How To Kick Your Thyroid’s Ass: Dairy Beware, Autoimmune Sufferers Are Onto You

Here’s to hoping we all had a lovely Fourth of July.  In honor of the holiday, today we’re talking about dairy.  I mean, I definitely wouldn’t want to make you feel bad about those cheeseburgers, and the corn on the cob with butter, and cookies you probably ate yesterday, but there are a few important points for thyroidish and autoimmune people to consider.  And trust me: even though no, I myself don’t eat dairy anymore, it sometimes is tough to get over the cake and ice cream at these sorts of holidays and gatherings.  After all, I’ve got it the worst: my family owned a three-generation ice cream shoppe and my grandfather and his father were graduates of the world-famous Penn State creamery school. Some of my earliest childhood memories involve a huge walk-in freezer, a black and white dairy cow motif, and gallons of mint chocolate chip.  Oy.  It runs deep.

Because, I’ll assume, that most all of us have been raised to believe that dairy consumption is normal, natural, and necessary for good health, it can come off as unhealthy and completely bizarre when someone like me suggests we omit it (oh, by the way, I’m suggesting we omit it).  Since, after all: WHERE WILL WE GET OUR CALCIUM??? Once again, the benefits of plant-based nutrition come into play here.  Human beings are the only mammals who, once weaned from breast milk, begin feeding on the milk of another species.  And if that ain’t weird enough for ya, let’s take a look at the science.

Let’s take a look at the milk protein casein and the sugar lactose.  If you remember from Gluten And Your Thyroid Might Be in A Fight, you will recall that although the autoimmune response is still not completely understood, it’s thought to work something like this: the body mistakes certain entities, namely proteins, as invaders and attacks them instead of real viruses or bacteria or pathogens.  Gluten and casein are similar in the fact that they are both proteins and are both known to cause an inflammatory/autoimmune response.  (This is called molecular mimicry.)

Casein is a very sticky, glue-like substance (it’s even used to adhere labels to bottles of beer and wine.  Oh, and it’s also the active ingredient in Elmer’s glue.  Ewww, right?) Now imagine introducing that sticky substance into the body.  If our intestinal vili aren’t already damaged enough just from years and years of Standard American Diet food, or even gluten intolerance or yeast imbalance, things will really go to hell in a hand-basket with the introduction of dairy and casein because the gluey-ness can block absorption of nutrients.  Here — just imagine pouring glue down your intestines and then eating some carrots and expecting those vitamins and minerals to actually be broken down and absorbed.  We may be making a point to eat foods with nutritive value, but if our vili are blunted and damaged, and if there’s a glue coating it all, how can our bodies properly digest and replenish?  As people with chronic illnesses, don’t we need all the nutrients we can get?   Also, here’s the real kicker: this can also equal a malabsorption of our medication/thyroid hormone.  (It’s important to note that human breast milk contains casein, but in very small amounts compared to that in cow’s milk).

Lactose, the milk sugar, we’ve probably all heard about before. What we’re not told is that in order to break down lactose in the body, a special enzyme called lactase is required.  However, many people are deficient in this enzyme.  That means that when a person who is lactase deficient consumes dairy, the body is unable to break it down.  The residual, unbroken-down lactose is said to end up collecting in other tissues of the body, which the body perceives as an invader and attacks.  Also, because lactose is a sugar, it fuels the growth of bacteria and mucous.

Some other points to consider:

• If not organic, dairy contains a sickly cocktail of hormones and antibiotics.  For thyroid peeps, extra hormones circulating in our bodies, in which a hormonal deficit already occurs, sounds like a bad idea.  And antibiotics makes any yeast/bacterial issues we have much much worse because antibiotics kill all bacteria — friendly or not and this creates an imbalance, which causes symptoms. (See This Is Not (Necessarily) About Vaginas for more on bacteria).
• Whether organic or not, most dairy cows are fed grains.  Because grains are not a natural diet for cows, many times illness and infection will occur (which requires antibiotic doses).  Also, grains raise a cow’s insulin.  When we consume such animal products, we’re also consuming grains.  Remember Don’t Be Grainwashed?  Over-use of grains is not beneficial for those of us with endocrine disease.
• All “benefits” of dairy (protein, Vit B-12, calcium, to name a few), can be acquired through other means.  Specifically when it comes to calcium, any green vegetable is a wonderful source, as well as sesame seeds, almonds, and figs.
• The combination of wheat/gluten and dairy together can equal massive opioidic reactions.  These two can act like a drug in the system, altering both our mental state and our physical.  Not to mention, we start uncontrollably craving these foods due to the opioid-like release.  Can you think of a comfort food that doesn’t contain gluten or dairy?  It makes us feel nice, but once its effects wear off, we start to crave them again.
• Vitamin D is implicated in easing and preventing autoimmune disease.  The absorption of Vitamin D is inhibited by acidic animal products like milk, or excessive consumption of calcium.

 

Below are your resources for your own dairy-free research.  I would especially recommend you checking out the Udderly Amazing video, which happens to be very science-y and descriptive, as well as The Sticky Truth About Wheat, Dairy, Corn, and Soy.

Until Next Week,

Love Always,

Liz

Resources:

• Non-dairy Calcium Sources
• GoDairyFree.org
• Heather Strang’s Dairy-Free Blog
• Cows, Grains, and Insulin
• Udderly Amazing Video
• The Sticky Truth About Wheat, Dairy, Corn, and Soy
• The Disadvantages of Dairy

Have a question, comment, story, love letter, or rant/rave to send me?: Liz@DearThyroid.com

We got the link for this paper released by the Endocrine Society and wanted to make sure that every thyroid patient had the opportunity to read it: From the Endocine Society, a 50 page statement – “We present the evidence that endocrine disruptors have effects on male and female reproduction, breast development and cancer, prostate cancer, neuroendocrinology, thyroid, metabolism and obesity, and cardiovascular endocrinology,” the society declared.