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THE END OF ELIMINATION DIETING: DAIRY
Last issue I talked about our early ancestors diets, how long-term elimination diets are highly problematic, the "miracle" of TBM's Harmonization process, and the importance of "the Basics." If you missed it, here is a link.
This issue I am going to discuss dairy, specifically bovine milk and milk products. From here on out when I write "milk" i will be referring to bovine unless I state otherwise.
In TBM we have always taught that milk is only for those who haven't weaned yet. Continually to consume it afterwards, including Europeans and North Africans even though they uniquely produce lactase throughout life, is problematic. We have always specifically pointed to weight gain and acne as hallmark adverse symptoms.
That being said, we have always been, and remain, very supportive of foodstuffs made FROM milk. This includes, but is not limited to, cheese, yogurt, half & half, cream, butter, ghee, kefir, buttermilk, condensed milk, and sour cream. We hold that these are not only foods that are perfectly suitable for a healthy diet but rather are essential in a diet. The only exception would be a non-European/North African who is practicing the traditional diet from whence their ancestors originated. I'm referring to, for instance, someone from Japan who consumes the like of miso, natto, tofu, and the like on a daily basis.
Why are we so emphatic about including dairy? First off, its really about the only foodstuff which a high enough level of calcium to meet TBM-level requirements solely through diet (I recommend you read our Calcium Brief for more details).
Secondarily, but I think even more importantly, is the positive impact it has on the gut. I'm referring minimally to it being high in butyric acid and glutamine as well as, if fermented, gut-biome promoting bacterins, and it being every human's original prebiotic.
When in full-time practice, my entire patient population had severe gut issues. It was imperative that I resolve them quickly as all other healing is dependent on the body's ability to extract nutrients. Dairy products were, and remain, at the top of the list in restoring gut function. I place it there for two reasons, its capability in promoting gut repair (mostly due to high glutamine and butyric acid content) and it being perfectly suited, particularly when fermented, to facilitate the restoration and maintenance of the gut biome.
GLUTAMINE
Dairy products are very high in glutamine. Glutamine is very reparative to the entire gut, especially the small intestine. Take a look at how it is the selected therapy to repair the gut after radiation in the article in the News section above.
BUTYRIC ACID
Butyric acid literally means, in Greek, butter. All milk fats are high in it. If you want to learn more about the benefits of butyric acid on the gut and elsewhere in the body. See the article in the News section above. While, like glutamine, it is terrific at promoting the repair and maintenance of enterocytes (gut cells), I consider it my main go-to for colon, whereas glutamine is my go-to for the small intestine.
GUT BIOME
Now I'll move on to the gut biome [see TBM Manuals: 40th Anniversary Compilation (“The Big Book”) pages 64 & 86 for acidophilus Need & Use, surge protocol and our Microbiota Body Point]. Without reviewing the entire section in The Big Book, I'd like to review a few things. First off, we test Need & Use for Acidophilus. If positive, we then ask if Maintenance is adequate or if a Surge is needed. If the former, generally daily consumption of yogurt will get us there. If the latter, then we will need SurgeBiotic.
Now there are several theories as to why yogurt and probiotics like SurgeBiotic work. Ultimately it only matters that they DO work but that doesn't keep us from improving our theories. Essentially I've see 3 different ones. First, you are implanting microbiota into the gut. The case against this is stomach acid. Second, you are shifting the pH of the gut. This has simply never appealed to me, but I know some very smart people assign this as the reason. Third, and this is my preferred hypothesis, is that it is bactericins.
BACTERICINS
What are bactericins? Simply put, they are antibiotics produced by microbes in order to kill other microbes who might compete with them for the same food. Probiotic foods and nutritionals are selected, either from 1000s of years of experience or latest scientific investigations, because their particular bacterin profile kills that which disrupts gut health and function. Fermented milk products have stood the test of time and remain at or near the top of the heap.
PREBIOTIC
You gut biome needs to eat. Bacteria are hungry critters. A tablespoon of yogurt will each 1.5 gallons of milk in just a few hours! How do I know? I do it regularly when I make my yogurt. Do you know how they clean up oil spills with millions of gallons of crude? You guessed it, bacteria! As a side note, bacteria is a good reason to avoid plastic cutting boards and other food preparation tools and use wood and glass instead.
Just prior to your birth your digestive tract was sterile, a tabula rasa. Thankfully you hadn't started making stomach acid yet, that doesn't happen until 4 hours to 4 days, so the microbiota you ingested from traveling through the vaginal canal with your mouth open and that which you ingested when you latched onto your mother's breast had unfettered access to and inoculated your entire digestive tract. This established you gut biome. Now, that micro-biosphere needed to be fed. What was it fed with? Mammalian, in this case, your mother's, milk! Dairy was the original prebiotic (a substance, or food, which promotes the health of the gut biome) and remains, in my experience, the best one throughout life! In fact, I hold that it is not possible, in many cases, to restore a gut biome once it has been seriously depleted, without the consumption of dairy products. Since I don't know which cases in advance will absolutely require it, I simply require it of all of my clients. Thankfully, due to TBM, its Harmonization process [128, 129], and readily available nutritionals, any issues an individual may have had prior to beginning care can be easily resolved. |
