LACTOSE INTOLERANCE: EXPLAINED

October 20, 2018 

So many people today are lactose intolerant. I’ve heard it several times this week: “I can’t drink dairy,  I’m lactose intolerant.” It’s not that you can’t drink dairy, it’s that you aren’t drinking the RIGHT dairy. Not all dairy is the same.

Here’s a stunner: 97% of the U.S. drinks processed, pasteurized milk. Whether you buy organic or  regular, it’s all pasteurized. That milk is heated up to high temperatures to kill bacteria. When milk is  pasteurized, it destroys much of the calcium in the milk as insoluble – it also destroys part of the  vitamin C, and wipes out the vitamin D, and vitamin K. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Pasteurized Milk today comes from cows crammed in confined dairies. They NEED to use antibiotics  because the confined operation is too large to allow the farmers to manage the cattle on a more  mature, reasonable level. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

When you pasteurize milk, you damage that lactase enzyme. That enzyme is required to digest the  milk sugar known as lactose. When we are babies, all of us produce lactase. That’s the reason that  babies can digest breast milk. But around the age of 4, lactase production declines on a massive  scale. Having no lactase in the milk (pasteurized) or the person drinking the milk makes for digestive  distress and what we all know as lactose intolerance. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

When drinking pasteurized milk, this is a huge problem – it means that we have people who are  lactose intolerant or who must avoid dairy. For those drinking raw milk, it’s not a problem. Raw milk  is not pasteurized – it has the lactase enzyme. Thus, those who opt to move towards raw milk  traditionally won’t have that dairy intolerance because the lactase enzyme is present in full force.  ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

What about dairy allergies?

Food plays a critical part. ⠀⠀  ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Dead bacteria in pasteurized milk triggers inflammation – your body reacts by mast cells breaking  open, histamines being released and mucous being laid down – this leads to ear infections. Leaky  gut. Food allergies. Raw milk is alive with beneficial bacteria and your body recognizes it. That  beneficial bacteria colonizes and becomes part of your immune system. Further, the heat of  pasteurization denatures and destroys some proteins in pasteurized milk.

One reason people find raw milk so much easier to digest is because the proteins are complete and  bioavailable. Raw milk contains the enzyme lactase which helps break down lactose. Additionally, an  enzyme in the butterfat called lipase aids in fat digestion and assimilation of the fat-soluble  vitamins. The butterfat in raw milk boosts anti-inflammatory properties, and the body requires that  butterfat to absorb fat those fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K in the milk.

Hence why the consumption of skim, 1% and 2% milk are less than stellar health choices – pasteurized milk requires that they remove the butterfat. That butterfat removal mutilates the  integrity of the milk. The nutrients aren’t bioavailable and your body can’t assimilate those much  needed nutrients without the butterfat that goes with them. Hence the term “fat soluble”. In the end it’s important for all of us to be able to know and recognize that there are huge problems in our food  system. Pasteurized milk is made for shelf life, it’s a money making business. Raw milk is made for  gut health.