.
First conclusion
It’s really hard to find objective data on the dairy industry and its products. If there is one thing I learned about nutrition, its that the truth is always somewhere in the middle and we all agree that sugar is bad.
The arguably best-balanced diet is arguably just that — balanced.
In all honesty, there are not that many dairy products I truly care for — except cottage cheese. Now there was the question on what to do about that darn lactose intolerance.
The Quest For Cottage Cheese
When your body does not have enough lactose enzymes (“lactase”) your body can’t break the milk sugar down.
Lactose-free products solve this issue is by adding lactase rather than removing lactose.
In other words, lactose-free products are actually lactase-added. But those are a-ok to it eat, right? Not quite. Let’s start with the obvious: milk allergy (≠lactose intolerance).
Digesting any amount can be fatal leaving allergic people looking out for milk components like prey for a predator. Worse yet, a milk allergy can develop later on.
Lactose intolerance is the default
Production falls drastically after infancy from anywhere between 70 to 99%. The average adult can still consume smaller amounts — roughly 10 to 12 grams — without consequences.
This is a genetically programmed event. Approximately 75% of the Earth’s population is considered lactose intolerant.
It’s all in your head?
It sounds ridiculous, but there is actually some truth to that. Misdiagnosing the origin of symptoms has led many to falsely believe their problem lies with lactose intolerance. There is also the placebo effect.
The researchers found that less than a third of people who reported symptoms of lactose intolerance really had the condition
Building Tolerance Like A Slowly Boiling Teapot
My tactic was simple. Consuming a small amount of dairy each day and gradually increase the amount over several days or weeks. I wouldn’t need that much for my balanced-diet plan — or rather my cottage cheese snacks — anyways.
Cheese is digested slower because it has more components buying my system valuable time. I made a little note of the amount of cottage cheese starting with 50 grams, then 60, 70, and so on. Eventually, I added a little glass of milk to the rations.
I can now digest a little over half a liter or 36 grams of lactose without any symptoms.
All because of a taste for cottage cheese that I will now have to hold back for.
Disclaimer: This is my personal experience. Please speak with a qualified medical care professional about your personal needs.
For full tolerance, more complicated approaches like self-gene editing do the trick, but I’m satisfied.
