Change Your Food Intolerance

[How wheat and dairy sensitivity start, the damage of antibiotics, and regrowing the gut’s microbiome]

Good and Bad Bacteria:

When someone has digestive problems, stomach pain, frequent bloating, gas, and diarrhea from their diet, the first things nutritionists remove are wheat and dairy because the patient isn’t creating the enzymes needed to digest those foods. And ironically those foods are often needed to create the enzymes to digest them. Wheat and dairy (and bean) sensitivities are caused by a lack of friendly flora in the gut. Good digestion relies on the presence of good bacteria, they create the enzymes needed to digest certain proteins like lactose, the sugar structure in milk, or trisaccharides, a sugar in beans. 

Probiotics are the living “good bacteria” or flora in the gut, prebiotics are the food for that bacteria. Bacteria is the most resilient thing in the world. When conditions aren’t right for it to thrive it goes dormant and waits for the environment to be cleaned up. Both good and bad bacteria do this. That’s why when we get sick we purge our bodies to change the environment that the bad bacteria is trying to thrive in… but not many people think of changing the environment for the good bacteria that will support their health. Maintaining healthy flora in your large intestine relies on what you eat and unfortunately modern foods don’t give the flora “healthy soil” it needs to thrive in. The flora in the gut goes dormant when you feed it processed food products instead of living whole foods. It can’t live on just simple plant starches and sugars that are void of minerals and live enzymes from nature. 

Look at animals as an example; when we domesticate cattle or meat birds and raise them in feedlots, giving them only grain grown with pesticides and fertilizers, the animals become so sickly that they have to be given antibiotics on a regular basis so that their immune system isn’t overwhelmed with bad bacteria, and as soon as the animals are taken off antibiotics they have to be butchered and the meat packed in sterile environments. If these cows and chickens have been “free range” raised in fields and allowed to eat a variety of living plants and bugs that support their digestion (and the meat they are developing) then they wouldn’t be overwhelmed with bad bacteria, (that’s why we’re told not to eat raw meat and eggs!) Modern farmers fight diseases in their herds constantly because the animals are raised in such poor conditions with such bad food. This is a direct reflection of both our diets and the flora in our guts.

Antibiotics are prescription drugs that kill literally all of the bacteria in someone's body. They are used in response to a bad illness or infection that the body is unable to fight. Unfortunately when these are taken it strips the gut of good bacteria– that’s why antibiotics lower people's immune system over time and are unsafe to take on a regular basis.   

Foods to Replenish Gut Flora:

If modern processed foods are hurting our gut then we need to choose traditional whole foods. It’s as simple as that. Milk and wheat taken straight from nature are not bad for people, those things become a problem once we tampered with them and refined them for shelf life. The people who have grown up on homogenized milk and refined wheat don’t have the enzymes needed to digest those things in their real form, and often can’t them without suffering from digestive pain. 

Traditional foods are exactly what they sound like, and they pretty much served as people's medicine back in the days when everything was home grown or hunted in the best conditions. Cheeses, a variety of meats, raw milk, herbs, fruits, lots of sources of natural fats, root vegetables, every bread product imaginable made with freshly ground wheats, sprouted grains, fermented foods… the list goes on. Traditional foods all come from old, nourishing cultures where people grew up strong, literally beautiful, fertile, and free from heart diseases, skin and digestive problems. They valued food rather than avoided it. Making a full scale switch from modern food to whole food doesn't work overnight, especially if you have dietary problems— that's why we introduce things slowly and meanwhile, eat things rich in naturally present probiotics to help us digest it while the flora wakes up and the “soil” in our gut is slowly renewed.   

“Fermented foods are as old as food itself. They harness simple biological processes to create food that is both preserved and bettered in the act. In a world in which most of the man-made processes actually degrade the natural goodness of a food or require a great deal of man-made resources to preserve it, fermentation is a refreshing alternative… Microorganisms exist everywhere, including on the foods we eat and in the air we breathe. Vegetables and grains receive a dose of bacteria from their growth in the soil. Raw dairy products contain a host of beneficial organisms. These can be harnessed by giving them the correct environment in which to flourish.” Shannon Stonger in Traditionally Fermented Foods, pg. 13

Lacto fermentation is using the good bacteria that's already in our environment to add to the nutrition of foods like sauerkraut, all kinds of pickled vegetables and kimchi, making it easier to digest because of the enzymes created in it. And cultured dairy foods use naturally evident probiotic bacteria in the same sort of preserving way that as to the enzyme count and aids in digestion; kombucha, milk kefir, yoghurt. These are the things that restock probiotic bacteria in your gut.  

“We often think of raw fruits and vegetables as the biggest source of enzymes. Fermented versions of those foods, however, are like raw foods enhanced in that their vitamin count, enzymes and digestibility goes through the roof after going through a proper fermentation transformation. You are taking what is already good for you and giving it wings, so to speak.” [Traditionally Fermented Foods, pg. 16]

• Bitter plants and herbs: Bitters are known for stimulating the creation of digestive fluids and are incredibly important for gut health, but they are hard to find in this culture's meals because we are such picky eaters. All of these organic plants are easy to incorporate in home cooked meals. Digestive bitters are things like purple lettuce, cabbage, dandelion root and greens, kale, arugula, blackberry root, catnip, chamomile, skullcap, orange peel, turmeric, eggplant, brussels sprouts, even green tea. While digestive aromatic herbs are “...the ones we love to smell, like ginger, dill, fennel, coriander, thyme, basil, and mint. Aromatics are full of volatile oils that flavor our food and also stimulate appetite. Incorporating aromatic herbs into your winter meals is a good choice for healthy digestion and many aromatic herbs are also warming to the digestive tract and carminative in nature, helping to ease the discomfort of feeling overly full or bloated.” –blog post from Mountain Rose Herbs. 

• Lacto Fermented veggies: Cucumbers, beets, turnips, herbs, green tomatoes, green beans (dilly beans!), peppers, cabbage (sauerkraut!), turnip, eggplant, onion, squash, carrot, corn relish, cucumber relish, and watermelon rind. These are condiments, not side dishes, full of immune-boosting digestive enzymes that can be worked into every dinner. “Scientists and doctors today are mystified by the proliferation of new viruses… associated in everything from chronic fatigue to cancer and arthritis. They are equally mystified by recent- increases in the incidence of intestinal parasites and pathogenic yeasts, even among those whose sanitary practices are flawless. Could it be that in abandoning the ancient practice of lacto-fermentation and our insistent on a diet in which everything has been pasteurized, we have compromised the health of our intestinal flora and made ourselves vulnerable to legions of pathogenic microorganisms? If so, the cure for these diseases will be found not in vaccinations, drugs or antibiotics but in restored partnership with the many varieties of lactobacilli, our symbionts of the microscopic world.” Sally Fallon, Nourishing Traditions pg. 91 

• Cultured dairy products: Organic cultured dairy products include: Cream cheese, cottage cheese, curds, milk kefir, yoghurt, buttermilk, whey. (Please note that a lot of milk kefir in stores is sweetened a lot. If you’re aiming away from sugars, buy an organic plain milk kefir and flavor it yourself with chopped up fruits!)

“Fermentation breaks down casein, or milk protein, one of the most difficult proteins to digest. Culturing restores many of the enzymes destroyed during pasteurization including lactase, which helps digest lactose or milk sugar… Lactase produced during the culturing process allows many people who are sensitive to fresh milk to tolerate fermented milk products… In addition, cultured dairy products provide beneficial bacteria and lactic acid to the digestive tract.” Sally Fallon in Nourishing Traditions, pg. 81

“The fermentation of milk makes it more assimilable to persons with lactose intolerance because a large part of the lactose is transformed into lactic acid, and because the presence of the enzyme lactase in fermented milk products help break down lactose in the digestive tract. Furthermore, a portion of the milk protein (casein) is decomposed, liberating amino acids of which it is formed. Research shows that proteins in yoghurt are digested twice as quickly as those of non fermented milk.” Claude Aubert, Les Aliments Fermentés Tradditionnels  

“During fermentation of milk products, thirty four percent of the lactose is broken down so that the high lactose content is reduced. However, a special enzyme activity also takes place. Fermented products that are not pasteurized or heated in ways that destroy enzyme activity have significant levels of enzymes that contribute to the digestion of lactose in the intestine.” Dr Betty Kamen, Health Freedom News

• Soaked and sprouted stuff

“The process of germination not only produces vitamin C but also changes the composition of grain and seeds in numerous beneficial ways. Sprouting increases vitamin B content, especially B2, B5, and B6. Carotene increases dramatically–sometimes eightfold. Even more important, sprouting neutralizes phytic acid, a substance present in the bran of all grains that inhibits absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc; sprouting also neutralizes enzyme inhibitors present in all seeds. These inhibitors can neutralize our own precious enzymes in the digestive tract. Complex sugars responsible for intestinal gas are broken down during sprouting, and a portion of the starch in grain is transformed into sugar. Sprouting inactivates aflatoxins, potent carcinogens found in grains. Finally, numerous enzymes that help digestion are produced during the germination process.” [Nourishing Traditions, pg. 112]

Soaking grains before cooking them does something very similarly, breaking down acids that inhibit digestion and making minerals easier to absorb. Organic seeds that can be sprouted and used in salads, sandwiches, and cooked dishes include: Wheat, barley, dried beans, onion seeds, radish seeds, chia seeds, chick peas, almonds, alfalfa, pumpkin, sunflower. (Seeds like flax and chia are mucilaginous, meaning as they are soaked they become surrounded in a protective plant mucus that absorbs a lot of water. Soaked chia seeds are very common in detox and protein drinks and smoothies) Sprouts are full of natural plant sugars and starches that are easily metabolized into energy. Most sprouts have a mildly bitter flavor (increased as they grow or sit in the sun too long) that stimulates digestion, and as mentioned above, enrich the large intestine “soil” by adding lots of enzymes!  

In order to get the long term benefits of eating these foods, they need to become a regular part of our everyday diet. Sampling some sauerkraut here and sipping some kefir or trying sprouting things now and then won't cut it if we continue eating the same way as before! Our eating customs and tastes change as we introduce new food that supports our bodies. And for those who decide to slowly make the switch to eating raw and whole foods, the importance of choosing organic products cannot be stressed enough. Yes it costs more than easy to find commercially, packaged foods, but doesn’t modern medicine that covers up our problems cost more too? 

In the Shade of the Silver Poplars provides content of general nature that is designed for informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Do your own research, consult your own sources, make healthy choices.