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Paleo diet and milk

An interesting study here for you to peruse - the full pdf is available currently.

It is not so much the study itself, more the idea that some of are - by nature / genetics - able to digest milk and some aren't. Dairy is a bit controversial on a paleo diet - see Kurt Harris or Mark Sisson

A worldwide correlation of lactase persistence phenotype and genotypes
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Don Matesz said…
I don't think milk is controversial in paleo diet circles. By paleo diet, we mean foods consumed by hunter-gatherers. Non-human milk simply was not on their menu. I think everyone agrees on that. Even Kurt Harris calls his approach PaNu, not paleo, because paleo means non dairy and he doesn't think everyone needs to avoid dairy, hence PaNu, not paleo.

The question lies in whether using milk products has any adverse effects, or whether we can use dairy and still maintain the beneficial metabolic condition created by a strict paleo diet, or does dairy have some intrinsic characteristic (such as insulinogenesis) that makes it unfavorable.

I tend to think it depends on what dairy product you consider. Butter doesn't stimulate insulin, has virtually no lactose or allergenic proteins, so it seems compatible with paleo dieting, although not, strictly speaking, a paleo food. On the other hand, milk and fermented milks (yogurt, kefir) have lactose (variable), allergenic proteins, and appear to strongly promote insulin release. Plus they carry hormones and betacellulin, which may have adverse effects, especially in regards to abnormal growths (including tumors) or if seeking weight loss. After all, milk is designed to encourage growth.
February 9, 2010 at 4:04 PM
John Sifferman said…
This is absolutely the case, see:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14634648?ordinalpos=6&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15114531?ordinalpos=6&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11788828?ordinalpos=17&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17956597?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
February 10, 2010 at 4:38 AM
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