Nexus - 1805 - New Times Magazine-pages

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truth to this, the main reason is more likely to be iatrogenic: caused by the medical system. When the intestinal flora of a baby or its mother are damaged by antibiotics or when a baby is raised only on pasteurised milk, then the immune system is so compromised that exposure to a lot of differen pathogenic microbes will only make the condition worse. Therefore, the massive amounts of antibiotics used over the decades in the treatment of the common cold and related respiratory infections will be a key reason for the present steep rise in allergies and autoimmune diseases. This goes hand in hand with the medical promotion o pasteurised cow’s milk, and especially of high-lactose skim-milk products, as desirable food. In contrast, the success of the sugar cure in protecting us from the common cold and possibly influenza and respiratory infections shows an important principle o natural medicine: if we remove the cellular metabolic waste on which infectious microbes thrive, then these microbes cannot take hold in the body and cause infection. Alternatively, we may say that infections are nature's attempt to heal the body by using microbes to reduce its cellular waste piles. Table 1: Lactose Content of Dairy Products Butter 0.5% Cheese, quark, cottage cheese 0.1 - 4.0% Goat’s milk 4.3% Cow’s milk 4.9% Yogurt, ice-cream 5 - 25% (with skim-milk powder) Skim-milk powder 52% Whey powder 0% glucose. Finally, on a traditional diet they would have had sufficient antioxidants to minimise the formation o mucic acid, and instead would just discharge any surplus galactose with the urine. Most of these protective defences are greatly reduced or no longer available in modern society. Therefore, preventing excessive mucus accumulation in the body is much easier than trying to remove it afterwards. It is a sensible precaution to reduce your intake of lactose to an amount that does not cause mucus congestion or related problems. See Table | for the lactose content of some common dairy products. With a lactose content of 52 per cent in skim-milk powder, you may now realise how dangerous is the current fad of using low-fat ice-cream, yogurt, cottage cheese and so forth instead of full-fat products. Such low-fat foods are made from skim-milk powder and may contain three to five times as much lactose as the equivalent full-fat foods. Skim-milk powder is also commonly added to a wide variety of processed foods, such as bread and other baking products, sausages and margarine. Therefore, read the labels and avoid foods that list "non-fat milk solids" as one of the ingredients. I estimate that the average daily amount of lactose that healthy Caucasian adults with good liver functions can handle without the danger of long-term galactose overload is less than 10 grams, or the equivalent of a glass of milk. The liver will be able to convert a larger amount of galactose into glucose if lactose is ingested in several spaced-out amounts rather than in one single lot. However, those who are prone to mucus problems or are afflicted with a galactose-related disease do well with a much lower or near-zero lactose intake. Butter 0.5% 0.1 - 4.0% Goat’s milk 4.3% Cow’s milk 49% Yogurt, ice-cream (with skim-milk powder) 5 - 25% 52% 0% How Much Lactose is Safe to Use? Most of the world's adult population—with the exception of the Caucasian race—cannot split lactose into its two components, glucose and galactose. Commonly after the age of three, production of the actose-splitting enzyme lactase declines and this can cause indigestion and diarrhoea if the diet contains appreciable amounts of lactose. This condition is nown as lactose intolerance. However, smaller spaced- out amounts may still be tolerated as intestinal bacteria may split or digest some of the ingested lactose. Lactose-intolerant people can tolerate lactose better if ermented milk is used, as in the form of yogurt or kefir, where the lactose is partially split by lactic-acid bacteria. Alternatively, a lactose-splitting enzyme or lactase is now commercially available and may be added to milk. However, lactose intolerance is only a minor problem compared to the much more serious health problems caused by galactose. Lactose intolerance actually appears to be a wise precaution of nature rather than a regrettable accident because it helps to protect us from the great danger of galactose overload, as most modern Caucasian adults and older children who can digest lactose are unable to use galactose efficiently or dispose of it safely. In societies that traditionally used milk products, individuals were protected from galactose overload by a series of defences. Commonly, lactose content was reduced by fermenting and making cheese, quark and butter while discarding most of the whey. These individuals had an intestinal flora that converted much of the ingested galactose into energy. They had strong liver enzymes to convert any absorbed galactose into Table 2: Galactose Content of Some Foods Dried Figs 4100mg/l00g Honey 3000mg/l00g Celery 850 mg/l00g Beets and beetroot 800mg/l00g Grapes 400mg/l00g Dried Figs 4100mg/l00g Honey 3000mg/l00g 850 mg/l00g 800mg/l00g Celery Grapes 400mg/l00g NEXUS ¢ 39 Table 1: Lactose Content of Dairy Products Cheese, quark, cottage cheese Skim-milk powder Table 2: Galactose Content of Some Foods Beets and beetroot Continued on page 82 AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2011 www.nexusmagazine.com