What’s wrong with gluten, dairy, and sugar? Part 2 – dairy.

Let me first explain why I don’t eat dairy.  It completely destroys my stomach.  In order to eat a product containing dairy, I have to ingest a Lactaid pill.  This is due to the fact that my body does not adequately digest lactose, the sugar present in milk.  In other words, I am lactose intolerant.  I suppose it is my one genetic flaw.  This post uses the words milk and dairy interchangeably, because I am referencing both milk and dairy products i.e. cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, cream etc.

Have you ever considered how strange it is that humans are the only mammals that consistently drink the milk of other mammals?  I’m not talking about those heartwarming stories of dogs suckling kittens to keep them alive after their mother died.  I am specifically talking about how most humans drink cow’s milk.  Would you ever consider feeding a calf a bottle of your breast milk?  Seems strange, right?  I digress.

Milk is literally meant to spur growth and enable a growing body.  This is why it is excellent for infants and children.  Milk is the perfect combination of fat, protein, and carbohydrates – in equal portions.  Elite athletes such as the “Fab Five” US women’s gymnastics team drink milk as a part of their post-workout nutrition.  Milk helps these elite athletes recover from their demanding workouts by shuttling protein and glycogen into their muscles (1).  Glycogen is a substance deposited in bodily tissues as a store of carbohydrates (sugar).  

We’ve established that milk is great for infants, children, and elite athletes.  What about the rest of the population?  I’m sorry to say this, but unless you are an infant, child, or elite athlete, the consumption of milk will add body weight.  No, it doesn’t matter if it is skim milk.  As stated above, it is literally meant to spur growth.  If you are trying to reduce body weight, the last thing you want to do is spur growth.  As an aside, I have two associates who have a hard time maintaining their body weight.  In order to keep themselves from being under weight, they consume dairy.  Dairy is the perfect food for them. 

Why will milk add body weight?  Milk is highly insulinogenic, more than most other carbohydrate sources (2).  Seriously, do you think you can speak English?  In other words, dairy intake stimulates insulin secretion much like sugar does.  If you eat too many things that stimulate insulin secretion – as most American’s do – you are going to have insulin levels that are constantly elevated.  According to Mark Sisson of Mark’s Daily Apple, when insulin is constantly elevated, “your body helps the [sugar] find its way into your fat cells, where it is stored as fat. Again – because it bears repeating – it’s not fat that gets stored in your fat cells – it’s sugar (3).” 

Stay tuned for part 3 – sugar.  

(1) – http://www.marksdailyapple.com/dairy-intolerance/#axzz22Q04u5Fp

(2) – http://www.marksdailyapple.com/dairy-insulin/#axzz22Pzr3Kwg

(3) - http://www.marksdailyapple.com/diabetes/#axzz22RGZIeQP