Lactose Intolerance: Milk Isn't The Problem, You're The Problem
Oct 17, 2011 | 19 Comments 
I apologize for my absence the last few weeks, but I am thrilled to to announce that my second book, HAIR LIKE A FOX, is a few weeks away from completion.
The book is a "no-fluff" guide to combating hair loss through diet. It honestly kicks the shit out of the old book, The Healthy Hair Diet, which received great feedback. Once HLAF is finished, I will be sending a free copy to everyone who purchased THHD.
On to this weeks post!
If you missed the last post, I surmised that if you're dairy intolerant, it's not the food, it's you.
I explained that hypothyroidism, inflammation, excessive stress, nutrient deficiencies, progesterone deficiency, and bacterial endotoxin can all increase the odds that one would become intolerant to dairy (lactose or casein).
Progesterone & Estrogen
One area I would like to focus on is the ratio of progesterone to estrogen. Progesterone and estrogen have an opposing, adversarial relationship. Nutrient deficiencies, nutrient excess, stress, and environmental toxins all serve to reduce progesterone leaving room for excess estrogen.
Estrogen causes the body to: waste nutrients, increases prolactin, increases serotonin, increases cortisol, lowers blood sugar, and can cause the lining of the gut to become permeable; allowing for all sorts of possible food allergies.
Here are a few ways one can alter the progesterone to estrogen ratio:
- Vitamin E - Vitamin E is considered to be the "anti sterility" vitamin in the nutrition world. This may be due to vitamin E's opposition to estrogen and promotion of progesterone.
- Iron Overload - I talked about this a few weeks ago, but excess iron fucks everything up. Iron causes oxidative damage and depletes vitamin E. Through vitamin E depletion and destroying the liver, excess iron can reduce progesterone and promote estrogen.
- Vitamin A - Vitamin A is an anti-estrogen and one of few very important rate-limiting factors in progesterone synthesis. Along with pantothenic acid, cholesterol, and thyroid, vitamin A helps produce pregnenolone, "the mother hormone," which is the starting point for all anti- and pro- hair hormones. Peat mentions in Nutrition For Women that most allergies are overcome once one becomes vitamin A, pantothenic acid (B5), and vitamin C replete.
- Vitamins D & K - Both have anti-estrogenic properties according to Peat. It seems logical based on the research Peat has done on calcium metabolism and parathyroid hormone causing loads of stress.
- Protein Deficiency - The liver needs generous amounts of protein to properly function and detoxify hormones. Peat suggests 80-100 grams for ladies and 100-120 grams for males. Peat has stated years ago that he consumes about ~150 grams a day.
Low-Carb Dieting: Allergen City
Peat has mentioned that in experiments, rats with low blood sugar reacted poorly to the smallest amounts of toxins (heavy metals) added to their diet, while those with high blood sugar were protected. These rats were in a sense hypersensitive to allergens. This doesn't surprise me at all.
In fact, the only reason I was so freaked out about ending my zero-carb diet was how "bad" I would react to other foods when I would "slip up."
Getting glucose tolerance back in line involves enabling the liver to store glycogen properly, reducing stress hormones, becoming nutrient replete, reducing PUFA, proper sleep, etc. Two things we can quickly go over are sugar and salt:
- Sugar - I think it's fairly obvious that low-carbers develop food sensitivities overtime. Adding in generous amounts of simple syrup (or raw honey if you don't do sugar) to milk may enhance one's ability to withstand dairy. The sugar probably has several different effects; providing energy for the liver to "do its work," providing glucose to fuel the deidoinase enzymes to convert T4 to T3, promotes progesterone synthesis, and helps excrete excess estrogen (glucuronic acid).
- Sodium - Hypothyroidism (which increases the ratio of estrogen to progesterone) and stressful conditions increase the loss of sodium. Increasing dietary consumption by TEASPOONS may have a desired effect of increasing temperature, decreasing adrenaline, increasing sleep, and reducing serotonin.
Experiment:
- Reduce ferritin levels
- Become vitamin E, A, D, K replete
- Experiment with different amounts of iron-free salt
- Drink milk with meals
- Have a daily raw carrot with refined coconut oil to decrease bacterial endotoxin
- Increase sugar consumption in the form of simple syrup, raw honey, or ripe fruit
Reader Comments (19)
"Have a daily raw carrot with refined coconut oil..." --Why refined?
I was wondering the same thing... Why refined?? But the low sugar thing is interesting. I have always had hypoglycemia, and I'm the only child in my family with allergy issues.
Has anyone tried these strategies? Did they work for improving dairy tolerance?
Danny, how much milk do you drink per day? I can drink comfortably about 8 ounces per day. I feel bad if I don't drink it or drink more than that.
@Gaby, Bruno,
Refined is less allergenic, plus some people hate the taste of coconut.
@Anon,
I drink about 64 oz or more a day. When I started Peat I had diarrhea and horrible bloating if I looked at milk.
How much simple syrup or sugar should one add to milk? What is a good starting point?
@Mike,
Anywhere from none to 1 cup.
I 'cured' my lactose intolerance by drinking raw brown cow grassfed milk. Now I can eat dairy products again without any symptoms.
Always wondered why I could eat ice cream without problems. I was severely lactose intolerant (and many severe allergies) ever since childhood. People thought I was faking it all when they saw me eating ice cream voraciously. Makes perfect sense now--the high sugar content, plus (at least when I was a kid--a very long time ago) the high cream content, which left less room for lactose. I think I was craving the saturated fat and sugar, probably contained real Vitamin D also.
I also craved cheese, which didn't bother me. Never liked the Velveeta Mom used in everything. I always wanted cheddar, the more aged the better. Now I know about fermentation and how it gets rid of the lactose. I eliminated of all my allergies too, at least 10 years ago by fixing my diet. I can handle a cup or even two of good raw milk now.
I don't have digestion issues with dairy, but it does give me some acne? I've long suspected a hormonal trigger here. Would you suspect that fixing the hormones would give me the ability to eat milk without acne?
Very interesting. I've always felt somewhat crappier after having milk. Recently though I've been doing extremely different experimental things with my diet, just to see what effects they have. A milkshake with Breyer's ice cream, real buttermilk, and raw honey (very salty and sweet) not only didn't bother me in the slightest but seemed to almost instantly clear my sinuses (which are always negatively affected with dairy). I find buttermilk to be very tasty even though I've always been averse to milk - might be an option for those who don't like the taste of milk.
What do you suggest someone eat in the meantime while gradually increasing their milk consumption? I am currently on 1- 1.5 cups a day, (anymore and I've got problems.) Where should i get my calories from for the time being until i can tolerate a higher quantity?
Thanks you.
Danny, just found this website yesterday and been blown away by the info here. Is it really necesary to use refined coconut oil? it is actually a lot easier for me where i live (spain) to get virgin oil, and I (as far as i know) really have no allergies and have never had any problems with energy levels or sexual performance etc, i just dont have much hair left.
thanks very much for the info here, i look forward to following your blog.
@Oliver,
Refined coconut oil is less allergenic and has some interesting benefits that olive oil doesn't have (inc. the metabolism, removal of PUFA from the tissue).
The unsaturated fat content of olive oil is the main problem with using a lot of it.
Hey Danny, what do you think of the claim that milk causes osteoroposis ? For instance some Masais have osteoroposis, which is very scarce in Africa.
@Roquefort,
Dr. Peat writes extensively about the subject on his site.
I touch upon it in this article:
http://www.dannyroddy.com/main/2012/2/23/orthodox-paleo-or-how-to-increase-stress-inflammation-bone-l.html
thank you Danny
Hi Danny,
i have been following a Peat inspired diet for about a month now, largely revolving around high quality semi-skim milk (3.4 litres), tropical fruit (a large orange, a papaya, large slice of pineapple, and 1/2 cantaloupe), and some clams and a few greens in the evening. I also have a cup of coffee in the morning.
I have also been taking a low dose of aspirin (75mg), vitamin K2 (45mcg), Vit D3 (2500 IU), Vit C (1000mg), Vit E (400IU), Niacin (100mg), and sublingual pregnenelone (25mg) daily.
Since doing the diet i have felt fantastic and my training recovery and lean mass gains have been great. However, i have been getting worsening flank pain near my floating ribs on both sides. I was wondering if it could be all the milk i have been drinking. I was reading about milk-alkali syndrome http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000332.htm and how high milk consumption can lead to calcium deposits in the kidneys, esp. when vit D3 intake is high as well.Do you think there is a connection?
@Rob,
I would get some lab work to see if anything pops out.
It could be a number of things.