Ok, I’ve got a really weird diet situation. For a long time I thought I was lactose intolerant. You know, the brutal stomach aches, etc. Well I had always noticed that ice cream had no effect on me, and decided to figure this out. So I drank a glass of whole milk and waited to see if anything happened. Nothing happened. So I tried 2% and about 1 hour later I got nasty stomach cramps. Then I tried skim the next day I had the most excruciating stomach pains(all of you who have trouble with milk products know what I mean) that lasted about half the day. So I had figured out that whole milk products were perfectly fine for me to eat. The odd thing is that I never noticed this until about 2 years ago. Most people don’t even bother buying whole milk anymore(either because they think they’re going to die if they drink it or they don’t like the texture). I was thinking this might have to do with the heating process used to remove the fat from the milk which would in turn alter some of the proteins. I haven’t been able to find one doctor who has ever heard of this(not that most physicians know much anyway). The thing is I wonder how many people out there think they’re lactose intolerant when they just haven’t tried whole milk(hey it took me 19 years before I discovered this). This also makes massive eating a little bit more challenging than for the normal dieter. Just wondering if anyone had a similar experience or theory as to why my stomach works this way(I’m assuming my genetic ancestors weren’t heating their milk).
I’m lactose intolerant too (no stomach cramps, let’s just say that I pay for it later on). Basically, the more fat there is in a milk based product, the less of a reaction you’ll get if you’re lactose intolerant. I think fatty dairy products may actually have less lactose (fat replaces it I guess), but I’m not 100% sure on this.
I have the excact same problem
This might be the reason that many years ago guys like Vince Gironda used to recommend people consume certified raw organic milk. I’ve never tried it myself but it’s less processed then any of the other varieties. Many people have reactions to milk that are not related to lactose intolerance. It is basically a foreign food to the body and can cause other symptoms even in those who are not lactose intolerant. I am not lactose intolerant but if I drink milk or any other dairy products I get arthritis flair-ups.
I have the same problem too but i think it has to do with fat slowing down the absorption of the lactose. I think we can tolerate it in smaller,slower amounts.
I was wondering the same thing about the fat slowing down the lactose, but I remember trying milk protein isolate with the lactose still present but no fat. It didn’t bother me at all and I beleive the way its produced uses no heat, which is how I came up with the idea that it was the heat that might be the cause. Anyway about the arthritis flare ups, thats pretty interesting, I wonder if its because milk is mostly omega-6’s which cause inflamation. Thanks all for the reply.
The arthritis flare-ups are due to milk being an irritant of the immune system. In my case I have some sort of mixed connective tissue auto-immune disease. (still havent been completely diagnosed)Auto-immune diseases are diseases in which the immune system attacks itself (rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, scleroderma, multiple sclerosis etc)
Typically it’s a very minor hassle but certain foods cause definite and instant flare-ups.
Milk is pretty screwy stuff. To begin with, they feed the cows all sorts of crap to get them to produce more milk. Of course whatever they give them to do this winds up in… you guess it… the milk. The raw milk is first pasteurized (heated) to get rid of any bacteria or critters, and fat is taken off the top (the amount of fat depends on what kind of cream/milk they’re trying to make). Then it’s homogenized, meaning the fat in the milk is pushed through an ultra-fine mesh which causes the fat in the milk to float freely throughout the milk (instead of on top)… homongenization is done to improve the texture. Afterwards they add vitamins A and D to help improve calcium absorption. So you may not think about it, but most of the stuff you get in the store is very processed. As for processing affecting lactose tolerance, I have no idea, but I wouldn’t be surprised. I don’t drink a whole lot of milk, not because of how it’s processed (I happen to love milk) but just because of the lactose intolerance.
I’m certainly no expert. I personally don’t have any problems with milk – that I’m aware of. I’m just thinking through the keyboard on this. Could it be possible that the presence of the fat causes slower emptying into the intestines. I suppose that might make more sense for those who have more of a later problem (phoot!!). The higher protein content of the isolate (with the lactose still present) as mentioned previously may have the same effect. For those with stomach cramps, I don’t know. Just some random thoughts.
Could be the fat coating the lining of the gut. I also remember reading something about whole milk coming from healthier cows.
There’s some literature stating that the homoginization and pasteurization of milk makes it more difficult to digest. Some swear by raw milk.