Humans did not eat dairy until we domesticated animals 10,000 to 40,000 years ago. Our immune systems evolved to understand and allow human milk as food, but not the dairy from other animals.
Over time, certain cultures became dependent on the dairy of different mammals: horse, camel, yak, sheep and goat. Eventually we bred a type of cattle and began to have cow’s milk. Milk products were, obviously, organic and free-range, with no hormones or antibiotics. The animals were not super-breeds selected for mass production. The milk was drunk raw, or fermented into cheeses or yogurts, and the butter fat was separated out for different uses. Tibetan monks on a vegetarian diet consume yak butter in large quantities as it provides essential animal fat for them that they don’t get in their diet.
In the Paleo Diet movement, all dairy tends to be excluded, including butter. The main
exception to this I find is GHEE, the oil from butter. It contains no lactose and no milk solids (antigenic proteins). Since our immune systems target foreign PROTEINS, it can find no target in ghee, but it can in butter.
I personally found a huge change when I gave up ALL dairy. After several months completely dairy-free, I added Ghee with no problem, but could not tolerate butter, cheese or cream.
For all those strict Paleo eaters with dairy-free Paleo Recipes, consider the wonders of ghee. It’s a partially saturated fat, just what our brains crave. It’s tasty and it’s sustaining. Try it instead of butter, and do a 30 to 90 day dairy-free challenge. Add butter back and watch carefully for reactions of any kind: sinus, bloating, arthritis, heartburn, etc. If clear, try cheese and cream.
Pure Indian Foods has amazing hand-made ghee. I buy it by the case! It’s much tastier than store-bought ghee and is from pastured animals. It’s good for cooking and needs no refrigeration. Buy a few small bottles to pack when traveling, and some big bottles for everyday (one at the office too!) Enjoy!
My verdict? GHEE IS GOOD!
