WICKED WEDNESDAY: Is dairy really wicked?

Dairy seems to be the one type of food everyone has an opinion about. Whether their opinion actually has some factual evidence behind it is probably a good reason to find out more about it yourself. So does dairy deserve the liberal bashing it receives in health circles? Let's have a look...

The cows have an opinion too...

What is dairy?
Dairy foods are basically any food made from the milk of a mammal. You knew that though.

What dairy products are there?
Let's get visual with this one...

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Milkproducts_v2.svg

Besides cow dairy, you'll find sheep, goat and even buffalo in most supermarkets. Buffalo? Yeah, buffalo.

So, whats the beef? (pun totally intended)

Well, it all depends who you talk to isn't it?!

Vegans are anti-dairy mostly for ethical reasons. This article gives you the gist. Note that it's set in America and will be a little different in Australia, but not much. I'll explain more when I find out the truth.

Strict paleo or primal dieters say no to milk for health reasons. Living Paleo summarises why in this article . The Paleo police would also say that we didn't evolve to eat dairy because we weren't eating dairy 10,000 years ago before the agricultural tidal wave. Not-so-strict paleo peeps that do eat dairy tend to go for the grass-fed, raw options or choose the smaller animal products like sheep and goat.

Grass-fed vs grain-fed??

One thing vegan and paleo connoisseurs would agree on is that we are the only mammals on earth that drink another mammals milk. Milk that is intended for the mammals offspring. Why would we need to drink another mammals milk? I'm not arguing with that one.

The lovely 'non-label' dieters who go dairy-free probably do so for a combination of reasons. Most likely because they're lactose intolerant. The Food Intolerance Institute of Australia mentions up to 70% of Australians have a lactose or casein intolerance. That's a fair chunk of the population hey? Lara Briden takes it even further by talking about AI casein vs A2 casein protein in milk.

But isn't dairy nutritious? What about calcium?

Well, Dairy Australia lists all these goodies in milk. They also tell you that you should have 3 serves of dairy products a day. They are 'Dairy Australia' after all...
I could probably do a whole article itself addressing calcium. Luckily The Paleo Premise has this covered. It's technical but I know you're a smart cookie. And you know that you can get calcium from other sources like green veggies, meat and nuts? Fancy that.

So hold on, should I have dairy or not!?

You know what, that really depends on how your body responds to dairy and your ethical values. Cut dairy out for 30 days then reintroduce it back to your diet. See how your body responds. I did this last year and the one thing I noticed is that it 'clogs' me up and that I go to the toilet less frequently. Definitely a bonus having to make less trips to the toilet but don't think so from a health perspective! It also made me exceptionally bloated. I found I was ok with butter and ghee though, and raw milk wasn't as bad but still not great. I also have acne-prone skin so at the moment I'm going dairy-free longer than 30 days to see if there are any changes. Acne has been linked to dairy in our diet so I feel this is worth investigating. Then I plan on reintroducing A2 protein dairy only and again reassess.

Experiment with different types of dairy. Try raw milk - you'll find this in most organic stores and farmers market. It's cheekily sold as 'bath milk'. Try sheep and goats dairy. Go for A2-protein type dairy only. Always go for organic, pastured or, even better, locally produced dairy. Get to know a farmer and find out exactly how they treat their animals and produce their milk.

Or don't eat dairy at all. Homemade almond milk is delicious and super easy to make. I'll post a recipe soon. You can make nut cheeses and butters as well. Go for coconut yogurts, you can make your own or buy Coyo. Just a warning though - you'll get addicted it's that good!

Tell me, what has your experience with dairy been? Is it wicked for you?