You can’t swing a cat in a barn these days without hitting some new report out on the beleaguered dairy industry. Not that I’m endorsing cat swinging. Or swinging objects in barns. In fact, I can’t even endorse dairy because – have you heard? – 60% of adults can’t digest milk. And the bad news keeps rolling in: all of that stuff we’ve been told about low-fat dairy aiding in weight loss and strengthening bones and giving us a healthy smile? Aside from getting Heidi Klum to dress up as the world’s hottest milkmaid, all those claims are just not true, so says the new research which contradicts the old research – the old research that was all funded by the dairy industry.
You remember this ad campaign? All lies.This news greatly concerns me because I happen to love my dairy products. Unfortunately I’ve discovered that they may not love me back. You may recall I’ve been struggling with anxiety/panic attacks with ever-increasing frequency over the past 6 months or so. Several weeks ago I tried going gluten-free on the advice of my Life Time Fitness* genius nutritionist Darryl Bushard who thought that inflammation from eating gluten might be jacking with my mood. After three weeks with no gluten my panic attacks were still worsening – to the point where a week ago I had a full-fledged incident involving vomiting, diarrhea, uncontrollable shaking and heart palpitations so badly that several years ago it would have sent me to the ER. Fortunately I now can recognize it for what it is and that it will pass but nevertheless, it was excruciating. In consulting again with my nutritionist I assumed he’d tell me to take out sugar (the white devil bedevils me!) but he surprised me. His instruction? “Try taking out dairy.”
Dairy? Is related to anxiety?!
My sister, my non-expert source on food sensitivities — she has one child with an autoimmune disorder and several others with marked sensitivities so she’s been to this rodeo before — agreed with him. “You already know you are an HSP (highly sensitive person) and research has linked HSPs to a higher incidence of food sensitivities, particularly gluten.” (Note: I could not find this study as of press time but I’m still looking. HSP research is a pretty new field…) Then she added, “And my doctors told us that dairy and gluten issues often go together.”
This is Dr. Daniel Kalish has to say:
“Lactase, a specialized enzyme that aids digestion of lactose in milk products is usually lacking in people with sub-clinical gluten intolerance. Lactase breaks down lactose or milk sugar in the same way sucrase enzymes breaks down sugar or sucrose. Damage to the architecture of the intestinal wall and the subsequent decrease in enzymes for lactose and sucrose digestion leads to problems in digesting dairy products such as cheese, ice cream, and all types of milk products.
This enzyme deficiency is why people with sub-clinical gluten intolerance need to avoid pasteurized cow’s milk products. As the villi on the intestinal lining heal from a gluten free diet, most individuals will be able to tolerate raw or unpasteurized dairy products again in nine months to a year. In other people, there will be a more or less permanent sensitivity to dairy products.
However, in the initial two months of eliminating gluten, it is absolutely required to avoid all milk dairy products, because they will inflame the intestine lining just like gliadin does and prevent healing. This includes the complete elimination of pasteurized cow’s milk products such as cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, and milk. Goat’s milk yogurt and goat or sheep’s milk cheeses such as feta cheese and others are acceptable alternatives. In this instance, eggs are not considered as dairy products. Raw or unpasteurized dairy products are healing foods for the damaged GI tract lining.”
This was kind of a shock for me because while giving up gluten was surprisingly easy for me – I don’t normally eat bread, crackers, pretzels, boxed cereals etc anyhow – dairy has always been my love. “Cheese is my chocolate” is one of my fave catchphrases. Not to mention that taking out whey as a protein source leaves me with soy, a food of dubious health benefits that really does give me intestinal issues. And occasionally I do really like a cold glass of milk, much to the horror of the vegan community who like to point out ad nauseum that humans are the only animals to drink milk past infancy and/or drink the milk of other mammals – a fact which isn’t true despite being repeated a whole lot. Many animals will drink milk of any variety if they can get their paws on it (What do you think all those cats you were just swinging around were doing in the barn in the first place?) We just happen to be the only animals who farm. In addition to drinking the stuff, I eat it nearly every day in its fermented state as my homemade yogurt and as any variety of cheese. Let’s not even talk about my ice cream addiction.
Aside from my culinary predilections, however, there remain two important pieces of information:
1) The 60% of adults as described earlier who can’t digest milk.
2) Nobody past infancy needs milk to survive.
Taken together, this makes me wonder if I’m not too enamored of my moo juice.
So what exactly does an “inability to digest milk” look like? According to research, the ability to metabolize lactose, the sugar in milk, is an aberration.
It’s not normal. Somewhat less than 40% of people in the world retain the ability to digest lactose after childhood. The numbers are often given as close to 0% of Native Americans, 5% of Asians, 25% of African and Caribbean peoples, 50% of Mediterranean peoples and 90% of northern Europeans. Sweden has one of the world’s highest percentages of lactase tolerant people.
Being able to digest milk is so strange that scientists say we shouldn’t really call lactose intolerance a disease, because that presumes it’s abnormal. Instead, they call it lactase persistence, indicating what’s really weird is the ability to continue to drink milk.
Being of mostly northern European descent, I would have thought that makes me one of the fortunate mutants. And yet if anxiety is a symptom of dairy intolerance then sign me up to get rid of it. So I gave up dairy a week ago. And I have not had one single incidence of anxiety since.
Let me repeat that: NO anxiety in a week where I was having it to some extent nearly every day for the past several months.
This is huge for me. Honestly it’s too early in the experiment for me to conclude that taking out gluten AND dairy is the magic key. So many other factors like stress levels, hormones, the seasons and other variables play a part in an anxiety disorder. Plus, I’ve always been an anxious person. But this sense of calm I’ve felt this past week is amazing enough to make me want to continue on with this. I love ice cream, yes, but I LOVE not have panic attacks way more. And it’s this mindset that has made all the difference. Instead of feeling deprived when all my friends ate pizza last night, I truly only felt grateful that I knew enough to avoid it and hopefully avoid the intestinal problems I always have after eating pizza. Seriously, this was like the opposite of an eating disorder type of restriction, if that makes any sense. I wasn’t depriving myself of something I loved. I was loving myself by keeping my mind and body safe.
Anyhow, while milk may not be good for me (maybe, perhaps) the question of whether or not milk is even all that good for anyone is far from settled and if you do decide to partake you open up a whole other can of research worms. Apparently the recommendations to eat and drink only low-fat dairy products are all based on faulty research. Those of us who grew up in the ’90s are still trying to wrap our brains around the fact that eating fat does not make us fat but nowhere is that more true than with dairy. According to researchers, the most valuable vitamins in milk – like the A & D that must be added back into skim milk – are all fat soluble. So by drinking your milk skimmed you’re just peeing out all those precious vitamins that it was fortified with. The solution according to science is to eat and drink your milk in the least-processed form available which would be non-homogenized, non-pasteurized whole milk, cheese and yogurt. (Preferably hormone-free, grass-fed and – finished too, while we’re at it.) And of course, for a lot of people the decision whether or not to eat dairy is a moral one.
For now however, I’m dairy free and crossing my fingers that the panic attacks stay away. Could it really be this simple? Really??
Do you love dairy or hate it? Do you have any dietary restrictions due to health issues? If you avoid it – why? Anyone else find a link between being a highly sensitive person in general and gluten/dairy intolerance?
*Full disclosure: There has been some confusion about my relationship with Life Time Fitness. They are not now, nor have they ever, paid me for a review, advertising, blog post or article. The services I’ve received from them – like the nutritional counseling, personal training and metabolic testing – I’ve gotten for free as I was writing about those things for Shape.com. I’ve continued to write about them (and workout at their gym) because – and I can’t overstate this – I freaking LOVE them. Truly. My experience with their gyms has been nothing short of amazing and they have some of the smartest experts on staff that I have ever met. So I do try to throw a lot of love their way. But it’s only because I adore them! They are not paying me to say this.
I go on a yogurt kick every now and then and like a little milk in my tea (soy or almond just tastes off in tea to me) but in general my biggest dairy love is cheese. Fortunately, I don’t seem to have a problem with dairy. My husband does- he hasn’t consumed milk for years and only rarely thinks the stomach ache from ice cream is worth it, but for some reason he LOVES yogurt. He’s recently switched to soy yogurt after reading a lot about diary and heartburn in the times and seems happy with the switch. He was even happier to read that his beloved aged cheddar (cabot) is lactose free, which I also thought was interesting.
Oh and thanks for linking your HSP article. I think I missed it the first time around- but that is TOTALLY me. Haha!
There are a lot of us I think! You should the book The Highly Sensitive Person – helped me feel so much better about myself!
I would say keep with it. My friend’s mum was quite the…um…crazy lady when we were growing up. 4 or 5 years ago she dropped gluten, dairy and processed sugars after years of trying to deal with her anxiety and she is, literally, a different person now. More calm, level and doesn’t have the anxiety and mood swings she used to. The thing is, she can eat the stuff, it doesn’t make her sick…she just is a totally different person when she eats it. She has switched to almond milk and vegan cheeses and has found some stuff that is really tasty. My husband’s favourite post-workout treat is chocolate milk, so we always have milk around, but also having a sister in law who is celiac and dairy intolerant has opened my tummy to a lot of dairy free gluten free options that are rather tasty enough that I make them at home for myself. 🙂
I feel for you. Cheese is my thing too…but if it were cheese or crazy, I think I’d reconsider. I’ve never had an issue with dairy and I actually prefer almond milk to regular milk, and if we lived in a larger city where there were dairy free yogurt options I’d probably go there too.
See – this is what I’m wondering about. I’ve never manifested “classic” symptoms of a food intolerance and I know this all sounds wackadoo but if it helps I don’t care. Maybe my crazy is like your friend’s moms crazy…
Really interesting post. I gave up dairy milk back in January to see if it would have an effect on my acne. And it did! While I still get occassional zits every now and then, the frequency and severity is much less. I still occasionally (2-3 times a week) eat cheese and yogurt, however no moo milk for me – almond milk all the way!
Interesting! Thankfully I don’t have acne but maybe it will help with those PMS pimples?
I’ve experienced the same. I switched to soy milk, but still eat cheese or yogurt occasionally and my acne has improved drastically.
I have had the same experience with my acne and dropping milk. Definitely helps with symptoms as well. Really surprised that it worked!
I don’t really like milk so I tend to go to soy or almond milk on those rare occasions I want it. But I love cheese and ice cream! Not sure where Eastern Europeans fit on the lactose tolerance but I seem to be fine with it. My mom can’t handle it though. This whole post makes me think of her actually. She’s been on anti-anxiety meds for as long as I can remember and is totally a HSP. Hmmm.
Personally, I can’t have large amounts of egg yolks. I don’t eat them in omelettes, etc. In baked good or something it’s fine but if I eat more than that I can taste them for the next 2 days. I’ve always been that way. When I was a kid I thought it was totally normal! It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I realized no, it’s not normal.
Haha – I love those “wait this ISN’T normal?!” moments. I remember having that realization a few years ago about “background” music in public places. I hate it. I canNOT tune it out. I thought everyone suffered like I did until my friends were like “Huh? What music?” Sigh
If somebody’s lactose intolerance is due to a lack of lactase it makes no sense whatsoever to advise them to distinguish between pasteurized and non-pasteurized dairy. Pasteurization will not change the levels of lactose in milk, since this is a simple sugar and will not be affected by mild heating.
See this article by the FDA, for example.
http://www.fda.gov/food/foodsafety/product-specificinformation/milksafety/ucm122062.htm#9
Ah, looking at his website I see “GI specialist Dr. Daniel Kalish” is a chiropractor, not a gastroenterologist.
I’m not certain (so I probably shouldn’t even say anything) 🙂 but I think the reason lactose intolerant people can often time drink raw milk is because the live enzymes in the milk aid in breaking down lactose. I’ve read about this numerous times but the facts never fully stick.
Also personally I wouldn’t trust information put out by the FDA. (I didnt click through the article just saw the url) Their interest is in profit and not people. The government has been trying to make raw milk illegal for years shutting down or hurting small farms, businesses, and families. 🙁
I can find an article written by doctors about this with human milk (written by real doctors, not chiropractors) since how to bank human milk has been studied carefully
“Analysis of the influence of pasteurization, freezing/thawing, and offer processes on human milk’s macronutrient concentrations.”Early Hum Dev. 2011 Aug;87(8):577-80. Epub 2011 May 17. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21592688
“Effect of evaporation and pasteurization in the biochemical and immunological composition of human milk.” J Pediatr (Rio J). 2007 Jan-Feb;83(1):59-63. Epub 2007 Jan 12. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17279281
Both state that pasteurization has no effect on lactose.
There is also no lactase in milk. People have tried to put lactase into cow’s milk to get lactose free milk direct from the cow, but that needs genetic modification of the cow. and thus making “designer milk”
http://www.iisc.ernet.in/~currsci/dec102004/1530.pdf
Well one reason the FDA has tried to outlaw unpasteurized milk is because there are several bacterias that can be present in the raw milk which can harm humans and even cause problems with babies if drunk while pregnant. It’s not always in the milk, but pasteurization kills it if present. I’ve heard about people getting sick from the bacteria in the Amish communities around here and my sister raises cattle.
I don’t think it should be legal, but the FDA does warn people about things for a reason. Not everything is about profit . . . usually it is . . . but not always.
Hi Ame’! I don’t typically respond but consumer rights is an issue I care about deeply. As a (control freak) 😉 mother I did extensive research before choosing to give my children raw milk. This press release sums up the risk well. http://www.westonaprice.org/press/government-data-proves-raw-milk-safe
We used to drink almost exclusively raw milk in CA but now that we are traveling the country in an RV and it’s hard (if not impossible) to “know” your source, we just opt for organic milk for mostly cooking. (I’d rather not drink milk if it’s not raw.) Yes raw milk can make people sick but so do other foods. Just last week two people died from salmonella poisoning linked to cantaloupe. Should cantaloupe be made illegal?
Every year people die from foodborne illnesses. In a nutshell, the reason milk has to be pasteurized is because of mass production. Cattle are now crowded into feedlots forced to stand in their own manure and eat corn, a food they weren’t designed to eat. To fight sickness due to an unnatural and unhealthy environment they are given antibiotics. Additionally, they are typically given hormones to increase milk production to an unnatural rate and then massed milked. On top of all of this,the government regularly uses our tax dollars to target small farms and small vendors who produce and sell raw milk. http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/press/press-15dec2008.htm http://www.naturalnews.com/033280_FDA_raids_timeline.html
I find it ironic people are allowed to feed their children McDonald’s every day but families like myself who choose raw milk have to buy it from “secret” co-ops. The bottom line comes down to money and government control. The FDA even went on record saying that what we put in our bodies is not an inherent right. http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/litigation-FDA-status.htm This along with the small farm/co-op raids are scary and certainly not from a government that has the people’s best interests in mind.
To clarify, I don’t think everyone should drink raw milk but deciding if it’s healthy and drinking raw milk should be a decision for the individual and not the government. I hope I’m not coming across harsh. That’s not my intent. I’m sorry if I am.
PS Don’t even get me started on GMOs, HFCS, and government subsidies. 😉
Charlotte- Sorry for the book on your blog. Steady state cardio vs HIIT…snore….but hint at taking away personal freedoms and consumer rights and my inner rebel is unleashed. I’m going to go paint my picket sign now. 😉
Oooh good catch! I didn’t see his teeeny tiny “I’m not a medical doctor” disclaimer… buried at the bottom. I changed it in my post. Thanks! And as for the lactase thing I have NO CLUE. I’m so new to all of this that I”m not sure what to believe. What Dr. Kalish says agrees with some other experts in regards to the dairy/gluten link but for the unpastuerized/pastuerized thing I really don’t know. Jenn (below) makes an interesting point. This is something I need to research more.
Excellent article. It’s been known for a long time, and taught by me for a long time, that dairy is unnecessary and unhealthy. It is a major factor in inflammatory diseases and adds little to nothing as far as nutrition. People think they need it for calcium, but dark leafy green vegetables are packed with calcium and a much better source. Also, have you ever considered that what you are calling anxiety might be a GI problem? Your symptoms sound eerily familiar to those of certain food allergies.
Out of interest “Dr Smith”, what are your qualifications? I can find an author bio on your e-books, but none of them mention what subject your degree was in or where you got it.
Are you actually an MD? Where is your practice?
Tracking back from your websites, you seem to be a chiropractor in Indiana.
I see where you’re coming from Tim – I grew up not really trusting chiropractors and I’ve only ever seen one once (and it scared the crap out of me, drop table no thanks!) but conventional medicine has done nothing for my anxiety attacks and at this point I’m willing to check my prejudices at the door and try this. I mean, my MD offered me a scrip for Xanax and Klonopin but if I can fix this with dietary modifications I’d rather do that. At this point I’m open to all and any suggestions – I just need to feel better:)
Asking a chiropractor to fix your diet is like asking a mechanic to fix your taxes.
Some chiropractors do make sense, but many have this belief that the spine is the root of ALL illnesses – to the extent of trying to cure ear infections by manipulating peoples’ spines. However, since they tend to be both rich and highly litigious, I’ll just describe this belief system as “highly questionable”! 🙂
Sorry for the late reply. You are correct. I long ago learned that if I didn’t begin teaching principles of wellness I might as well be treating conditions, which I never wanted to do. I am more interested in helping people understand that the body is intelligent, that it is not as weak as we have been taught, and that health is a pretty simple concept. Part of what I do is counsel families in the wellness lifestyle and that is more rewarding than anything.
“Also, have you ever considered that what you are calling anxiety might be a GI problem?” HOnestly until this week I’d never considered it from this angle but I could see how that would make sense. I’ve long told my doctors that I don’t feel like my panic attacks start in my mind but rather my body. I don’t worry about something and then the panic hits, it usually comes first as an increased heart rate, sweaty palms, upset stomach etc and THEN I start worrying. It’s weird.
You might find this BBC radio program about panic attacks and phobias interesting, it is free to listen over the web
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01lv7y0
Thank you! While I don’t have phobias (thank heavens, there’s ONE crazy I don’t have) it def looks interesting from the panic attack perspective! I’ll listen to it tonight…
I have no dairy problems. I love it and happily get my cheese and milk on. When I dabbled in vegetarianism/veganism and consumed soy products, it actually gave me “lady problems.” I use almond milk in my post-workout smoothies, just to mix it up a little, but I’m of the mindset of “if it ain’t broke, dont fix it”. I think if people have reason to eschew dairy/animal products/etc. for health, religious or personal reasons, then they have to do whatever works for them. But please send me your cheese 🙂
Buwhahaha! DONE.
I’m glad you mentioned raw milk. That’s what we drank before we started traveling full time. Now it’s too much of a hassle to get (I was very particular where i got it in CA) so I just buy organic. I’ve never heard of dairy being specifically related to anxiety but I’m not surprised as I’ve heard it being the cause of a myriad of other things. As for me I LOVE my cheese. I don’t drink much milk or even eat much yogurt but cheese….yes cheese is my chocolate too. In fact, chocolate covered cheese sounds divine.
Glad this seems to be helping!
Raw milk is one of those health-foodie things I’ve yet to try! I’ve heard amazing things about it but my little brother got a HORRIBLE bacterial infection from drinking it. Kinda freaked me out.
My brother-in-law absolutely loves ice cream (especially mint chocolate chip), so my family kept it on hand for whenever he and my sister would come over for dinner. Well, after months of him always feeling sick, and us assuming that it was because he didn’t like how spicy our food was, he finally found out that it was because he is lactose-intolerant.
Now, we keep a supply of coconut milk ice cream on hand, and he loves it just as much!
Ooh gotta find me some coconut milk ice cream! Thanks for the suggestion
I am a Vegan, 10+years now, but didn’t realize my “issues” were directly related to dairy until I removed it. Recently I took a two week break from gluten cause I was experiencing some of those same intestinal issues I remembered from eating dairy. After two weeks of being “clean” I mistakenly ate something with flour in it and got VERY VERY sick. If I hadn’t known what was happening I would have gone to the emergency room, I was in that much pain.
I dropped milk for ethical reasons, the healthy benefits were a wonderful added bonus.
I’m so glad you are figuring out what works best for your body! Hopefully my experiment will be as helpful
I have been lactose intolerant off and on since I was 18. For the past 3 years it has stayed and gotten worse. I was having some bad digestion and intestinal problems still so I started cutting out other foods. Eggs and soy were the first to go. Next was gluten….and it has made all the difference. I have also noticed my mind is much clearer now….so much so that I have decided to go off my anti-depressant(with my doctor’s permission). I thought I would need my morning pill for my whole life but experiencing the mental clarity of this new diet I think I can break free!
Finding protein sources has been my biggest hang-up- I use brown rice protein powder which tastes good with almond milk or I can stomach it mixed with a crystal light lemonade packet(the small ones for water bottles).
Getting off my anti-depressant and having a stable mood and clear mind is seriously my fondest dream right now!
Great article! Thanks for sharing the info and I have been sharing this info with clients for years.
I gave up milk earlier this year to see if, at 37 years of age, I could get my skin to stop breaking out. It was so bad it hurt to smile. And the breakouts are gone! Only when I occasionally had ice cream three different times and got sick as a dog did I realize that I was in fact lactose intolerant! However, there is much less lactose in cheese and I can’t live without it so I just pop a lactaid pill before hand to help with any issues. I then discovered that the 6 trips to the bathroom (no, it wasn’t no.1) per day isn’t normal for me! I drink Almond milk when craving milk and I do enjoy the taste. Now, if only all my doctors were as up to date as Dr. Mark above and would stop scolding me when I tell them I don’t drink milk.
So funny – one of the first q’s my sister asked me was how much I poop and what it looks like. She informed me that I’m probably not normal, lol. And yeah, out of all the milk substitutes almond milk is my fave. Coconut milk isn’t bad either.
I’m a dairy lover! Can’t live (nor would I want to) without my ice cream and chocolate milk. I was supposedly lactose intolerant as a kid, but I seemed to either outgrow it or forced my body to listen to me…maybe it’s because I’m mostly Norwegian?
I love dairy too, and have had problems with it. We have found that moving to raw dairy has taken care of all the problems! We switched several years ago and haven’t looked back. In fact, we even got our own goats this Summer to try to provide out own dairy in our own backyard.
Between myself, my husband and 2 kids (that were both adopted) we can’t blame the improvement on sharing genes. It looks promising.
Maybe try raw and see if it works for you.
Like I said to Jenn above – I’m really intrigued with raw dairy but my little brother contracted a HORRIBLE infection from it (campylobacter?) and it’s made me really nervous to try it. I mean pastuerization was invented for a reason, right? I really need to do more research into raw dairy…
Since I work in public health I’ve got to pipe in and say that raw milk really isn’t worth the risk. You can die from listeria and campylobacter. And there isn’t any oversight over the producers. Not a good plan! I know this is a controversial issue but I’d stay far away.
I am an HSP with extreme anxiety and panic attacks. I am gluten free but can’t seem to give up the dairy for good. I did give it up for about 2 months, earlier this year. I don’t recall any reduction in my anxiety, but I also wasn’t strictly gluten free at that time, so maybe it is time for me to just dive in head first and completely eliminate both of them. The only things I have a hard time giving up are yogurt and goat cheese. Although the article you quoted suggests I don’t have to give up my goat cheese, and could possibly switch to goat yogurt and be fine! Have you been consuming any goat’s milk products during your dairy free week?
I have not but from what I’ve read it’s supposed to be fine. And this won’t make you feel any better but it actually makes me feel a lot better to know there is another “HSP with extreme anxiety and panic attacks.” It’s such a special kind of hell, you know? 😉
Well… in India where they hold cows in high esteem (for the most part)… I must say that ALTHOUGH I cannot tolerate BUTTER, I do very well on GHEE! Also known as Clarified Butter.
I gave up dairy 12 years ago! (although some cheese here and there have been alright) & I have been doing well ever since. I am a HSP but do very well with beautiful GHEE! Used a lot in Ethiopian and Indian food dishes that sit very well with my mixed heritage body!
Also I think that the homogenizing and over pasteurization are culprits. They kill all the good bacteria and good stuff from a food that is at it’s best in the RAW (or at least just BOILED). And did I mention the excess hormones… if I had to consume some good old USA Milk Products I’d opt for rBGH free! I used to have a lot of anxiety I am fairly tranquil after cleaning up my food act! Blessings -Angel!
Thanks for the tips Angell! I’ve heard that ghee works well for a lot of people since the clarifying removes the milk proteins which are the main allergen. Something for me to think about!
Well I hope that’s the answer, just for your sake! It just read this book It Starts With Food and I’ve been eating paleo for like 13 days now. So obviously I’m into all these conspiracy theories now, lol.
I don’t do well with strict paleo but now that I’m gluten- and dairy- free I’m getting closer to that lol. So glad it’s helping you! I need to read that book!!!
Of all the things I’ve given up in an effort to feel better, dairy has definitely been the hardest. Avocado and hummus can be a great substitute when you’re craving something creamy, and coconut milk ice cream is pretty good too. But I’m not going to lie, there are some days I find myself dreaming about a nice chunk of cheddar.
I can’t wait to hear how this dairy-free experiment goes for you. I hope it’s the answer you’ve been looking for.
Thanks! I hope so too!!!
Quote: “The services I’ve received from them – like the nutritional counseling, personal training and metabolic testing – I’ve gotten for free as I was writing about those things for Shape.com.”
Nothing is free. What you received was “in kind compensation” in exchange for writing. You may not be getting money but you are getting compensation. There’s really no difference.
Also, nature made gizzards and, by extension, specialized enzymes to digest grains. She never counted on technology that would make it possible for humans to mill grain. Still, man has adapted his digestion to include a grain diet, but not yet to the extent that it’s as efficient as for birds, explaining why gluten tolerance varies widely by ethnicity. It would be interesting to know if Eskimos, for example, can digest any wheat at all.
Have you ever looked through the articles from the Weston A. Price Foundation? Or considered trying GAPS or a paleo elimination diet for 30 days to identify food sensitivities? I never had anxiety attacks, but I’ve struggled a long time with low-level depression, and while cognitive and life changes has helped a lot (e.g. making an effort to be positive and leaving a stressful job for example), the number one thing that’s helped my mood has been experimenting with various levels of paleo/primal/traditional diets.
Of course you mention soy being your only protein left, and all those diets cut out soy too. So I’m not sure that would work without adding back in a little good quality meat or fish.
I’m really glad the dairy-free is seeming to work for you! I feel ya on being weird. I can’t get sick normally, I just get exhausted and tired and grumpy and blah this year. It’s hard to call in or skip a workout with a case of the tireds like it is a non-starter if I’m actually sick.
My nutritionist pushed a lot more milk and dairy on me than I was used to – and I started feeling a lot better. I try to stick with organic and lactose free stuff because sometimes the regular stuff can upset my tummy before a workout, but I find nothing better than a glass of milk after a long run or weights sesh.
I have been finding that more vegetarian meals are treating me right (and trying to limit dairy to vegan subs or organic or greek yogurt). More than one meat meal per day has made my tummy feel heavy. My weight is also oh-so-slowly creeping down after being stuck for years. I’ve not had but one zit all year.
Give Arctic Zero a try. It takes a little getting used to, but it’s a great frozen treat (and 150 calories per CARTON). Vegan cream cheese is pretty close to the reg. kind, but it needs salt. Hummus or avocados work for creamy.
Can’t wait to hear if this is your magic bullet. That would be SUPER AWESOME!!!
I love dairy (especially cheese, and cottage cheese, and cream cheese, basically anything with the word “cheese” that does not also include the word “head”) but it hates me…. Awful digestive issues plus acne happen to me if I indulge too much. And what my body thinks is “too much” varies a lot day by day; sometimes a single slice of pizza might set me off, another day I could demolish a whole round of brie without incident. I don’t get it.
I know that in addition to vegans, a lot of paleo folk are down on dairy too. But in agreement about your comment about other animals, my dogs will jump, dance on their hind legs, whine and beg for a sliver of cheese; it’s like they came from Wisconsin or something. So it’s not just humans, for sure!
Meh, I use the same strategy with dairy as everything else. If you cut back or eliminate it and gain benefits then go for it. If you don’t notice anything then don’t worry about needing to give up ice cream.
This is one of those instances where I’m more inclined to trust personal experience than science and doctors.
Of course, there is that whole mental aspect to consider. I used to have physical reactions to high fat meals just because I believed I would. But later in life I “decided” fat wasn’t any big deal and the negative reactions never came back.
You and your readers may (or may not) know this reason why “cheese” is so difficult to eliminate. It has highly concentrated Caso-morphine in it: A product from the break-down of casein, this protein acts just like an opiate, literally drugging you. It’s meant to sooth newborn calves so they bond with their mothers… Of course in the dairy business – None of the calves get to drink their mother’s milk anyway… But it’s still in her body – And a part of the cows-milk products that humans consume.
I was once a big milk/dairy eater — (Literally) – I don’t know that I ever ate a meal without some dairy product in it. I was constantly tired, over-weight, had acne and had premature bone loss. I didn’t realize how harmful dairy was until I did a bit of research. This link might help others.
http://www.askdrgarland.com/?p=3977
Peptides with opioid activity are found in most food proteins, such as meat, plants and dairy. They may be important in new-born animals drinking only milk, but if they were as potent in adults as you seem to imagine, spinach would be addictive!
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12769741
How did you guess? I am addicted to spinach and kale… And arugula! With all the health benefits of such foods I’m not in any hurry to be “cured”! —
But I also know that female cows are forcibly artificially inseminated to become pregnant and continue lactating. After 9 months, the dairy industry steals these baby calves shortly after they are born. The “worthless” males who can’t make milk are either killed immediately or kept in isolation for a few months to become veal. The unfortunate females calves follow their mother’s sad lot all the way to the last moments on the kill floor when they are no longer “productive”.
And that adult humans do not need cow’s milk any more than they need goat’s milk, wolf’s milk, camel’s milk, giraffe’s milk. Unweaned infants do remarkably better on their own mother’s breast milk which is what our species was intended to consume.
Thankfully there’s abundant plant based alternatives that are just as nutritional, just as satisfying and just as versatile in cooking. Some even have twice the amount of calcium and vitamin D as cow’s milk does. Protein? Where does the cow get hers from? Dark greens…
There’s absolutely nothing beneficial to the human diet in cow’s milk. It’s also destructive to the environment and a tragic waste of resources. Perhaps it is time for “unweaned” adults to look beyond what deceptiveness and hype the dairy industry is pitching at you in order to keep their profits and their cruel practices in check.
Just wanted to make a quick note. Not all dairy farms are run like you described. I used to live in Nebraska and now visit South Dakota to visit family (including a sister who raises cattle for meat), and there are plenty of dairy farms which treat their animals humanely.
Dairy is a big industry, but there are a lot of regular Joes dependent on this industry to put food on their tables. It’s not all evil.
Hello Ame’ – I absolutely understand what you’re saying…. What I don’t get and don’t agree with however is how anyone raising “cattle” for meat can call that their treatment to other animals “humane”.
I go by the definition of humane being: To be kind, compassionate, merciful, generous with emotional feelings. But this isn’t the case when one plans to snuff the life out of someone… It just can’t be so – There’s just no just thing as “humane slaughter”. It’s a myth…
And so the point being that nearly ALL dairy cows are snuffed (even young ones) once they become “unproductive” — Sort of eliminates any possibility of “humane” dairy.
Humane definition #2: To be concerned with the alleviation of suffering. — But most animals killed for their flesh aren’t in aging pain, diseased or injured — They are still “fit for life”. So there is no “suffering” to end. Only pain and terror to cause — Sorry. I don’t say these things to make anyone angry… It’s just that words do have specific meanings and it’s not fair to the English language, or to the true spirit of communication to use lingo that isn’t on a true course. ~Peace~
You know, I had tons of issues with gluten back a few years ago and it took forever to figure all this out. I was sick for a few years there. I finally cut out all dairy and all gluten and was dilligent about it for about a year. It took that long for things in my intestines to chill out and I have been much healthier since then. And, like the article says, I can now (finally!!) tolerate small doses of dairy. Some tiny bits of gluten, too, but that isn’t as easy on the old GI tract, if you know what I mean.
I have no idea about raw milk thing, but I don’t understand why pasteurization would make it easier to digest. Unless there is lactase in the milk, in which case the pasteurizing would kill it, but there isn’t. Our bodies (well, not mine, but some peoples’) produce that.
I am, once again, pondering going GFCF. And, eventually, getting my kids there, as well.
I’m SO GLAD to hear you’re feeling better! Anxiety attacks are just awful!
“In this instance, eggs are not considered as dairy products”
When ARE they a dairy product? Since when do birds produce milk!?
That aside, I do minimise dairy, limiting myself to fermented or aged products, almost exclusively raw. We do get raw milk every week and if I feel the need for hot chocolate that’s what I use. When pregnant, I seem to be more tolerant. I first heard the co-sensitivity thing when I tested positive for both at age 12, and (other than the enzyme issue) the leaky gut hypothesis seems to address that quite well. Very few foods are inherently “bad”, but every person has to consider their internal terrain and history when eating.
Thanks for covering the ‘don’t fear the fat’ angle (and the “only animal to farm”! LOL). The research on why pasteurised and homogenised milk is more likely to cause problems is not generally RCT-type stuff, but I find the arguments for eating as close to the source as possible to be compelling, and besides, the anecdotal successes are real for those who experience them. You’re right: if it’s just about eliminating a food or three in the name of self-care, whyever not?
Pasteurisation was a resonse to TB outbreaks caused by horrific dairy conditions in inner cities; health experts at the time advocated a dairy-by-dairy mandate, but the legislators felt that it would be too hard to enforce and went all-in instead. As with most things, processing hides imperfections in the base contents so it’s also possible that one of the problems with commercial milk was that it was junk to start with and that’s what we’re all reacting to.
And yes, adjusting the spine can reduce ear infections by helping the body back to its natural alignment so it can work as it was meant to, including draining ear gunk. The same applies for some colicky babies who lay funny in utero. NB: It’s not all drop tables and crack noises! For a similar but gentler technique try osteopathy, but be aware that the effects are also subtler and take longer to manifest.
I love cheese and ice cream! Not sure where Eastern Europeans fit on the lactose tolerance but I seem to be fine with it.
I must know the 10 % of Swedes who are lactose intolerant! Also here in Sweden, LOTS of people are going non-dairy – and feeling better! I think I should try it myself.
Haven’t read all the comments, but have you tried fermented dairy? Might be that you lack the bacteria that help to break down dairy, so kefir, yogurt, and all the fermented foods might help all around, and who knows maybe there’s a mood benefit. Also, I have been gluten-free 14 years, and at first I was lactose intolerant but gradually got more tolerant. I only drink whole milk.
You know what I think? I think eating disorders and absurd food restrictions cause panic attacks.
Yeah, I’m not ruling that one out either. Tis why I am only doing this under the careful eye of my doctor, my nutritionist, and my therapist. Party in crazy town? 😉
Oh, good. Please believe me–I didn’t mean that in a snarky way [how pertinent to your post on not taking offense… I’m glad you didn’t, as upon rereading I can see how you could’ve]. I myself suffer from panic attacks adn am in ED treatment at the moment and I have been avoiding SO MANY foods that apparently I’ve jacked up* my health. Moderation–for ME–is the way to go. I’ve been through the merrygoround of ‘oh if I just cut out carbs I won’t be afraid of binging,’ and ‘oh if I just cut out all sugar’ and ‘well dairy, because what if it bloats me and that makes me afraid to eat’ and… it becomes just miserable and both physically and mentally unhealthy. Not eating too much of any one thing turns out to be the best thing of all, and for me it is the hardest because I often gravitate toward ‘safe foods.’
Anyway, I just know that I would be skeptical of a lot of people who told me to cut out a certain food and it would solve all of my problems. Food or food deprivation don’t solve genuine problems–or so I MUST believe.
*Heyo, phrases you can misinterpret.
“Jacked up” ROFL!! I say that one all the time. Along with “sucks” and “blows” ay, yi, yi. And honestly I totally agree with you. Having been down (and up and down and up and down) the ED path, this idea does feel scary to me. I’ve been doing intuitive eating – eating anything and everything in moderation – for two+ years now and it’s been working so great. I now comfortably eat so many foods I never thought I’d ever be able to enjoy. The kink (see? Did it again!) are these stupid panic attacks, which have never entirely gone away over the past 10 years although they do wax and wane in severity. But they are b-a-d now. I think I compensate pretty well for them but I can’t overstate how difficult they’re making my life right now. My doctors are all frustrated – my MD told me that she’d give me any drug I wanted if I thought it would help (which is sweet but I don’t know what I need!) – and I’ll be the first to admit that I’m grasping at anything. There are two main differences for me right now with this: 1) I’m being 100% transparent with my family, my doctors, my therapist and you guys (which is the complete opposite of an ED mindset) 2) I’m not trying to lose weight. While I do realize that starting to restrict a food for a “good” reason can easily lead to restricting more for bad reasons, I feel like I”m doing everything I can to minimize the risk of that happening. And the thing is: I haven’t had a single flutter of anxiety in 1 week and 2 days, much less a panic attack. I’m not ready to call this a touchdown yet (does that count? It’s kinda pervy!) because so many other factors are involved but to have even one week of calm is HUGE for me. And if that means I have to stay on this tightrope I’m going to do it.
But I love that you are holding me accountable. Please don’t stop. It’s not your job and I don’t want anyone to feel like they need to take care of me but I appreciate the concern and it absolutely does make a difference in what I do offline. ED recovery is such a tricky thing… hold me:)
I love how your doing this “experiment” to find out if you have food sensitivites. Your being smart and taking it a little at a time. So many people tell me to go gluten free or drop this or that. They don’t even bother to ask if I’ve been tested or tried it before. I know gluten and dairy sensitivities often go undiagnosed, but I think a lot of people jump on the latest food craze band wagon before fully seeing if it applies to them.
According to my doctor, I for one have absolutely no sensitivity to gluten (THANK GOD!!!) and only a slight sensitivity to dairy which may or may not get worse as I age. We’re waiting to see before I drop it completely. The only real sensitivity I had was to MSG (mono-sodium glutamate), and that actually went away after being exposed to a ton of it over a period of time. My doctor said I would either get worse and develop a full blown allergy or get better. Glad it was the latter. I wouldn’t really suggest pushing sensitivities. I didn’t have a choice because I moved to China where MSG is literally in almost every meal. It’s really hard to find anyplace that is fully MSG free. I still try to avoid it cause it isn’t really healthy but at least the headaches and tummy issues are no longer happening.
I hope it works out that this “experiment” lessens or rids you of anxiety attacks. I’ve only had a few stressed induced attacks and I know those weren’t fun. I couldn’t imagine dealing with them regularly.
Count me in to the I love dairy, but dairy does not love me back club. It’s really very sad. I’ve cut back a lot and that seems to help, but I try not to beat myself up about my occasional cheese or yogurt craving. I do find, in this case, that it’s not necessarily all or nothing i.e. a little dairy doesn’t do much damage but a lot of dairy is a one way ticket to tummy ache crazy town.
Hi Charlotte,
Thanks for Sharing. I am glad you are feeling calmer. And you have inspired me, an anxiety sufferer, to experiment with my own diet. Have you read The Anitanxiety Food Solution?
http://www.antianxietyfoodsolution.com/table-of-contents/
I had a bunch of things I wanted to mention along the lines of fermented dairy, GAPS, etc, but it looks like other commenters have covered it all already… you have some savvy readers. 🙂 I did want to add that I think too many people hear “milk sensitivity” and immediately assume “lactose intolerance”… I had always thought of them as mostly separate, with casein being the main culprit in dairy sensitivity/gut permeability issues and lactose intolerance being a much more obvious indigestion/bowel movement issue. I see that they could also be intertwined, but yeah, I’ve seen a lot of people say, “oh, I’m not lactose intolerant so I’m fine with dairy,” so I just wanted to throw that out there.
Hey Charlotte,
“Also, have you ever considered that what you are calling anxiety might be a GI problem?” HOnestly until this week I’d never considered it from this angle but I could see how that would make sense. I’ve long told my doctors that I don’t feel like my panic attacks start in my mind but rather my body. I don’t worry about something and then the panic hits, it usually comes first as an increased heart rate, sweaty palms, upset stomach etc and THEN I start worrying. It’s weird.”
I am very prone to panic attacks as well and cannot seem to pin point what exactly triggers them although I do know (from anxiety therapy books as well as my dad’s advice as an physician) is that the physical symptoms such as increased heart rate, hot flashes, upset stomach, weid deja vu feelings,as well as like I have to pee ect, all occur when adrenalin begins to kick in. And THEN I start to feel anxious and weird(panic attacks are not caused by something I am worried about but the feeling of being anxious is caused by all those physical symptoms kicking in with the adrenalin). The panic attacks do seem however, to be affected by change(of seasons, moving, lack of sleep, menstruation ect) and also hormones(I had increased attacks during pregnancy). Any major life changes lately?
I have no food sensitivities or gi issues at all, but do have family and friends who are gluten and or lactose intolerant. The popular “this worked for me so it must work for you” attitude about gluten and lactose(that all ills can be fixed by cutting them out) that many of them have bought in to seems so silly. So it does seem a bit odd that a food sensitivity would manifest itself with anxiety issues(I’ll have to ask the Doctor Dad about that one though). Though it can’t hurt to experiment with different foods as long as it isn’t harmful eh? : )
Charlotte,
A friend of mine who is lactose intolerant found some pills that contain the enzyme and you can take them when you eat dairy. It’s nice to enjoy cheese once in while and keep the lactose free on a daily basis.
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Milk calms my panic attacks so, it isn’t an all our nothing like of thing.
Inflammation can affect moods but, remember Vitamin D is an anti-inflammatory so, it is highly unlikely it is the milk unless you are truly lactose intolerant (and that’s entirely possible).
And the 60% number is actually wrong…
A large portion of that number can digest it but, they don’t digest it 100% where as people with generations of dairy farmers in their families have no issues at all with digestion.
And one more note… Nobody died from salmonella poisoning via cantaloupe! Don’t trust any source that can’t even be bothered to verify the bacteria that killed people!
It was called lysteria and it is much worse than Salmonella.
About 3 years ago, I was under a lot of stress at work, and I started having anxiety problems, the most notable was labored breathing. It started small and got worse. Things came to a head one night when I ate way too much pizza. I tried to walk it off that night; I just felt pretty bloated. The next day, I had no appetite, and felt awful. I was accompanying my wife to a wedding (shes a photographer), I had an espresso and a cake-pop for breakfast only. During her shoot, I had a severe panic attack. I thought I was having a heart attack, and leaped over a fence to hopefully get in-view of someone before I collapsed. Nobody did see me (which is ok with me in hindsight, as this is embarrassing to me now). The next day, I started throwing up. The vomiting didn’t last as long as a typical stomach bug, which confused me.
On another occasion soon after, I went to the ER thinking I was having heart problems again.
During that year or so, I was having what felt like heart fibulations. I got a bunch of tests, esophageal monometry (awful), endoscopy, blood work, O2 levels, all fine.
I saw a therapist about the anxiety (who did actually help some).
Thing’s settled out a little bit over a year later.
To shorten out the rest of the story, my symptoms always seem to occur after some kind of meal of gluten/dairy.
It’s taken several years to figure this out, sadly. 2 weeks ago, I ate coffee ice cream, and a glass a milk, and then sat down to watch a movie with my wife.
After about an hour in, the FIRST symptom to hit was the “panicy” feeling. I started checking my heart beat several times throughout movie. The stomach issues (nausea) didnt come until the next day, and lasted about 3 days.
I’ve also had similar reactions to coffee and alcohol.
For several years after college, I routinely ate 2 bowls of cereal before bed; gluten and dairy overload. I think this habit caught up to me 2-3 years ago when things started going south.
One silver lining to all this is that my panic/anxiety finally went away, even though I didn’t figure out the root of it until very recently. That’s a lot better than just having a permanent psychological problem! also, it does force you to clean up your diet.
My son has dairy, gluten, and egg allergies, so he has eating well from day 1.
In hindsight, it’s unfortunate the everyone (and myself) trying to help me focused so strongly on the psychological aspect of the issue, and ignored the fact that I was having stomach issues along with the issues. They really don’t feel related at all, and I thought the stress was causing something issues, but it was the other way around the whole time. Why a food intolerance could cause a panic attack and/or anxiety is beyond me, even now. I’m a believer now.
31 year old male, Caucasian, very lean, healthy eater, regular exercise
Don’t discount stress though, I’m sure it was just as important to everything going on as well. But I’m stress free now, and those foods I listed still cause the symptoms to return quickly.
Charlotte, I’d love to hear an update, are you still dairy free? Do you still struggle with anxiety? This week I was terribly sick with a stomach bug. I hadn’t thrown up in 9 years so it was no fun. For 2 days I ate very simple foods, popsicles, water, chicken soup. During this time I noticed that my anxiety pit in my stomach feeling was gone. Back on the mend I ate some of a chocolate bar and within 15 minutes ran to the bathroom. I realized I hadn’t had dairy for 2 days and then the chocolate had dairy. I’ve never wanted to give up dairy because I am the queen of cheese! Now I’ve given it up for a couple days and noticing that that pit in my stomach is still gone. Without it I have less anxious thoughts and in turn less anxious feelings, because it really is a cycle of thoughts and feelings. I know the gut and brain talk back and forth and I am happy to report that without those uncomfortable feelings in my tummy I can think a lot more calmly. I’d love to hear an update, I hope you’re doing better! I know how awful anxiety is, but press on, you can find the answers!
Hello! Very interested to read this article! I have been on a dairy free diet the last three weeks and while it did not seem to be totally eliminating my stomach issues (why I went on the diet in the first place). I was, however, in a really great head space. I did not think that these two things were related. Two nights ago I tried having a glass of milk to see what the effects would be on my stomach. I had a sore stomach but nothing too crazy – not worth cutting out milk products all together. Then that same night I got very down for no reason, I was far more emotionally sensitive, the whole next day I felt emotional. Maybe it is just a fluke and these things have nothing to do with each other but it just was crazy how linked the two events seemed.
What I am wondering is if taking lactates would help with these emotional effects dairy seems to have on me? For the past week I have been taking lactates and eating dairy and was seeming to have no emotional issues… the emotional issues only came when I had the dairy without the lactates.
If anyone is able to speak to this I would so appreciate it!
I think they would help but only if it is a lactose problem to begin with. My take on it is that the dairy thing could very well be the reaction of the casein protein in the diary not the sugar lactose. I think that dairy reacts the same way that gluten can after consumed and affects the brain directly. Saw this with my own son. Had sever neurological problems from gluten, including depression.