Step 5: Eliminate Most (or all) Dairy

Introduction to Dairy on the Paleo Diet

Paleo Dairy Intake

The next step in your journey to eating the Beginner Paleo way is to eliminate all dairy and dairy based products from your diet, with the exceptions of butter and a few other high fat dairy items. Stop for a minute and answer this question – why do cows (and other animals) produce milk? Do cows somehow know that humans need to consume dairy products to meet their dietary requirements? Of course not! Cows produce milk to feed their young – just like humans do. We seem to have forgotten this since milk was first introduced for convenience purposes into the human diet.

Contrary to popular belief, dairy products were not widely consumed by our Paleolithic ancestors. The first noted introduction of milk into the human diet dates back to 9000 – 8000 B.C. when goats, and not the modern dairy cow, was used to produce milk in the Middle East. A couple of goats could keep a family in milk for a year. As the domestication of goats spread to other types of milk producing animals, including cows, the popularity of milk grew to the European region. From a historical perspective, using cows as a source of milk was very popular because cows did not compete with humans for food sources. Cows are classified as ruminants and rely upon their four-chambered stomach to process inedible grass and fibrous vegetation and transform it into relatively energy dense milk.[1]

Dairy has a relatively short history in the Modern American Diet. In fact, most Americans didn’t consume dairy products until the early European settlers came to America. At that time, milk from cows was converted into butter and stored for consumption over the winter months. According to the first census of early Americans, nearly every family owned at least 1 or 2 cows and used them for milk and other dairy products. Techniques like pasteurization helped expand milk’s reach into American homes. Dairy farms became more efficient and milk output steadily increased.

Modern American Diet

Milk is a staple of the Modern American diet and more importantly, the Modern American Economy. On average, children consume about 1 ½ cups per day of milk while adults consume about one half to once cup per day. According to one report, 99 percent of milk consumption came in once of four ways: plain milk consumed as a beverage, flavored milk and milk drinks, plain milk added to cereal or plain milk added to another beverage.[2] However, dairy product consumption has actually decreased about 8% over the last decade and is projected to decrease even more over the next decade for a variety of reasons.

USDA

Although the average American only drinks about 1 cup per day of milk and equivalent dairy products, the message from the government is clear: drink more. In the 1916, when the first USDA dietary guidelines were introduced, dairy products were included in the same group as meat. In the 1930s, the government stepped in to provide support for the faltering dairy farmers in light of the Great Depression.[3] Today, dairy occupies its own category in the MyPlate recommendations, which replaced the MyPyramid guidelines in July 2011. According to the most recent governmental recommendations, children should consume 2 to 2 ½ cups of dairy per day and all other groups should consume 3 cups.[4] In essence, that works out to about 1 cup of milk, or an equivalent dairy product, at each meal.

The reasoning that is given by the U.S. government to consume all of this milk is that: “[m]ilk and milk products are widely recognized as important sources of nutrients typically low in the American diet, including vitamin D, calcium, magnesium, and potassium.”[5] The actual reason may be a little farther from that truth: the government needs us to support the dairy industry. Dairy is big business in America. According to one report, U.S. dairy farmers receive around “$4 billion per year in subsidies and adds millions of dollars to the grocery bills of American consumers and to the costs of food product manufacturers.”[6] If these subsidies went away tomorrow, a gallon of milk would actually cost consumers around $8 at the time this was written in 2013.[7]

Conflict in Paleo Circles

While it is clear that dairy is neither a required part of your diet nor something that our hunter-gatherer ancestors consumed, there is a fairly substantial debate in the Paleo diet community over whether or not dairy should be consumed. On one side of the fence, you have the Paleo “purists” that believe that, since our ancestors did not consume dairy, then neither should we. This anti-dairy group is also bolstered by various studies that suggest that the components of dairy products, including casein, saturated fat and cholesterol, have all been shown to cause harm to the body. On the other side of the fence, you have the “pro-dairy” Paleo group that endorses the consumption of dairy products. The only caveat they make is that the dairy should be consumed in its natural state. The pro-dairy Paleo side also rebuts the research cited by their opponents, claiming that no studies have ever suggested that whole dairy products are harmful. Regardless of either viewpoint, the Beginner Paleo approach is that butter and cream in their are acceptable, but other dairy products, including fluid milk, are not.

Components of Dairy

Components

Around 75 to 85 percent of milk that modern Americans consume comes from cows. And not just any type of cow – most likely a specially designed bovine called a Holstein. These dairy cows have been specifically designed through breeding to be prodigious producers of milk. It is estimated that American commercial dairy farms produce arount 87 million metric tons of milk each year.

Cow milk consists of three separate parts: butterfat, proteins and milk solids. Butterfat is, as its name states, a type of fat contained inside the milk. It is in the form of a fat globule surrounded by a membrane. The size of this fat globule is determined by the specifics of the cow and can vary widely. Butterfat contains many fat soluble vitamins along with essential fatty acids. Proteins in the milk are from various sources, the majority of which are casein and whey proteins. The final component of milk are the milk solids, which primarily consist of different types of carbohydrates. The major carbohydrate is a type of sugar we touched on earlier – lactose. Lactose is a disaccharide that accounts for a large portion of milk’s calories and gives milk its distinctive sweet taste. Other than the three main components of milk – butterfat, proteins and milk solids – there are also several other nutritional components including vitamins and various enzymes.[8]

Pasteurized

Once milk is collected from the cow, it is pasteurized. Named after the famous scientist Louis Pasteur, pasteurization is the process where milk is heated up for a certain period of time so that the growth of tiny microbes that cause spoilage are killed. This allows for the milk to have a much longer shelf life than it would in its natural state.[9] However, pasteurization does not come without it’s down side. In sum, pasteurization destroys enzymes, vitamins (including A, C, B6 and B12) and transforms milk proteins into “unnatural amino acid configurations that can actually worsen your health.”[10] Pateurization also removes certain bacteria that can be beneficial to your health. Milk and other dairy products that have not been pasteurized are referred to as “raw.”

Filter/Homog

Once milk is pasteurized, it is filtered and then left to stand for 12 to 24 hours. During this time it separated “into a high-fat cream layer on top of a larger, low fat milk layer.” The milk layer is then homogenized, which simply means that the fat globules contained in the milk are broken down to make the consistency and appearance of the milk virtually the same consistency. This homogenization process gives the milk extra shelf life and makes the milk less likely to become rancid.

Processing

After the milk has gone through this process, it is converted into various dairy products such as butter, cream, cheese, yogurt and cottage cheese. Although milk varies slightly based on the cow it came from, it generally consists of about 3.2 grams of protein, 3.9 grams of fat and 4.8 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams (with the rest coming from water weight).

Dairy Issues

Lactose Intolerance

The first issue that many people face when consuming milk is lactose intolerance. As discussed, lactose is a two part sugar that is commonly found in dairy. When your body can’t develop enough of an enzyme called, appropriately, lactase that is required to process lactose, you become “intolerant” of the consumption of products containing lactose. It is estimated that 1 in 5 adult Americans are lactose intolerant. It develops in most children by age 5, but can be seen in babies as young as two years old.[11] Lactose intolerance manifests in several unpleasant ways, including heartburn, gas, bloating, cramps and diarrhea. Although there are no known “cures” for lactose intolerance, the best way to alleviate symptoms is to eliminate dairy from the diet.[12]

Interestingly, cheese and some types of high fat dairy such as butter contain low levels of lactose and may be consumed without symptoms flaring up in lactose intolerant individuals. As you may have expected, lactose intolerance is an entirely modern disease that was not experience by our paleo ancestors. Other than human breast milk, milk and other products did not enter into our system of eating until about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. The bottom line is, if you are lactose intolerant, or suspect that you may be, stay away from all dairy products with the exception of raw cheese and butter.

Calcium Claims

Tell someone who eats a Modern American diet that you are “doing away” with dairy and they will immediately worry that you will “not be getting your requirements for calcium.” Sit them down, and calmly tell them that you will be fine, even though you won’t be consuming your 2 pounds of milk per day. According to governmental regulations, “Not having milk in your diet can lead to a shortage of calcium, vitamin D, riboflavin, and protein. You need 1,000 – 1,500 mg of calcium each day depending on your age and gender.”[13]

The perceived lack of calcium in our diets has been one of the most repeated claims supporting the consumption of milk. Indeed, calcium is a required element for bone growth. As children and teenagers, we form bone faster than we lose bone. As we age, this process reverses and we can develop “low bone density” or osteoporosis.[14] According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, half of all Americans over age 50 will suffer from low bone density or osteoporosis. However, these ills can be avoided by consuming adequate calcium and vitamin D and exercising. While we won’t debate the predicted prevalence of osteoporosis, we can take issue with the source of calcium. Drinking milk to for the calcium is like ___. In other words, don’t just consume all of the bad parts of dairy just so you can get to the calcium and other vitamins. There are other, paleo supported sources of calcium such as:

– Green leafy vegetables, like collard greens, kale, spinach and broccoli

– Oily fish like salmon and sardines

– Oysters and shrimp also contain adequate levels of calcium

– Nuts, like almonds, walnuts and sesame and sunflower seeds

Choose one of these delicious types of foods to consume in a greater proportion if you think you are at risk for osteoporosis or want to increase your calcium intake. For instance, 1 cup of cooked collard greens contains 357 milligrams of calcium and a ¼ cup of almonds contains 100 mg of calcium.

Dairy Insulin Reponse

Recall that milk primarily consists of the sugar lactose. Consumption of milk causes your level of insulin to rise. And when insulin levels rise (you know the drill) you tend to go into fat storage mode. But milk and other dairy products are also highly “insulinogenic” substance in a far greater proportion than what their sugar content would indicate. In other words, they cause a higher insulin response than what they should based solely on their lactose content. According to one study, milk had a higher insulin response than white bread.[15] The prevalence of low-fat milk and other dairy products does not help this process. Generally, the presence of fat slows the insulin response thereby limiting the amount of fat storage your body can complete when consuming a combination of carbohydrates and fat. It would be logical to think that full fat milk would have a relatively lower insulin response than low fat milk. However, another study on full fat milk showed that it exhibited an insulin response that was greater than that of white bread![16]

So if the lactose can’t entirely account for the insulin response from the consumption of dairy, then what does account for it? There may be multiple factors at play when it comes to dairy that have not been adequately researched. What you can conclude is that for those of you who have a regulated insulin response, consuming some types of milk may be okay. You obtain a regulated insulin response by eating the BeginnerPaleo way. Those who have a regulated insulin response won’t be subject to insulin spikes because their body has become accustomed to maintaining a base level of insulin. It’s analogous to throwing a large log on a smoldering fire – there will be a quick flare-up, but ultimately the fire will return to its normal “smoldering” state.

However, for those who consume the Modern American diet, adding dairy (any type from low-fat to full fat) may cause a spike in insulin that you will not be able to recover from because you are constantly in a state of heightened insulin secretion from the chronic consumption of carbohydrates. Returning to the fire analogy, the Modern American eater has trained his body to expect a constant flow of insulin producing foods. Adding a shot of dairy, such as that one cup of low fat milk, with your morning cereal, and you put yourself right back into that fat storage state.

At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself if dairy is really worth what you get in exchange for what the potential costs. If nothing else, remember that dairy was specifically designed to nourish and feed baby calves. It was created to make baby calves grow as fast as possible while packing on as much weight as possible. Not completely sure that nature designed it for humans to consume in mass quantity. Milk as it is commonly sold at the store has been highly processed. Finally, milk is not a requirement of the human diet. All of the other nutrients and vitamins can be included in your diet from sources other than dairy.

Which dairy foods to eat?

Butter

To strictly comply with BeginnerPaleo, try not to consume any types of milk products with the exception of butter, cream or cheese. Why can you consume butter, cream and cheese on the BeginnerPaleo diet? It is because they contain the highest fat and lowest amounts of lactose.

Butter contains a relatively small amount of lactose, and clarified butter or “ghee” contains essentially none. Clarified butter can be made by slowly melting the butter and separating the milk solids and water from the butterfat. It is excellent to cook with and provides a richness and depth of flavor that traditional butter does not.