The products that are derived from milk can be  problematic  It’s based on who is taking them in when it comes to IC and the painful bladder syndrome these choices lead to inflammation  In the energy science world this is a dictum that is the premise to individualizing one’s food choices according to who is eating the food  All foods have the potential to make us sick if not chosen properly and this is particularly true with the IC bladder pain syndrome

For example when you look at the dairy selections at foodsheal.com you’ll find that the choices for dairy are quite broad for Pitta Vata(PV) but limited when comparing the foods with Pitta Kapha(PK)  There are two reasons for this  First the Kapha energy pattern(the energy of stability in the body) is easily congested with dairy due to the heavy quality and so dairy produces imbalance for Kapha people  However the energy of movement in the body(Vata)  due to its light quality is grounded by dairy

Overuse of Dairy Can Be Inflammatory

In general when foods are not digested well they leave behind poorly broken down molecules that cannot be absorbed and assimilated  These large molecules stay in the gut lumen and cause inflammation  This fact is particularly true for dairy’s large lactose and fat molecules(low fat milk or skim milk don’t solve the problem)

But the story gets worse as the years progress  The gut mucosa(lining of the GI tract) can in these cases become affected by this process such that it is not functional to other molecules like another large molecule gluten(there is a large crossover effect with gluten and lactose intolerances) and then the problme compounds itself

These innocent molecules of lactose and gluten get blamed due to our own poor digestion

What To Do?

Decide who you are energetically and eat according to your energy makeup  For example, consuming dairy twice a week is manageable if you’re a PK energy makeup; however, if you’re PV then daily dairy options are available

Digestive strength  The vast majority of people with lactose intolerance are not intolerant to the lactose molecule but rather have poor digestive strength which is the real problem  So the first thing to do in these situations is to build a strong digestion I’ve spent time in previous posts regarding this

Problems with Cheese  Although there are many cheeses available and it’s used in many different dishes, cheese due to its heavy, sticky, cold, liquid, and oily qualities is the worst food to take in when your digestion is not up to par  Soft cheeses may be used occasionally but the hard cheddar cheeses should be left alone since their acidity along with the above qualities make it doubly inflammatory

Ghee is clarified butter and is an excellent way to use dairy butter in IC  The qualities of ghee match those of digestive fire and therefore ghee helps aid digestion It’s also a great way to help the dry quality in the body particularly around constipation or early IBS

Ice Cream has the cold quality and makes this apparent good food for hot inflammation a great choice  Unfortunately the cold quality affects our digestive strength and leads to poor digestion

Yogurt  I’ve previously posted some information on yogurt  Suffice it to say that only homemade yogurt works  Store bought yogurt is too acidic and therefore inflammatory  And remember no fruit with yogurt due to the inflammatory nature of the combination

All the best in your journey     Love DB