When I was a kid I thought to myself, “When I’m old and nobody can tell me what to do, I’m gonna eat and drink as much Reese’s pieces and milk tea for breakfast whenever I want.”
That day finally came and I did get old.
But turns out, I don’t eat and drink Reeses’s pieces and milk tea for breakfast ever.
The common denominator between Reese’s pieces and milk tea is.. dairy!
What’s in milk that people think milk is bad for you?
“Bovine somatotropin (bST), also known as bovine growth hormone, is an animal drug approved by FDA to increase milk production in dairy cows. This drug is based on the somatotropin naturally produced in cattle.” However, although FDA approved, these growth hormones correlates with higher chance of colorectal cancer and prostate cancer in women and men. This is because the hormone raises the presence of IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor-1).
Why is milk so addicting?
“The answer is casomorphins — protein fragments, derived from the digestion of the milk protein, Casein.
The distinguishing characteristic of casomorphins is that they have an opioid effect. ”
Casomorphins, or in the case of milk, Beta-Casomorphins, are indeed a form of opioid found in milk.”
Why are people lactose intolerant?
“Lactose intolerance is usually caused by a deficiency of an enzyme in the body called lactase.
Symptoms can include abdominal cramps, bloating, and diarrhea.
Treatment focuses on avoidance of dairy products, use of lactose-free products, or the use of lactase supplements.”
How does dairy affect our gut?
A majority of people are sensitive to dairy. This means that they cannot digest the proteins (casein and whey) or sugar (lactose) found in milk. If your body cannot digest these, then it causes intestinal distress. Over time, continued consumption of dairy may cause damage to your gut.
It will take about 3–4 weeks to “heal the gut.” Some people may take up to 3 months to reestablish a normal functioning intestinal mucosa.
How can we heal our gut?
Dairy products, including milk, yogurt and cheese, are generally considered nutrient-dense foods that contain proteins, calcium, and other essential nutrients such as magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, and B vitamins.
The majority of the health impacts of dairy may be related to its nutritional composition and caloric content, however, dairy products may also influence health outcomes via the gut microbiota. It is increasingly understood that modulating the gut microbiota is a key pathway by which dietary intakes may influence health outcomes.
Let’s test a clinical study
This is the first systematic literature review to collate evidence on all types of dairy and dairy-derived products and evaluate their possible effects on human gut microbiota composition. In a randomized study with obese subjects received isocaloric snack bars with different ingredients over a period of 12 weeks:
(1) control bar;
(2) inulin prebiotic bar;
(3) whey protein bar; and
(4) a combination whey protein and inulin bar.
At the end of the intervention, there were changes in overall microbial structure in group 2 (inulin bar) and 4 (combination of whey protein and inulin bar), while the abundance of genus Bifidobacterium increased, and alpha diversity also decreased in these two groups. In contrast, there were no differences reported in either group 1 (control bar) or 3 (whey protein bar).
So what did we observe?
- Observed that the quantity of dairy consumed did not result in significant changes to gut microbiota composition
- The study results revealed that milk intake increased the relative abundance of genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium and reduced the bacterial diversity
- Similarly, fermented dairy intake (i.e. yogurt and kefir) increased the abundance of genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium and indicated that they were protective against pathogenic bacterial strains i.e. Bacteroides fragilis and Salmonella typhi.
- However, it was demonstrated that neither casein or whey nor quantity of dairy consumed prompted changes to the gut bacterial taxa from phylum to species level and overall diversity.
Nevertheless, it was indicative that milk and fermented dairy products modulated the gut microbiota in a manner that benefited the host by facilitating the growth of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, which are considered probiotic species that — by definition — benefit host health.
Intuitively, we are now aware that dairy contains both harmful and beneficial elements. Those beneficial elements being Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, and Lactose prebiotic.
So how can we isolate JUST the benefits?
With just one capsule.
No really.
“Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium are two major bacterial genera that are considered to be ‘probiotics’ due to their demonstrated benefits to host health, such as improving metabolic disequilibrium, immune modulation and regulating inflammation.”[1]
Components of dairy such as lactose and protein possess potential to stimulate the growth of these bacterial genera.
Prebiotics are a fermentable ingredient that instigates specific changes to both the composition and activity of the gastrointestinal microbes rendering health benefits. Prebiotic: Lactose is the key milk carbohydrate; often referred to as ‘milk sugar’.
Both in vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that lactose increased the growth of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus.
Ohbiotics probiotics contains both probiotics and prebiotics which are derived by dairy products which contains the important Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium in it’s 18 medical strain composition with over 200 billion colony forming units.
Imagine there was a pill that could do all of this:
Oh wait, there is.
Your gut transformation starts today: