I’ve written another post about how I intend to get gluten back. This is basically the same thing, except for dairy. However, unlike gluten, this is not theoretical for me: I’ve already gotten dairy back once, and so I know that I can do it, and I know how. I’ll be doing the same thing with gluten, but glute just takes much longer.
For reference: I have ~4++ dairy-inflammation genes. After getting glutened, I cannot have dairy, even in the slightest: even ghee wrecks me. So, that’s my starting point: challenge accepted.
Especially given my genes, why wouldn’t I just avoid dairy? Several reasons: (1) Dairy is tasty; I’m a big fan of it. (2) Dairy is incredibly nutrient-dense and biome-beneficial in so many ways. (3) If I can’t eat dairy, that means my gut is terribly imbalanced in fundamental ways. Maybe I should go easy on the dairy, etc. etc. – but if I can’t have it, that means I’m out of whack, in a big way. Health is a balance, and if I can’t have dairy that’s a very strong indicator that I’m out of balance.
How?
This is the second time I’ve come back from no-ghee-level. It works for me, and I’ll bet it works for anybody – that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
In short, the following:
- I start with a tiny spoonful of homemade milk kefir. Note that it doesn’t have to be raw-milk kefir (great if it is!), but I’ve done this both times with factory-milk as my base milk. I won’t drink factory milk without kefir, anymore, ever – doesn’t even taste that good once you’ve had real milk – but kefir is such an aggressive biome that it breaks down so much of the factory-milk’s (and normal milk) problematic elements. Like all fermented foods, it’s pre-digested: but the bonus here is that kefir bacteria is aggressive. So. I start with a tiny spoonful. (Note: you’ll most likely get a tummy ache for the first week. And constipation.)
- I ramp up. After about a week, I’m drinking a cupful. After two weeks, I’m drinking a half gallon a day.
- Currently, I’m drinking anywhere from a half gallon to over a gallon: I love it. I’ll still get thrown off-kilter if I eat a lactose-dairy product (even if I take my lactase, it can be iffy), but I can (and do) drink kefir all day.
- Lactase: yes! I use it, because it’s like crutches. I won’t need it forever, but in the meantime, it allows me to feed the kefir bacteria that’s colonized my gut. Someday I won’t need it, but in the meantime, if I don’t feed my gut-kefir-biome a variety of dairy scenarios, it eventually won’t be able to handle those. So, I feed it.
If you reaaaaly can’t handle dairy, you might just start by eating a tiny nub of kefir grain: I love it, but most don’t – it’s just the rubbery “starter” that is the kefir. Nothing too crazy here: seed the gut, feed the gut, balance the gut. Here’s the secret: bacteria are a two-way street: you let them colonize your gut, and they’ll physically reshape the terrain of your gut. In other words, I’m not too concerned about my 4++ dairy-inflammation genes. I don’t have to be: it’s my bacteria, not me, that needs to be handling the dairy. My genes likely make it harder for dairy-friendly bacteria to thrive. But that’s just fine: it’ll take me a year instead of two months to get dairy 100% back. But by that time, the kefir-colony will have literally carved out their space in my gut, to suit their needs. And that’s how I get dairy back.
