My book: Notes on CFS/ME: A Happier, Healthier Lifestyle now out on pdf has been written like a travel book to illustrate the differences to me from the totally disabling effects of CFS/ME to the euphoric effects of being well a few years later and how I did it.
Some, and I was one of them, very ill with CFS/ME didn’t like the term CFS as that seemed to suggest something less than what I was suffering. Personally I always referred to my condition as ME. However what is in a name? We know we are ill. But …. whether you are suffering with CFS or ME or Fibromyalgia or Rheumatism, or Arthritis or Lupus or, or, or the aid to wellness is the same: good food, good movement and good thinking. The research was to discover what good food, good movement and good thinking actually was.
The point of the book is to encourage the CFS/ME sufferer that one can get well. I felt inspired as I was writing and feel convinced this is what led me to the research.
The piece of research I want to share with you today is not in the book, but in my master-copy Health equates to the sum of 3 parts. I had to reduce the amount of information in the book because it was quite simply too much.
“Milk, a protein, carbohydrate and fat providing food, contains an essential sugar – lactose, which is required for healthy growth of beneficial bacteria, provides a source of energy and helps the absorption of minerals (see footnote 125).
Lactase is an enzyme also found in milk that is required to break down the sugar lactose. Lactase is destroyed in the pasteurising process and could be a reason why so many are intolerant to milk (see footnote 126).
If lactose is not broken down by lactase, symptoms of elevated water retention in the gut, and unpleasant gases are produced with abdominal pain and diarrohea (see footnote 127).”
Also read Notes on CFS/ME: A Happier, Healthier Lifestyle by Marianne Gutierrez on page 17 and scroll down to foot note 89
Footnote 125 – The Dairy for Global Nutrition: Lactose Safety and Quality: Nutritional Benefits of Lactose: Lactose has been shown to promote the growth of beneficial intestinal bacteria, such as Bifidobacterium bifidum and Lactobacilli, both lactic acid bacteria. At the same time, lactose inhibits the growth of some types of pathogenic bacteria and endotoxins. The intake of lactose by infants and children may increase their resistance to intestinal infections and contribute to the maintenance of a healthy intestinal flora. Lactose is natural, milk derived carbohydrate, a nutrient required by the body for energy. It has only about 25% of the sweetness of sucrose and is often used as an energy source in foods for infants and children where too much sweetness is undesirable. Lactose has a low glycemic index and causes a slow, modest rise in blood sugar. Diets containing low glycemic foods are known to have health benefits during aging. Lactose helps stimulate the absorption and retention of important minerals in infants, such as calcium, magnesium, zinc and manganese. All of these are required for normal growth and development and for good health.
Footnote 126 – FAQs from the Raw Milk Website:
Q: I’m lactose intolerant. Can I drink raw milk?
A: Chances are good that you may, even if you’re of African or Asian descent, assuming you can find a reliable source near your home. Unheated milk contains its full complement of enzymes and lactase-producing bacteria needed by our bodies to break down and assimilate the milk sugar lactose. These helpful bacteria are killed in the pasteurization/homogenization process. Fermented milk products, such as yogurt and kefir, naturally lower in lactose due to the actions of various Lactobacillus and other lactic acid-producing bacteria, may be better tolerated by some.
Q: What if I’m allergic to milk?
A: While a valuable food, dairy products, raw or otherwise, are not everyone’s cup of tea. Milk allergies are very real and serious threats today- just ask any pediatrician. Barring the small percentage of folks allergic to all forms of the milk protein casein, you might be able to tolerate raw milk with its self-digesting food enzymes intact. Again, fermented dairy products may be better tolerated by some individuals.
Footnote 127 – Raw Milk Facts. Lactose facts. “Unfortunately, lactose not broken down by lactase and absorbed will eventually reach the large intestine. Once there, the resident microbes will attack it, producing carbon dioxide, hydrogen, methane and lactic acid in the process. This can cause elevated water retention in the colon, which, coupled with the gases produced, can cause the unpleasant symptoms familiar to those who are lactose intolerant: flatulence, abdominal pain and diarrhea … A tasty alternative for these folks, and those of us not lucky enough to make our own lactase, is to try fermented, raw, grass-fed milk products like kefir and yogurt. ”