A New Way to "Think Pink"

Ah, October. A month for trick or treating, crisp fall weather, carving pumpkins, apple cider, and pink. Yes, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and of all the months dedicated to a disease this one is the most prominent every year. You couldn't forget this one even if you tried, with all the pink-clad fundraisers and the wide array of pink products that hit the shelves this time of year.

I always thought the idea of having an "awareness month" for a disease such as breast cancer was a little weird. I'm fairly certain that we've all heard of breast cancer, so making us "aware" of the disease seems a bit redundant. Of course the month is really much less about actual awareness and more about fundraising, and therein lies the issue I take with this month.

If you look at the participating products in the "save lids to save lives" list [1] you'll notice that they're not the most healthy products. Actually, they are downright unhealthy. Yoplait yogurt, Totino's pizza rolls, Pillsbury cookies and cinnamon rolls, gummy snacks and cereal are just a few to grace the list... but this begs an important question: What's the point of raising awareness and money for cancer when the very products you buy to support the cause will (probably) give you the disease?? Clearly the people who approved these foods either don't understand human health or are more concerned with lining their pocketbooks than anything else. Call me a cynic, but I think the pink thing is yet another marketing ploy to encourage people to buy these unhealthy products. If you want to give money to cancer research go right ahead, but do yourself a favor and just write Susan Koman a check instead of buying this crap.

Furthermore, why are we raising money for a cure and not talking about prevention? I would be much more on-board with this whole "disease month" thing if they were about prevention. So instead of buying those cinnamon rolls and raising what is likely pennies for research to find a cure, go for a run and make sure you never need a cure.

When I get into practice (soon!) I plan on doing workshops and programs geared toward breast cancer prevention during the month of October, so stay tuned next year. Let's stop thinking in their box (big pharma and it's box of drugs) and create a new one, shall we?

Inspired by the need for change,

Nikki

References:
[1] https://savelidstosavelives.com/ParticipatingProducts

Who are we fooling?

The more I see out there in the world the more I realize the world is in need of a serious wake-up call. There are so many companies out there trying to make a buck off of you it's nauseating. I believe probably 90% of the people selling us "food" and nutrition products are not at all interested in our well-being, but just want to take advantage of the current nutrition culture. There is so much confusion surrounding food, supplements, and diets that it's easy to get confused, and that's exactly what companies are banking on.

As I sit in my living room happily eating my hummus and raw veggies for lunch, I am amazed at the commercials I see. When did we as a society decide that gummy vitamins was a good idea, for example? Surely I missed that memo. I would like to go on record as saying that candy is not good for you, not matter how many vitamins they force into those little sugary bear of doom.

Vitamin Water is a classic example of how companies just want to confuse consumers. They are just crossing their fingers we don't do our homework. People are out there thinking "well, water is good for you, so vitamin water must be really good for you!" But if you read the label on those things they are loaded to the brim with sugar... More sugar than a Dunkin Donut's glazed donut, as a matter a fact [1]. At 13 grams of sugar per serving and 2.5 servings per bottle, Vitamin Waters pack a mean 32.5 grams of sugar per bottle. I'm sure all that sugar doesn't interfere with the absorption of those vitamins....

Finally, my personal favorite is protein bars- Particularly the ones that are covered in chocolate. Really? These things are glorified candy bars we've added a little cheap protein powder to in a (successful) attempt to bamboozle consumers. I don't care if that candy bar you're eating has 100 grams of protein, it's still a candy bar.

Michael Pollan said it best when he said "don't buy foods that make health claims". Poor, shy broccoli will never outwardly boast about it's vitamins and fiber... mostly because there's no way to get rich off selling broccoli. If a product has to convince you that it's healthy chances are it's not that healthy. Stick with what we've known about nutrition all out lives: there is no substitute for fruits and vegtables. Learn to love them.

Nikki


References:
[1] http://www.dunkindonuts.com/content/dunkindonuts/en/menu/nutrition/nutrition_catalog.html?nutrition_catalog_hidden=0&nutrition_catalog_needType=Food&nutrition_catalog_selPage=2&nutrition_catalog_perPage=50

Why Gluten? Why now?

I admit it: I hunt for gluten sensitivity. My own friends have scoffed at me "not everybody is gluten sensitive, Nikki"... As if I am somehow insulting their diets by suggesting that others follow my lead into a gluten free life. I know I'm on the hunt for something that relatively few people care about, and I'm okay with that. Somebody has to tell the world about this issue. Maybe I'm just passionate about this topic because going gluten free has helped me so much. Maybe it's because I have trained and read so much about the topic. Or maybe it's because it's a very big issue and nobody else is tackling it. Gluten sensitivity is the elephant in the room.. Will you be one of the few who take notice?

Like Autism, scheptics like to debate weather or not gluten sensitivity (let's call it GS for short) and Celiac Disease (CD) are truly on the rise. It certainly seems like it's becoming more popular, but is it because of a true rise in incidence, or is "going G-free" the newest fad diet?

It's hard to provide real (research) proof that GS is on the rise because we've only started looking at non-celiac gluten sensitivity somewhat recently. However, it does appear that CD is on the rise, and not by a small margin. The most comprehensive study on this topic was done in 2009 [1]. The study compared blood samples from 9,133 healthy young adults from Warren air force base in the 1940s and 50s and compared them to the blood of 12,768 gender matched subjects in present day. The results of the study showed that in the last 50 years, incidence of CD has increased from 1 in every 700 to 1 in every 100 people. Furthermore, upon follow-up the researchers discovered that patients with undiagnosed CD had 4-fold increased risk of death. Since everything you can imagine that would kill you is related to inflammation (cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, autoimmune disease, Alzheimers), it is of no surprise to see that an inflammatory bowel disease like CD can shave years off your life. Sure, it's a hassle to avoid gluten, but wouldn't it be better than setting yourself up for an inflammatory disease later in life?

So why are we reacting to gluten now more than ever before? Wheat isn't that new to us that we should react any differently than we did 50 years ago, right? As with most of the health problems we face today, there is no one cause of this phenomena.

I will discuss a few of the proposed mechanisms at play, but it all boils down to three main reasons:

1. Our environment has changed. Let's face it, folks. We're not in Kansas anymore. If you compare our world in 2012 to even twenty or thirty years ago you can tell that change is all around us. GMO food crops are causing immunological and inflammatory changes in our bodies without us even knowing it. We are exposed to numerous chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides, flame retardants, and cleaning chemicals before we even exit the womb. The animals we eat are being raised in CAFOs and dark, crowded chicken coups, fed hormones and antibiotics to the point of near death, and then brought to our dinner table. If that's not an unhealthy environment I don't know what is.

2. We have changed. Children are given more vaccines now than ever before. Our diets are not supplying us with the vitamins and minerals we need to keep us healthy. We don't go outside and play anymore. We've given so many antibiotics it's a wonder any of our gut flora are still alive. We probably all have had a leaky gut at some point in our lives, giving our immune system the perfect opportunity to launch an attack on unsuspecting proteins like gluten. We don't exercise enough. Our chronic stress is frying our brains and our guts. We're not physically as able to process the food we take in, including wheat.

3. The wheat has changed. Not only in the sense of genetically modified wheat, either. Even if the wheat in the field was the same wheat, we do so much stuff after we harvest it now that it's hardly recognizable to the naked eye, let alone the immune system. After being harvested it is not uncommon for crops such as corn and wheat to sit in silos for months or years. During that time, the grains begin to rot, leading to the formation of enterotoxins. Once we get it to the plant to be made into your PopTart it is further modified. Harsh acids and temperatures deaminade gluten so that it becomes more water soluble, making it easier to work with and add it to products. Sure, it's easier to work with in the factory, but do you think your body actually knows what to do with it once you ingest it? Deaminaded gluten can cause some of the most vigorous immune reactions to wheat, but guess what? That's not tested for in the classic celiac panel (but it IS in the Cyrex panel!)

Healthfully yours,

Nikki

[1] Rubio-Tapia, A. Increased prevalence of mortality in undiagnosed celiac disease. Gastroenterology 2009 Jul;137(1):88-93. (PubMed ID 19362553)

Gluten: What You Need to Know

It seems like everywhere you look there's a new gluten free item on the supermarket shelf, a restaurant with a gluten free menu, or a friend "going gluten free". But what's all the fuss over this one little molecule? And why is it becoming increasingly popular to avoid it?

Gluten is the protein found in wheat, barley and rye, and it is what gives many foods their form and texture. Think of it as the "glue" that holds bread products together. Gluten enteropathy, or Celiac Disease (CD), is an autoimmune disease in which the individual reacts to gluten and produce an autoimmune-mediated attack on their intestines. Currently it is estimated that CD affects 1 in every 133 people in the US, with a predilection for Caucasian people and women. More shockingly, it is estimated that 80% of people with Celiac Disease are unaware they have the disease [1]. Diagnosis of CD requires either a positive Anti-gliadin antibody test or Tissue Transglutaminase test, as well as a biopsy of the small intestines showing gross damage to the villi of the intestines. Often times a third test is used, a genetic test that looks for the "Celiac genotype" of either HLA-DQ2 or HLA-DQ8.

Okay, so it makes sense that if you have CD you shouldn't eat gluten. But then there's the real weirdos out there: the 1.6 million Americans who are on a gluten free diet but are not diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Why in the world would people without Celiac Disease go gluten-free?

Because you don't have to be Celiac to have an immunological, and very real reaction to gluten. As a matter of fact, scientists now believe that occult cases of CD account for an astonishingly low number of gluten sensitive individuals. As a matter of fact, research is now showing that those people with enteropathy (disease of the intestinal tract) represents only 1/3 of the patients with neurological manifestations of gluten sensitivity [3]! The vast majority of autoimmune patients are highly sensitive to gluten (and casein) and feel much better when they remove it from their diets. Remember, just because the intestinal tract itself isn't being attacked doesn't mean that the immune system isn't attacking another tissue. In CD it's the gut that gets chewed up, in RA it's the joints, in Hashimoto's it's the thyroid. In any case the immune system reacts to the foreign protein and stimulates an immune attack- it's just a matter of where they send the troops.

The problem is that most doctors have yet to acknowledge that non-celiacs can have a problem with gluten. To them, the "Celiac test" IS "the gluten test", but that is absolutely not true. I have heard countless stories from patients with the same experience: "my doctor said it was all in my head... They said I had no problem with gluten." It's so sad, because these people knew that their bodies did not tolerate gluten, but at the insistence of their ignorant doctors they continued to eat the foods that were contributing to their misery.

Here's what you need to know about gluten sensitivity testing and where you can go to get answers.

There are three main problems with traditional Celiac testing that cause gluten-sensitive folks to fall through the cracks.

1. The majority of testing uses the antibody IgA. However secretory IgA is commonly depleted in autoimmune patients, who make up a large percentage of gluten sensitive people. This means that the IgA test can come back low enough to fall into the "negative" range, when in actuality the patients' body was just not making any IgA, let alone IgA against gluten. To combat the risk of false negatives, look for tests that include either IgG or IgM in addition to IgA.

2. Celiac genotype testing is boarder-line useless, but many physicians will not consider you to have CD unless you have the HLA genotype. While 90+% of CD patients are HLA-DQ2 positive, approximately 30% of those of Caucasian decent have this genotype, too! This means that the genotype testing has pretty good sensitivity, but really lousy specificity. That and again, this test is looking for people with occult Celiac Disease, so those who are non-celiac gluten-sensitive would be passed by yet again.

3. The main problem with celiac and gluten testing is that the test only looks for sensitivity against one of the many components of wheat. The anti-gliadin antibody testing used do diagnose CD only tests for Alpha Gliadin- one of 12 or so components of wheat and gluten! Not only that, but most current testing does not test for reactions to wheat versus rye or barley- they assume that the structure is similar enough that they would all produce a positive test result to Alpha-Gliadin.

So what should you do if you believe you are one of the many who have an issue with gluten? The best advise I can give you is to listen to your body!

The cheapest way to find out if you have a food sensitivity is to do a good ol' fashioned food elimination test. That is, cut it out of your diet for a few months, then add it back in and see what happens. We need to re-learn as a species how to listen to our bodies. Back when we were in the bush we would simply know to avoid a food if it made us feel bad. Nobody needed blood tests and peer-reviewed, double blind, placebo controlled trials- it was common sense that your body knew what's best.

I recommend doing an elimination diet with the most common allergens: gluten, dairy, soy, eggs, and peanuts. Give your gut and your immune system a break from these inflammatory foods for a few months with absolutely no cheating. If you can do things to heal your gut (coming in a later post) during that time then all the better. After a few months have passed, slowly start re-introducing foods into your diet, about once every 3-4 days. Recall, it takes the epithelial cells in your gut approximately 3-5 days to regenerate, so it will take you that long to rebound from each new food. As you reintroduce foods, keep an eye out for any symptom: from restless leg syndrome, to gut problems, to pain or insomnia. Remember, the immune system lives in the entire body, so symptoms can pop up anywhere. If you have an autoimmune disease, specifically keep your eyes peeled for symptoms of your disease (ex. joint pain in RA, hypo or hyperthyroidism symptoms in hashimoto's or graves disease, etc). Of course, the entire point of the diet is to avoid the foods that produced any adverse reactions, so listen to your body and stay away from the stuff after that!

For those of you who like to see results that clearly tell you "you can eat this, you can't eat that", you are in luck. A few years ago a lab based out of Phoenix, AZ started running an amazing panel for gluten sensitivity and it is being implemented in functional medicine practices throughout the country. For more information about the lab visit http://www.cyrexlabs.com/. It has been my personal experience with this lab that they are very helpful, and if you ask them they will find you a doctor in your area who runs their tests.

Always in health,

Nikki


References:
[1] http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2012-rst/7008.html
[2] Chart recreated from Datis Kharrazian's seminar notes "Understanding the complexity of gluten sensitivity" 2011
[3] J neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 2007:72;560-563. Gluten sensitivity as a neurological illness.

Recommended videos:
[Tom O'Bryan] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjvKrAvolMQ

Recommended websites:
http://www.theglutensyndrome.net/
http://www.glutenfreesociety.org/gluten-free-society-blog/grain-a-double-edged-sword/
[THE lab]  http://www.cyrexlabs.com/
[Great GFDF recipes!]  http://www.nourishingmeals.com/
[An example of how gluten attacks more than the gut]  http://www.livingwithout.com/issues/4_12/ataxia-2366-1.html

The Many Causes of Leaky Gut Syndrome

Last time we introduced the concept of leaky gut syndrome and discussed how the gut works. By now it should be clear that there are a lot of things that go on every minute of every day to ensure normal gut function- your microbes are talking to each other, your immune system is surveying the scene, and your intestinal lining is continually renewing itself. But what happens when one or more things interfere with normal gut function? Gut health is multifaceted it is no surprise that there are numerous things that can increase intestinal permeability (4). The easy way to explain this is that anything that causes inflammation of any kind is going to have an inflammatory effect on the gut... but let's explore a few mechanisms.

•  Anti-biotic drugs (and herbs) don't just kill the bugs you want to kill- they kill whoever is susceptible to them. Unfortunately, this often includes the "good" microbes that keep your gut healthy. While this may be the least of your concerns if you are on the brink of death from sepsis, it is something to consider when dealing with relatively common ailments such as UTIs, ear infections, and sinus infections. Before you walk out of your doctors office with that anti-biotic script ask yourself "would I be able to shake this bug without this drug?" and "what other effects will this drug have on me?" In my experience, ear infections are almost always viral and thus unresponsive to anti-biotics, UTIs can be killed very quickly with lots of water and some uva ursi, and sinus infections will go away good ol fashioned rest and neti-pot washes.
• NSAID drugs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as ibuprofen and advil are notorious for causing stomach ulcers, so it's not a surprise that they damage the rest of the gut lining in the same way. There are multiple mechanisms at play here, including direct irritation of the GI lining by the drug when it is ingested, uncoupling of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, and the inhibition of COX 1 and 2 (1). That last part is especially important. The Cyclooxygenase enzymes aka COX 1 and COX 2 are enzymes responsible for the formation of prostaglandins, or local cellular messengers. NSAIDs are said to be "non-selective COX inhibitors" because they block both enzymes. The sad news is that while blocking COX 2 gets rid of your pain and reduces inflammation, COX 1 is a good guy we really don't want to block. COX 1 is responsible for the formation of anti-inflammatory prostaglandins and actually helps maintain the gut lining. Whoops!
• Food intolerances are becoming all the more common, the two most common being to gluten and dairy. Exposure to gluten is one of the most potent triggers for zonulin release from the gut lining (which goes hand in hand with increased permeability) even in people without Celiac disease (2).
• Head injury has been shown to release zonulin, the same molecule that is released from the GI tract when it is injured. This tight junction protein not only closes the gap between epithelial cells in the GI tract, but it plays the same role in maintaining the blood-brain-barrier. When traumatic brain injury was applied to a rodent model in the laboratory setting Santos and colleagues found "significant damages to gut structure and impairment of barrier function" only three hours after injury (3). The authors believe that when zonulin is released from the injured blood-brain-barrier it makes its way to gut via the blood and signals the gut lining to become more permeable, too.
• Gastrointestinal infections
• Chronic stress
• Enviromental toxins
• Chemotherapy and radiation therapy
• Autoimmune disease
• Alcohol
• Corticosteroids
• Excessive sugar consumption

With so many things that cause leaky gut syndrome in the world it's a wonder why we don't all have leaky guts. Keep in mind that there are surely other things that cause the gut barrier to break down, but this is a good starter list. Also, people's reactions to the inflammatory stimuli can be much different. For some, stress may be what sends them into a diarrhea-ey downward spiral, for others it may be NSAID use. Everybody has different capacities to handle inflammation based on variations in dietary antioxidant consumption and their body's ability to make its own antioxidants. Either way, I look at this list and am reminded of why I have to eat as clean as humanly possible- you never know what inflammatory thing will try to take you down next!

In health,

Nikki


References:
(1) http://farncombe.mcmaster.ca/document/WallaceBestPractResClinGastroenterol2000141147-159.pdf

(2) Fasano Alessio, Zonulin and Its Regulation of Intestinal Barrier Function: The Biological Door to Inflammation, Autoimmunity, and Cancer, Physiol Rev 2011; 91: 151–175.

(3) Santos Alejandro, Intestinal Permeability to Glucose after Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury: Effect of Gadopentetate Dimeglumine Administration, Nordic Pharmacological Society Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology 2008, 103, 247–254.

(4) The Textbook of Functional Medicine 2010 pg 192

(5) Lipski, Elizabeth, Leaky Gut Syndrome 2010 pg 17

Leaky Gut Syndome Part 1: Understanding the Gut

They say you don't appreciate what you have until it's gone. Similarly, I think you don't truly appreciate good digestion until it's gone. For a shrinking part of the population digestion simply doesn't cross their minds, but with the increased incidence of Celiac disease, Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Colitis (both considered types of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, or IBD), gastroparesis, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome, digestions is on more people's minds than ever now.

So what do all these gut problems share in common? Even though each of these have their own set of diagnostic criteria and symptoms, what if they were all in fact part of a much longer problem?

Leaky gut syndrome, also known in the scientific literature as "impaired/increased intestinal permeability", is exactly what it sounds like. The gut barrier can become compromised for a number of reasons, and when it does it is less able to control what comes in and out of the gut. We will get into the gravity of this situation a little later, but first I want to explain normal gut function and how important it is.

Before you can understand abnormal you must understand normal. The gastrointestinal tract (GIT for short) is actually considered to be outside the body. Remember those weird water tube toys from the 90's? They were one continuous loop of plastic with one hole at either end and water inside.When you tried to hold onto it, it would turn in on itself making it nearly impossible to grasp (not unlike a slippery bar of soap). The human body is really no different: we are a tube within a tube. This makes the gut lining's job even more important- not only is each epithelial cell in charge of absorbing good nutrients from our food, but they have to be able to keep the unwanted crud out. This includes allergens, unfriendly critters, undigested food particles, chemicals, and potential toxins.

There are two ways that stuff can get into our bodies through the gut lining- by going between the cells or through a cell. These are called the paracellular pathway and the transcellular pathway. Each cell is held together by "tight junction proteins" called occludin and zonulin. When these proteins are destroyed or weakened the paracellular pathway becomes compromised, allowing passage into the underlying tissue. Transcellular passage happens when cells are destroyed (an example of this that you can actually see on biopsy is the villous atrophy seen in celiac disease) or when they fail to do their job properly.

The gut is home to approximately 70% of your immune cells- a brilliant tactic by the body if you ask me. With all the stuff our gastrointestinal system comes in contact with (food particles, chemicals, critters) it makes sense to put the guards of our bodies there to wait for the ambush. The analogy I like to use is if you were going to build a castle, where would you put your guards? Would you have them in a room inside the castle, or would you have them poised to defend you at the gate should the moat fail to stop your enemies?

Under normal conditions your gut has several lines of defense to protect itself. The first, and one that people often forget, is your digestive enzymes. Few bugs can actually survive the harsh, acidic environment of the stomach, so stomach acid serves as a great disinfectant right off the get-go. Not only that, but the digestion of food by our acids and enzymes breaks down the large molecules such as gluten and casein so they can be more easily metabolized by the enterocytes. Without proper digestion by these enzymes, large otherwise harmless macromolecules such as gluten are allowed to come in contact with new areas of the GIT as well as the immune system.

In the intestines (where the vast majority of our food is actually absorbed) there are several other defense mechanisms in place. The immunoglobulin IgA is abundant in the gut and aids in the binding and removal of antigens and bugs. Additionally, the microbes that make their homes in our guts play an immensely important role in our health. These microbes help modulate the immune system and relay information to the underlying dendritic cells and enterocytes. Some bacteria actually make things for us that we would otherwise not be able to make ourselves, like vitamin K. These critters are in constant communication with our cells as well as each other, and we are just starting to understand just how important they are.

Up next: What causes leaky gut syndrome?

Nikki

Resources:
A great TED video about bacteria:
http://www.ted.com/talks/bonnie_bassler_on_how_bacteria_communicate.html

Pictures taken from: 

Menard S, Multiple facets of intestinal permeability and epithelial handling of dietary antigens, 2010 May, Vol 3 Issue 3, P 247-259.

Dare to Say NO to Dairy, Part 2

Part 2: More reasons to just say NO

In part 1 of this post, we discussed the myths surrounding dairy. For years we have been told that drinking milk will build strong bones and protect us from osteoporosis later in life. However, it seems that this is the opposite of the truth. More and more research is now saying that increased dairy and animal protein consumption leads to inflammation and a shift in the pH balance in the body causing net calcium loss.

But for many, this will not be enough to convince them to give up dairy. As an intern I have noticed that the number one food group I have difficulty getting people to let go of is dairy, specifically cheese. I have heard time and time again phrases such as "I could never be a vegan because I could never give up cheese," or "oh, I could never have an allergy to cheese. I love cheese!" Cheese is particularly addicting because it contains high amounts of compounds that function in the body much like morphine, or opiates. These are found in other dairy products but seem to be more concentrated in cheese [1]. An example is a by-product of the breakdown of casein, caseomorphin. A similar opiate is found in gluten containing grains called gluteomorphin. This is why when some people go to a gluten and casein free diet they go through withdrawal symptoms- They're not crazy; they are actually addicted! It is important to know, however, that it is critical to get these people off gluten and casein, even if they feel better "on" the stuff in the beginning.

Okay, now to get on with more reasons to just say NO to dairy!

1. Lactose intolerance occurs when the body no longer makes the enzyme lactase and can no longer break down the sugar in milk (lactose). This differs from casein intolerance, when there is an immune reaction to the protein in milk (casein). Worldwide, it is estimated that 3/4 of the population does not produce lactase after childhood. This percentage varies between ethnic groups, being about 90% in those of Asian decent, 75% in those of African decent, and as low as 7% in some Northern European countries [1]. While these numbers may come as a shock to some, I'm not surprised at all! Mammals live off their mother's milk in their infancy, but after that they function as adult animals independent of their mother's nourishment. There is no evolutionary reason why we would need to be able to digest milk after early childhood, so why do we continue to try? Milk nourishes us when we are in our most rapid stage of growth, but after childhood most of us don't want to keep growing that fast!

2. Casein intolerance, much like gluten intolerance, is becoming all the more common today. These two food intolerance are the most common in western society and perhaps the most devastating to the immune system. Unlike food allergies (anaphylaxis), which are caused by an immediate IgE response, food intolerances (such as those to gluten and casein) are mediated by IgG and IgM. These "delayed hypersensitivities" are much more difficult to catch without blood work because the effects of ingesting the food may not be felt until days later when the immune system has had time to fully respond. If you eat these foods on a regular basis it becomes extremely difficult to asses whether or not your symptoms are coming from a food. That is why I recommend two things to my patients: a food elimination diet and blood work to rule out the presence of a delayed hypersensitivity.

3. Increased risk of cancer is another serious risk associate with ingestion of dairy products. Perhaps this is due to the contamination of dairy with hormones, as they hypothesis for the link between breast cancer and dairy consumption [1]. Perhaps it is due to the inflammation that dairy may contribute to. In either case, the risk is very real. Dairy has been associated with breast cancer, prostate cancer, and ovarian cancer, to name a few [1]. In one meta-analysis that reviewed 21 studies, the researchers found that for every 10 grams of lactose the women ingested their risk for ovarian cancer increased by 13% [2].

4. Contamination with a variety of hormones, drugs, pesticides, and other chemicals is a very real concern surrounding meat and dairy products.. But milk seems to be the worst culprit. This is largely due to a process called biomagnification in which the concentration of a compound increases as it moves up the food chain (i.e. grass to cows to humans). This may be due to the long half-life of many of these compounds in the body. The cow's body simply can't get rid of the toxins faster than they are given to them, and they end up getting stored. Water soluble compounds hang out in the blood, get filtered by the kidneys, and are eventually passed into the urine for excretion. Fat soluble compounds, however, can not stay in the blood stream for too long and get readily deposited in the animal's fat stores. Since milk has such a high concentration of fat, it is thought that many of these compounds end up in the milk [1], which may explain why dairy is the chemical-soup that it is!

5. Not only do we have to worry about chemicals and drugs ending up in milk, but there is the oh-so nauseating reality that dairy contains puss. Yes, that stuff that oozes from infected wounds, puss. The legal limit of puss cells (somatic cells) in milk is 750,000 cells per milliliter. Furthermore, it is actually perfectly legal to sell milk from sick cows, so long as that somatic cell count (SCC) does not exceed 750,000 [1]. If the animal who produced the milk is not in good health, what kind of properties do you think that food takes on?

6. Another good point I read recently comes from a form of medicine that has been around for millennia- Ayurveda. In this blog post, the author talks about how dairy is thought to lead to the accumulation of ama, or toxins in aryuvedic medicine. This toxic waste slows the bodies ability to detoxify and heal and is thought to be a contributor to many diseases.

7. Lastly, I would like to take a stand for the cows. Now, I'm not one of those crazy vegetarians that tries to convince you to put down your hamburger by telling you graphic stories when we're at a restaurant. However, I will say this while I have the opportunity: The cows that produce the milk and meat in most grocery stores are horrendously mistreated for their entire lives. If you want to eat dairy, go ahead. But please consider investing a little more in dairy products that came from real happy cows who were given plenty of grass and sunshine. Not only will you be voting with your fork and supporting the humane treatment of these animals, but the products will be better for you too.

Up next: First steps to getting off dairy

In health,

Nikki

More reading:
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/harvard-declares-dairy-not-part-of-healthy-diet.html

References
[1] Joseph Keon "Whitewash the disturbing truth about cow's milk and your health" 2010
[2] Larsson, SC "Milk, milk products, and lactose intake and ovarian cancer risk: a meta-analysis of epidemiological studies" Intern J of Cancer 118 (2006): 431-41