Dairy: Yay or Nay?

             There is a saying that at a party, you don’t talk politics and religion. The saying really should be that at a party, you don’t talk politics, religion and dairy. Why dairy? Because it’s a highly controversial topic, with great arguments on both sides of the debate.

Just as I talked about in my seminar, Healthy Foods That Poison: Why You’re Getting Sicker and Fatter Despite Eating Healthier, what’s good for one person may not be good for another. Certain chemicals in a food are beneficial, and others detrimental.

Well, we’re going to break that rule, and talk dairy. You’ll get both the pros and cons of dairy, and at the end, I’ll help you figure out if it’s right for you.

Original source: here.

Dairy tends to have two very beneficial proteins, called “whey” and “casein.” What makes those two proteins so beneficial? A lot of things. Very few proteins are alkalizing on the body. Most of them are acidifying. The exception to that rule is whey. As far as I know, it’s the only alkalizing protein around. The other things that whey and casein contain is proteins that can specifically enhance your immune system. In fact, prior to the 1920s, there was a diet called “The Milk Diet.” Some very successful and forward thinking doctors told their chronically ill patients to drink raw milk every waking hour, and nothing else. No other food, no water, no other drinks for a period of time.

One person who successfully used the milk diet with his patients was Bernarr MacFadden, and in 1924 he wrote in his book The Miracle of Milk:

“It seems so strange, in a way, that anything so simple and so lacking in mystery as milk should effect cures with such uniformity, and in grave disorders that have resisted the efforts of the most skillful medical men, armed with the most heterogeneous assortment of drugs and poisons, and that it should be prescribed or even appreciated by so few physicians as it is.”

“So convinced am I of the disease-correcting and health-maintaining power of the fast and milk diet that I urge anyone who has an abnormal functional or organic condition, especially in the beginning or in the incipient stage, to adopt this means of reestablishing normality.”

So yes, milk can be extremely nourishing, therapeutic and even performance enhancing. We’ve just scratched the surface of what milk can do. We could talk about its muscle-building and fat loss benefits (in the 1970s and 1980s, an entire generation of bodybuilders was brought up on the “squats and milk” diet). We could talk about it being a rich source of calcium (although there’s the argument that because of the acidic effect of protein the overall effect is calcium loss, it’s not true. That’s been disproven a number of times. For the geeks, check out this study and this one and this one).

Now for the drawbacks. When we’re talking about milk, please realize that raw milk is almost a completely different food than the pasteurized, homogenized, 1% or 2% milk you get from the grocery store.

Milk that has been heated to a high degree has had a lot of its protein denatured (that means “changed its structure so that it doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do”), and its nutrients depleted.

If you are lactose intolerant, milk can give you some digestive problems.

Also, in some people (but not all), cow’s milk can trigger autoimmune conditions (these are conditions like multiple sclerosis and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, where the immune system attacks parts of your own body).

So since one man’s food is another man’s poison, how do you figure out what’s right for you? As I explained in greater detail, during my Healthy Foods that Poison seminar, you can use a laboratory test or you can use the low-tech elimination diet. Try eliminating all dairy from your diet for 2 weeks (and don’t worry, your bones won’t crumble into dust. Vegetables and nuts are very rich sources of calcium as well). After that, bring dairy back in, and see how your body reacts. How’s your energy? How’s your nasal congestion? How do your joints feel? How is your mental clarity? How are your bowel movements? How is your skin quality? Pay attention to all these details. If you suddenly experience a whole bunch of symptoms as a result of bringing dairy back in, it’s probably not a good food for you. But if you don’t feel any different, it’s either neutral or beneficial for you.

Short Summary

• Milk has several benefits:
  • Whey protein is alkalizing
  • It can be very therapeutic
  • It can help grow muscle and lose fat
  • It’s a good source of calcium
  • It’s a good source of protein
• Milk has several drawbacks:
  • If it’s pasteurized and homogenized, the nutrients have been depleted
  • It can trigger autoimmune conditions
  • If you have lactose intolerance, it will do quite a number on your digestion
  • The protein in pasteurized, homogenized milk may not be that beneficial
• How to figure out if dairy is right for you:
  • Completely eliminate it from your diet for 2 weeks
  • Reintroduce it after that period, and note your symptoms:
    • Energy levels
    • Mental clarity
    • Nasal congestion
    • Joint pain
    • Bowel movements
    • Skin quality
  • If you develop symptoms as a result of reintroducing dairy, it’s probably bad for you. If nothing changes when you bring back dairy, it’s probably fine for you.