Are You Avoiding Dairy For The Wrong Reasons?
Feb 09, 2023
Dairy has got such a bad rep. Put your hand up if you avoid dairy.
It’s common for me to hear of athletes who avoid dairy.
There may be a clinical reason why you don’t tolerate dairy – a milk protein intolerance for example, which typically is diagnosed when you’re a baby. But unless you have an intolerance to dairy, you shouldn’t avoid it - it’s actually a really nutritious food.
- Milk is a great source of protein, carbohydrate and there is no added sugar in milk - unless you’re drinking chocolate milk!
- Milk is also a great source of calcium and other micro nutrients
Problems occur when you avoid dairy and use substitute milk alternatives – they are heavily processed, often don’t contain much protein, have added sugar, and no calcium unless fortified. Basically, expensive water.
So ask the question – are you actually intolerant to dairy, or are you avoiding it for the wrong reasons?
You might actually be lactose intolerant – undiagnosed – don’t tolerate normal milk.
60-70% of the world’s population is lactose intolerant to some degree!
What is Lactose Intolerance?
Reduced ability to digest lactose – the main sugar found in milk
- reduction or no production of lactase enzyme
- stomach doesn’t produce enough lactase enzyme
- Lactase pulls the disaccharide of lactose
- Disaccharide – 2 units – glucose + galactose
- Lactase’s role is to split these 2 molecules in the small intestine so we can absorb it
Signs and symptoms
- Digestive issues caused by intestinal bacteria consuming the undigested lactose – field day down there
- Severity varies
- Gas, flatulence - stinks, bloating, tummy rumbles
- Diarrhoea – urgency
- Pain
- Nausea
How is lactose intolerance diagnosed?
- Lactose breath test
- Coeliac – microvilli of the small intestines are damaged, short term lactose intolerance – resolved when gut heals on gluten free diet
- Parasites and gut bugs – often leads to lactose intolerance – treat the underlying issues and resolves
Treatment?
- Take lactase enzyme – can find at the chemist – first hand helps but doesn’t cover it completely
- Avoid lactose in dairy – lactose free milk, yoghurt, hard cheese
- If you can’t avoid it, save you hard earned $$ when it comes to milk alternatives – crap loads these days – almond, oat, macadamia, hemp
- If you don’t tolerate dairy – best choice is an unsweetened soy milk that has enough calcium in it – something we talk about in detail in Phase 1 of the Triathlon Nutrition Academy
- B. animalis had the best evidence for reducing symptoms of lactose intolerance (ref 1) – systematic review of 15 randomised, double blind studies – excellent quality of research
I’d encourage you question all the BS you see and read online. If you have been avoiding dairy unnecessarily, try reintroducing it back into your life.
- Go slowly – try lactose free milk instead
- Small volume 100ml – give your body some time to produce lactase again before you go smashing gallons of the stuff
Dive a little bit deeper into what you're doing and see if there's a way that you can move forwards to still give you the best bang for your buck out of all the foods that you're putting into your high performance engine on a day to day basis.
![](https://kajabi-storefronts-production.kajabi-cdn.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/blogs/23441/images/kICNls5XSla8xbFzKPLQ_Website_CTA_Private_Consuts_Online_Courses_TNA_Checklist_4_.png)
If you are interested in learning more about the Triathlon Nutrition Academy Program and what it can do for you, head HERE to join the waitlist for our next opening.
![](https://kajabi-storefronts-production.kajabi-cdn.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/blogs/23441/images/JF3ff832Qf29igQTh7mu_Website_CTA_Private_Consuts_Online_Courses_TNA_Checklist_5_.png)