My reflections on raw dairy.
After a year of experimenting with varying amounts and types of raw dairy—including goat, sheep, cow, and buffalo—I finally accepted the fact that it was doing me more harm than good. I did feel physically stronger and my hair stopped shedding, but my face looked like an oil slick, I was breaking out nonstop, my digestion was crummy, I felt constantly bloated, and the congestion—oh, the congestion. I had to tote around wads of kleenex wherever I went.
I trimmed dairy out of my diet again; my complexion improved within days and any sign of congestion disappeared. Out of curiosity, I tested dairy one more time a few months later—a small amount of raw cheddar shredded on a salad—and wham, the congestion was back. I no longer buy any milk products, raw or otherwise.
I’ve spoken to a growing number of former raw vegans who now supplement their diets with dairy. And recently, it seems a few leaders in the raw community are doing the same—emerging from the woodwork amid the the boos and hisses of the crowd, asserting that raw dairy has bolstered their health.
Even though my experience wasn’t positive, I can understand why some people initially benefit from this food—especially when coming from a raw diet that’s consistently low on calories. Dairy is designed to nourish. It’s a concentrated energy source. It provides the building blocks for physical development, strength, and growth. And raw foodists who chronically undereat are going to be low on protein (more on this touchy subject later), making dairy particularly satisfying on a physiological level.
However, I also feel the benefits of raw dairy are overhyped. It’s not a miracle food, and not everyone will respond well to it. Like its pasteurized counterpart, raw milk contains opioid peptides—chemicals that bind to opioid receptors in your body, creating feelings of euphoria, helping you relax, and ultimately inducing a mild addiction. It’s the same stuff found in morphine. This addictive quality is great for young animals, since it ensures they’ll want to nurse frequently and thus receive plenty of nutrition. But dairy’s opioids can easily tamper with natural hunger signals in adults, making it woefully easy to overeat. Ever try to stop at just one nibble of cheese?
In the raw food community, we’re just starting to see raw dairy shed its “taboo” status and gain some publicized acceptance—at least among those who aren’t vegan for ethical reasons. After seeing some raw folks rave about dairy after consuming it for a period of weeks or months, I’m curious to see what happens in the long run—years down the road, when the potential problems of dairy have time to manifest. Maybe some people will continue thriving on it. Maybe others will experience mucus-related problems like sinus trouble, congestion, and respiratory issues. Maybe others yet will become bona fide cheese-a-holics like I was. Only time will tell.
Regardless, I encourage others to experiment for themselves before blindly trusting the experiences of anyone else. If you have a raw dairy experience to share, please leave a comment below or e-mail me; I’m very interested in hearing more “case studies” on this subject.
Gravitating away from high fat.
Even with dairy out of the equation, eating a raw fat-packed diet—full of flaxseed crackers, coconut meat and oil, avocados, almond butter, hempseed products, and salads dowsed in oil—wasn’t bringing the vibrancy and energy I’d experienced when I first went raw. The only time I felt like exercising was first thing in the morning before I ate, because as soon as I’d put food in my mouth, lethargy and fatigue would take reign.
At the time, I’d been influenced by several fruit-limiting raw authors, including Gabriel Cousens and Brian Clement. On message boards, other raw foodists were embracing low-sugar diets and warning about how fruit had made them too skinny, caused dental problems, fed their candida, and contributed to a laundry list of other health crises. Out of fear, my fruit consumption was limited to berries and an occasional green apple picked from my neighbor’s tree (usually without his permission—shhh). Nothing “high glycemic,” so to speak. I clung to the belief that sugar is sugar is sugar.
Somewhere near the end of 2004, I started feeling disillusioned with raw food and my ceaseless lack of energy. My mini-library of raw books was more disappointing than helpful; everything I read seemed contradictory, unscientific, speculative, dogmatic, or just plain illogical. Online wasn’t much better: I was witnessing people getting banned en masse from raw food forums for questioning the diet or talking about animal products; censorship was rife; folks who were struggling often had their posts deleted instead of receiving honest answers.
It was then that I realized a scary reality. I was responsible for my own health. No one else knew my body. No one else had the answers. No one else had the “truth.”
In desperation, I went into a self-inflicted Raw Food Hermit Phase. I took an extended hiatus—five years, it became—from raw communities, both online and in person, in order to focus on conducting my own research and realigning with my personal intuition. It was time to figure out my own path instead of letting myself become swayed by the beliefs of others.
Without fear-mongering voices influencing my diet, I quickly gravitated back to a cuisine high in fruit. I wanted nothing but simple or mono-style meals. I also started experimenting with non-dairy raw animal products, including egg yolks, fish, and—just once—raw beef. I found that egg yolks and fish digested beautifully for me and tasted good, although the beef did not. A few attempts at eating steamed vegetables resulted in nausea and hot flashes (I thought I was too young for that!). I cut out salt completely; food flavors emerged with greater depth and intensity as a result. I upped my greens intake. I spontaneously moved away from so many raw fats, finding that meals of fruit gave me more energy.
Pretty soon, I formed on personally-tailored diet that finally had me looking and feeling healthier and more energetic than ever before.
I love your following statement……
It was then that I realized a scary reality. I was responsible for my own health. No one else knew my body. No one else had the answers. No one else had the “truth.”
This is what I’ve come to believe also. I found what works for me and gives
me the health and energy I need.
Thank you for a wonderful article.
Frannie
I used to have problems with dairy (except goat yogurt). I discovered an allergy elimination technique called NAET which has since allowed me to eat dairy.
hey denise,
first, i just want to say i think you’re brilliant. i’m slogging through your china study analysis and can’t believe you wrote it on a whim, as a fun/intellectual side project. you could expand it into a PhD dissertation, for real.
i’m not raw but i am health conscious, healing from debilitating chronic illness and trying to find the diet that’s right for me amid the zillion conflicting potentially health-inducing possibilities (raw, mostly raw, ayurvedic, weston price, TCM, etc, etc). intuitively i feel like my bodily constitution would be permanently frozen and ungrounded on an entirely raw diet, which is where ayurveda makes some sense to me; but then i avoid soy and feel the need for more animal protein and fermented veggies which is where the WAPF comes in; & i love green smoothies, have one almost daily, so there’s that, too.
anyway, my specific question is about your thoughts re: the diet espoused by the WAPF. i’d love to know what holes you’ve discovered in their arguments (too much fat? too much protein? or do optimal amounts of these vary for each person?), and what you still think holds merit.
thanks so much, and again, i love your site! it’s the first raw site i’ve found that is inviting, inquisitive, and non-judgmental, so kudos to you for that.
Interesting blog.
So you’re not afraid of the potential problems with fructose (liver damage & glycation)?
- JLL
Hi Denise
Love your blog and have been on a 100% raw for 6 months now mostly as an personal experiment to truly find optimal health. Also I am personal trainer and have pretty much tried all sorts of diets and am a true beleiver we are all unique and require different mix of fats, protein and CHO. However I was sitting down to night eating my amazing salad wondering what I would do continue on the raw food journey or add in some animal protein. I dont look vibrant like I first did when I started in August, enegry levels are still good but have just started to notice receeding gums which is my first red flag.
So I am curious what fish you have introduce and are you not worried about parasites? I am sure I can add raw eggs into my cocount green smooth no problem.
Also why have you not added cooked chicken into your diet??
I Think you should pay attention to the nausea you get from eating the steamed vegatables. It’s sounds like your gall bladder has trouble releashing bile. A dietician says 14 grams of fat is enough to cause bile release in normal people. I assume the steamed vegetables were bitter or spicy.
The liver deals with some toxins by putting the toxins in the bile. About half the bile goes directly to the digestive tract. The other half of the bile goes to the gall bladder to be released when a meal has substantial fat that needs to be made water soluable. If the gall bladder doesn’t release bile regularly toxins build up in the gall bladder and toxins might back up into the liver. The high toxin bile when released causes nausea.
The macrobiotic people would suggest you eat 1/4th cup of radishes once a day, preferably with a meal rich in fat soluable nutrients. They would suggest you keep eating radishes until you don’t get nauseous.
Tradional Low fat diets ussually have a means of causing bile release. On an empty stomach they would have bitter teas, bitter greens, non sweet alcoholic drinks or have spicy meals.
The Weston Price Foundation has an article on the need for a good Copper to Zinc ratio. Most people don’t eat balanced amounts of Copper and zinc but most people excrete excess copper in the bile. The article was inspired by Ann Louise Gittlemen’s book Why Am I So Tired. Women are more susceptible to copper excess. Gittlemen believe hair analysis is the best way to detect copper excess. The symptoms are poor digestion of heavy food, chronic fatigue, hypoglycemia, anxiety, racing mind, panic attacks, skin problems and premenstrual syndrone.
http://www.trit.us/moderndiseases/copper-zinc-imbalance.html
The http address I gave is invalid. The article by Laurie Warner is on several websites.
Try typing in the article title.
Copper-Zinc Imbalance: Unrecognized Consequence of Plant-Based Diets and a Contributor to Chronic Fatigue
Denise,
Don’t know about you. I started taking raw milk (mostly A2 milk) this year, as well as raw cheese. Have been drinking on average 1 gallon and a half per week, for about five months now.
Excellent results, is all I can say. Love the raw milk, particularly the A2. Love the raw cheese. Drinking tons of milk compared to historical levels.
Too bad you cannot drink milk without having problems. But have had nothing but the best of experiences with the raw milk, raw cheese diet.
I posted a comment on the previous page. But for others who are experimenting with raw dairy… I have tried cow, goat and sheep. Cheese or kefir I can’t stomach literally – alas heaving within 10 minutes and my lymph nodes in my neck swell up. I do better with goat or sheep yogurt, but 20% of the time this is rejected by my stomach. The other 80% seems to lead to bloating / stomach pain. I have been diagnosed with lactose intolerance, but fermenting longer (24hrs) did not help. I have concluded dairy is just not for me.
Hi Denise,
it’s interesting blog. I hope for a new post.
Have a nice day
B.