Raw Milk Indigestion

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Feb 7, 2021
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I was drinking raw milk for ~2 months from a local farmer and then all of a sudden I could not digest the milk anymore, it would give me diarrhea, bloating, gas, etc. I stopped having raw dairy for a few months, drinking UHT store bought milk or a brand of A2 UHT milk with only a little gas. I started getting raw milk from another farmer, deciding to ease into it, but even just a few tablespoons upset my stomach, with mild diarrhea. I'm confused if the greater lactose content of the raw milk is messing with me, or if my gut is in dysbiosis causing it to reject the bacteria in the raw milk, I just don't get how I could be lactose if I can eat pasteurized cheese, butter, yogurt, milk, with nearly zero problems? I have tried warming up the raw milk in my mouth before hand to help with digestion, it doesn't work well enough. One more thing, I started off with half a gallon of raw milk per week, but then went up to a gallon, and a quart of raw yogurt, as well as multiple raw eggs per day, did I over do it and **** up my gut?

Anyone experience something similar? Should I try 1 tablespoon of raw milk a day until my gut is used to it? Or should I try raw kefir/yogurt for a few months to build up my guts lactose digesting ability? Am I just stuck like this? Should I even drink store bought milk if all else fails, considering the poor quality of store bought A2/grassfed milk?

Feedback is much appreciated.
 

Perry Staltic

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I'm certainly no expert on yogurts, but I have decided for myself to eat only yogurt without b. acidophilus, which is what most yogurts have. I'm on this kick now of only consuming probiotic bacteria that do not, or mostly don't, produce D-lactate. It's an experiment that so far seems to be going well. No gas today. I make my own yogurt with streptococcus thermophilus and lactobacillus bulgaricus. I think some store bought Greek and Bulgarian yogurts are made with those. The bulgaricus apparently produces some D-lactate, but I don't think it's a lot. Thermophilus produces L-lactate, which the body can easily metabolize. So maybe try a Greek or Bulgarian yogurt, or make your own.
 
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beeohbeebeewhy
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I'm certainly no expert on yogurts, but I have decided for myself to eat only yogurt without b. acidophilus, which is what most yogurts have. I'm on this kick now of only consuming probiotic bacteria that do not, or mostly don't, produce D-lactate. It's an experiment that so far seems to be going well. No gas today. I make my own yogurt with streptococcus thermophilus and lactobacillus bulgaricus. I think some store bought Greek and Bulgarian yogurts are made with those. The bulgaricus apparently produces some D-lactate, but I don't think it's a lot. Thermophilus produces L-lactate, which the body can easily metabolize. So maybe try a Greek or Bulgarian yogurt, or make your own.
Sorry man I forgot to reply, I tried yogurt before but I was having trouble with it after a month or so :(. Recently I've given kefir a go, but still pretty hesitant to eat it in larger quantities, I tolerate it a lot better than raw milk, just some gas. I'm starting to think I have hydrogen sulfide SIBO though so i'm probably going to cut dairy out of my diet even though I desperately want to keep it. I also suspect i'm hypothyroid lmao, which I've read has a connection to low stomach acid and SIBO, getting labs done, I'm going to try peating to fix hypothyroid and SIBO. If you got any recommendations I'd appreciate it.

Also what do you eat your yogurt with?
 

equipoise

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I wouldn't mess with raw milk! My sister is a vet and she always yells its a big no no. She personally conducted a study where they found the rates of staph and E. coli pretty high. Pasteurization ftw
 
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beeohbeebeewhy
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I wouldn't mess with raw milk! My sister is a vet and she always yells its a big no no. She personally conducted a study where they found the rates of staph and E. coli pretty high. Pasteurization ftw
Yeah I go back and forth on it, but pasteurized milk just tastes so dead compared to raw milk, though if I do have SIBO (an extremely mild form of it) it probably contributed to it lmao. Maybe I'll go back to pasteurized since I'm still a bit iffy on the milk, like i'm not drinking any milk bc it gives me indigestion now, I seem to digest the raw butter well tho.
 

equipoise

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Yeah I go back and forth on it, but pasteurized milk just tastes so dead compared to raw milk, though if I do have SIBO (an extremely mild form of it) it probably contributed to it lmao. Maybe I'll go back to pasteurized since I'm still a bit iffy on the milk, like i'm not drinking any milk bc it gives me indigestion now, I seem to digest the raw butter well tho.
Non homogenized tastes much better than homogenized and is safe. Try it. There's no denying raw tastes better, but it's seriously not worth it. Especially with previous cases of gut infection, you're setting yourself up for a big disappointment
 
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beeohbeebeewhy
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Non homogenized tastes much better than homogenized and is safe. Try it. There's no denying raw tastes better, but it's seriously not worth it. Especially with previous cases of gut infection, you're setting yourself up for a big disappointment
I should probably figure out this hypothyroid SIBO thing first and then think about the raw milk later, I might just go back to pasteurized until I figure out the other stuff, thanks for your concern.
 
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beeohbeebeewhy
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I drink about 920 grams of low temp pasteurized whole milk per day from a in-state creamery, as well as haagendaaz ice cream whenever. No lactose intolerance symptoms asides from occasional gas and minor constipation.

If anyone stumbles across this thread in the future what I’ve found most helpful in regaining lactose tolerance is not drinking milk on an empty stomach, eat more calories, raw carrot salad in the morning on an empty stomach, stimulate metabolism/digestion, start eating food early in the day, and go on walks.
 

orangeUglad

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This one holistic doctor I went to who tests literally all foods at all stores on a regular basis says milks are a hit and miss and even many of the raw milks and organic milks he tests test bad because bad bacteria...the plastic container the milk is in etc...he says organic valley whole milk in the half gallon is one that tends to test better
 

gaze

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This one holistic doctor I went to who tests literally all foods at all stores on a regular basis says milks are a hit and miss and even many of the raw milks and organic milks he tests test bad because bad bacteria...the plastic container the milk is in etc...he says organic valley whole milk in the half gallon is one that tends to test better
what exactly are they testing for? specific bad bacteria in milks ?
 
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beeohbeebeewhy
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what exactly are they testing for? specific bad bacteria in milks ?
Strains of E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, etc. Honestly I'm not afraid of Salmonella but some of the other strains of bacteria can kill you if you get unlucky. If you want to drink raw milk ask the farmer if they test the milk for any pathogens, as well as what conditions the cows are in. I don't recommend raw milk especially if you're prone to worry about parasites/bacteria/illness, I would always worry about dying from raw milk/raw oysters when I ate them so I have given both of them up.

Still I eat raw eggs and I don't think they've ever given me problems. I'm also trying raw milk cheese that I bought from the store; food borne pathogens are usually pretty rare and they can occur in almost any food product (even if its pasteurized or something seemingly safe like fruit or vegetables). I'm not saying this to scare you but its worth acknowledging that there's an inherent risk to eating, you just have to decide for yourself if something is risky or not by doing your own due diligence.
This one holistic doctor I went to who tests literally all foods at all stores on a regular basis says milks are a hit and miss and even many of the raw milks and organic milks he tests test bad because bad bacteria...the plastic container the milk is in etc...he says organic valley whole milk in the half gallon is one that tends to test better
One of these days I will have to test the milk I'm drinking, its impossible to find a chocolate milk source that doesn't have carrageenan in it so it makes me wonder what else these creameries and dairies put in their whole milk... I suspect the added vitamin D could be problematic, either contaminated with seed oils or tap water, so I may just source raw milk from a farmer near me and then pasteurize it myself if it comes to that. I'll try organic valley whole milk again when I have the chance, thank u for making me aware.
 

konatowntom

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I wouldn't mess with raw milk! My sister is a vet and she always yells its a big no no. She personally conducted a study where they found the rates of staph and E. coli pretty high. Pasteurization ftw
If you know your farmer, raw milk is fine.
 

peter88

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Me too. Used to be able to drink liters of pasteurized milk with no issues and eventually got into raw milk. Within months I could no longer consume dairy without getting gut issues.
 

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