Are You Still Consuming Dairy?

Hey, everybody, it's Dr. Mark Hyman. Welcome to my weekly house call. Your chance to ask me your questions. Now, today we're going to talk about dairy. If you've read my work, you probably know where I stand. But dairy is still such a hot topic and we're still getting so many questions about it, so I wanted to revisit the subject for a minute. The question we got to was from onicapetry P T R E on Instagram. She says, if one is lactose intolerant but has no other intolerance to dairy like casein or whey, is it okay to consume dairy products while having Hashimoto's? Well, this is a great question, and what I tell all my patients is that dairy is nature's perfect food, but only if you're a calf. If that sounds shocking to you, it's because very few people are willing to tell the truth about dairy. In fact, criticizing milk in America is like taking on motherhood, apple pie, or baseball. But based on the research and my own experience in practicing medicine for over 30 years, I typically advise most of my patients to avoid dairy products completely. I like ice cream just as much as the next person, but as a scientist, I have to look honestly at what we know. Did you know that countries with the lowest rates of dairy and calcium consumption, like those in Africa and Asia, have the lowest rates of osteoporosis. Also, research shows that higher intakes of both calcium and dairy products may increase the risk of a man getting prostate cancer by 30 to 50%. Plus, dairy consumption increases the body's levels of insulin, like growth factor 1 or IGF1, which is a known promoter of cancer. These are just a few of the findings related to the harm that dairy can cause. About 75% of the world's population is genetically unable to properly digest milk or other dairy products, a problem known as lactose intolerance, or which is what our reader was actually asking about. More people are lactose intolerant than actually tolerant of lactose. Often, symptoms of lactose intolerance are actually caused by difficulty digesting the protein. Casein as well as lactose, casein is the main protein in milk. It's often used in other food products such as binding. As a binding agent, casein proteins actually may induce inflammation, leading to things like eczema, ear infections, congestion, sinus problems. So I highly recommend avoiding casein, no matter who you are. Now, whey contains very little lactose, so there's a chance that someone with a lactose intolerance might be able to have whey. However, everybody's different. I know some people can tolerate whey protein, others cannot. So if you might are interested in using it because it has benefits, you might want to test it out for yourself. Another dairy product that many people can tolerate is called ghee. Now ghee is clarified butter which has basically all the water and milk solids removed. That means it can be used by people who are allergic to dairy or intolerant. It just basically is butter fat without casein or whey. Now some people do well with ghee and others may not. It really depends on the individual. Overall, I recommending avoiding dairy, especially if you're lactose intolerant. Dairy consumption can lead to weight gain, it can cause increased cancer risk, it can increase fracture risk. Yes, osteoporosis is often caused by dairy, not prevented by dairy constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, bloating, gas, diarrhea, allergies, eczema, acne. Oh, that sounds terrible to me. I would not eat dairy because of those reasons. I know I get pimples and I get digestive problems and sniffly nose if I eat dairy. I recommend getting off all dairy except for grass fed butter or ghee for a period of time and see how you do. That means eliminate milk, cheese, yogurt, things with casein in it, ice cream, a lot of bars of casein. Do it for three weeks and see how you feel. You should notice improvements with your sinuses, post nasal drip, headaches, irritable bowel energy, weight, all sorts of things. Then start eating dairy again and see how you feel. If you feel worse, you should try to give it up for life, but if you don't, you might be able to tolerate small amounts. Personally, when I eat little to no dairy I feel much, much better. So that was our house call for this week. If you like this video, be sure to share with your friends and family on Facebook and Twitter and tweet me your questions using the hashtag housecallwithdrhiman and maybe next week I'll make a house call to you. Thanks for watching.