Organic Virgin Coconut Oil
Organic Ghee from Grass-Fed CowsGluten Free Casein Free Diet: GFCF
Is the casein in dairy a problem for some people just like gluten?
A gluten free casein free diet omits foods that contain gluten (found in wheat and it’s relatives spelt, kamut and triticale, and also barley and rye) and casein which is a protein found in dairy foods (milk, cream, yogurt, kefir, butter, cheese, ice-cream). Casein is sometimes used as a food additive in the form of sodium caseinate, calcium caseinate, and ‘milk protein’.
On a casein free diet, all dairy foods are avoided with the possible exception of ghee. Ghee is butter that has been heated so the milk proteins brown and can be removed leaving little or no casein behind.
Ghee made from the cream from 100% grass fed cows can be purchased from Pure Indian Foods here - this is the only commercial product that I can confidently recommend based on taste and source and good reviews from others.
Note: casein intolerance isn’t the same as lactose intolerance. Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest lactose, a sugar in dairy products, which results in digestive upset. Lactose intolerance can be easily managed by choosing dairy products that are lactose free or by taking a digestive enzyme product that includes lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose.
Why follow a gluten free casein free diet?
It’s believed that some people who are sensitive to gluten may also be sensitive to casein, perhaps the former contributing to the latter. This hasn’t been researched as much as I would like, but I know many gluten sensitive people, including myself, who have reacted poorly to dairy foods even if they don’t contain lactose and are from a good source.
There is also anecdotal evidence that a gluten free casein free diet can help some of the children who suffer from Autism spectrum disorders, but further testing is needed.
Is there more mythology than fact when it comes to casein intolerance? Read Dr. Raymond Peat’s article:
Milk in context: allergies, ecology, and some myths
What are A1 and A2 beta caseins?
Four different casein proteins make up about 80% of the protein in cow’s milk. One of the major caseins is known as beta-casein, of which there are several types but “A1″ and “A2″ are the most common. A1 is found in the milk of Holsteins and other breeds of cows that are common in North America. Other breeds of cows, such as Frisians, the main breed in Europe, produce milk that is high in A2 and free of A1. Guernseys, as well as sheep and goats, also produce mostly A2 milk.
Guernsey cows produce milk with A2 beta casein, sometimes better tolerated than milk that contains A1
A1 is said to be the most allergenic of the beta caseins so sometimes a person who can’t tolerate dairy that is high in A1 can tolerate dairy that contains A2. This may explain why some people are fine with goat milk products. A company in New Zealand offers A2 milk .The research seems to indicate that humans, on the whole, do better with A2 milk products – that it’s the A1 milk that is responsible for most dairy intolerances and diseases that seem to correlate with dairy foods.
A1 or A2, raw, fermented – no matter what form I tried, I seemed to be better off if I consumed dairy rarely, if at all, with the exception of ghee from 100% grass fed cows that had minimal or no casein residue. But then I learned from Dr. Ray Peat that sometimes it’s the vegetable rennet that is used in many cheese types now that can be the culprit.
Dr. Peat advises people who think they can’t handle dairy to try milk from 100% grass fed animals, and when choosing cheese, that it also be from 10o% grass-fed animals, produced in traditional ways, using rennet (still commonly used in good quality cheese from Europe). Most cheese in North American is now made with vegetarian rennet (often listed as ‘microbial rennet’ or ‘non-GMO microbial rennet’). I have had a hellish time finding North American cheese producers who both fully grass feed and only use animal rennet. Good examples of European cheese that aren’t hard to find that meet the parameters are Parmigiano Reggiano (yes, the real thing! If you haven’t tasted it, you are in for a treat!), Swiss Emmenthal, AOC, and Swiss Gruyere, AOC. They are expensive, but wow, I can eat them and not get the strong negative reactions I do with other good quality cheese that uses the new veggie rennet! Yay!
If you would like to learn more about gluten free casein free diets, I recommend joining the excellent FREE Yahoo support forum GFCFNN (Gluten Free, Casein Free Native Nutrition). You’ll find information there that you won’t find elsewhere. Warning: it may challenge your ideas about diet and health at first. It’s a great place because the members are compassionate but most of them are also sticklers for good science and truth, even if it goes against what the mainstream and alternative health authorities are saying. I recommend that you pay particularly attention to what a member named Heather has to say. Her understanding (firsthand and via research) about gluten and casein intolerance is top notch.
