I have an answer to the A2 issue! According to Dr. Gundry, the A-1 casein (milk protein) started due to a spontaneous mutation about 2000 years ago in the Northern cows. During digestion, casein A-1 is turned into a lectin like protein called beta-casomorphin, which affects the pancreas. It may even be the primary cause of type 1 diabetes!! (See below for references) Holsteins are more hardy, and produce more milk, but guess what! They are A-1 cows. Guernsey, Brown Swiss and Belgian Blues are all casein A-2. And so are 10 of our Jersey cow, and the rest are half- breeds. I guess it depends on if they were crossed at some point. This could be why I had to switch to goat milk. Goat, sheep and water buffalo milk is all A-2.
If you can, check out the book The Plant Paradox. Dr. Gundry has really done his research and tested it on real people, like Aajonus did. It really supports the idea of fixing our food the way our ancestors did.
Very interesting that much of the benefit of the Primal Diet aligns with his research on avoiding lectins (proteins that include gluten). I am very interested in using his information to fine tune what I am eating, and to know what to avoid or eat if I want to “cheat”. Guess what? Most gluten-free foods have a ton of lectins, which negates the benefit. So find out what substitutes are good for you!
I find my diet mostly follows his recommendations already, based on what feels good to me or not. I’ll be featuring some of his information in my newsletters in the near future.
I’m still working on finding the fix to my heart problem, the atrial fibrillation. His work shows some real possibilities, as it is aimed at reducing inflammation and the hijacking of our chemical pathways by lectins. He is a heart surgeon, and is local (Palm Springs and Montecito).
I am greatly interested in what he says about the lectins in our food and how they disrupt insulin function, and various hormones. He also is aware of the antibiotics problem, plastic situation, the estrogen mimicking chemicals and the electromagnetic pollution, as well as the circadian rhythm issues of eating foods out of season. He even has more information on why. He basically lays out everything I’ve been wanting to talk about! The lectin information is like my missing puzzle piece. I’m very excited looking at what I have done that has worked, and how those choices were avoiding lectins in my diet. I’m definitely going to add his information to what I am doing.
Since he talks about how we get a leaky gut and healing the gut, and quite a bit about how the gut organisms create most of our “feel good” chemicals, and the fats the brain needs, it could be exactly what you and I need.
Of course, I will eat raw the meat, dairy, and greens (primarily as juice). But for those days when I feel a need to stop my detox and eat a cooked meal, I will be adding some of the yams, cassava, and plantains cooked, to feed the good gut organisms, as well as if I ever eat quinoa or beans, they will be pressure cooked. I do like a treat.
He also advocates green bananas, mangos and papaya, as does Aajonus. I now know why more completely. It is not just the enzymes, it’s avoiding the lectins!!
Interestingly, a some of his concern for lectins is that the animals we eat from are eating them in the corn, wheat and soy, and are passing them to us. And his recommendations help with the weight gain or weight loss problems, by explaining what and why.
He is helping people get rid of all kinds of immune disorders, migraines, heart disease (like people not having to have bypass surgery), diabetes, cancer, ALS, seizures, pretty much everything we are suffering from. And it explains why our pets are getting all the same diseases.
I’ll be going into a lot of this in my newsletters coming up.
Sincerely,
Marilyn
Pal. Eat al. 2015. Milk intolerance, beta-casein and lactose. Nutrients 7(9): 7285-7297
Woodford, K. 2009. Devil in the Milk: Illness, Health and the Politics of A1 and A2 Milk. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing
