Dairy Products

Dairy Products: The YES List

Eating the right dairy product can really speed up your Fungus and Feminine Issues recovery! Plain, unsweetened yogurt is a great probiotic that will help to replenish the ‘good bacteria’ in your gut. The same goes for Kefir, a milk-based fermented drink that is much like a tangier version of yogurt. You can make both kefir and yogurt at home, and you can see detailed instructions for both in the Appendix. In fact, using homemade, raw yogurt or kefir is usually a much better option than buying it from the store. This is because store-bought dairy products are typically pasteurized, whether they are organic or not. The pasteurization process destroys many of the valuable enzymes and probiotic cultures found in the yogurt or kefir.

If you don’t have the time to make your own fermented dairy products, make sure that any yogurt or kefir that you buy contains live probiotic cultures. When you look at the list of ingredients (a great habit to get into!), you might notice that it contains lactose, a sugar that would normally feed a fungal overgrowth. It is highly unlikely that you need to worry about this, as the quantities of lactose in properly fermented yogurt are very small. During the fermentation process, most of the lactose is converted into lactic acid. However, if you are lactose-intolerant you can buy yogurt and kefir made from goat or sheep milk, both of which typically contain much lower levels of this naturally occurring dairy sugar. Also note that raw dairy products typically have lower levels of lactose, and also contain the enzyme lactase that helps us to digest it.

Be a little careful with the amounts of probiotic dairy that you are eating in this part of the diet. In the next phase, we will introduce probiotic foods and supplements in larger amounts. For now, it might be best to just eat small amounts of yogurt and kefir, as the probiotic cultures might trigger a Fungus Die-Off reaction if you eat too much, too soon. Start with small amounts and increase them gradually.

We have also included butter and ghee on this list. Out of the two, ghee is probably a better choice because it is virtually free of lactose. It also has a higher smoke point so you can be more comfortable using it to fry foods. Butter and ghee made from cow’s milk or goat’s milk are perfectly acceptable, but look for brands from animals that are pasture-raised.

Dairy Products: The MAYBE List

Whey protein can be a good option in this stage, for several key reasons. It does not contain casein; so many people with dairy sensitivities can actually tolerate whey as a supplement. Whey is mildly alkalizing to the tissues when made the right way, so it can help to maintain an alkaline body pH (while supporting optimal acidity in the digestive tract). Additionally, high-quality whey has been shown to contribute to a reduction in unfriendly microbiota in the gut.

If you use a whey concentrate, get one that is free from all artificial or sugar sweeteners, cold processed, and preferably derived from raw milk. Watch out for potentially harmful ingredients like polysorbate 80, propylene glycol, ethoxylated mono-diglycerides, maltodextrin, caseinates, hydrolyzed proteins, aspartame, and sucralose.

Buttermilk causes a little confusion because there are so many kinds. Traditional buttermilk is the liquid leftover after butter has been churned from cultured milk. These days, buttermilk is created by adding lactic acid bacteria to milk. It is a fermented product that undoubtedly has some health benefits, but the lactose content also tends to be quite high. This might be an acceptable addition to your diet if you can find buttermilk that has been cultured for longer and has lower lactose content, or if you make your own buttermilk at home.

Whey protein can be a good option in this stage, for several key reasons. It does not contain casein; so many people with dairy sensitivities can actually tolerate whey as a supplement. Whey is mildly alkalizing to the tissues when made the right way, so it can help to maintain an alkaline body pH (while supporting optimal acidity in the digestive tract). Additionally, high-quality whey has been shown to contribute to a reduction in unfriendly microbiota in the gut.

If you use a whey concentrate, get one that is free from all artificial or sugar sweeteners, cold processed, and preferably derived from raw milk. Watch out for potentially harmful ingredients like polysorbate 80, propylene glycol, ethoxylated mono-diglycerides, maltodextrin, caseinates, hydrolyzed proteins, aspartame, and sucralose.

Buttermilk causes a little confusion because there are so many kinds. Traditional buttermilk is the liquid leftover after butter has been churned from cultured milk. These days, buttermilk is created by adding lactic acid bacteria to milk. It is a fermented product that undoubtedly has some health benefits, but the lactose content also tends to be quite high. This might be an acceptable addition to your diet if you can find buttermilk that has been cultured for longer and has lower lactose content, or if you make your own buttermilk at home.

Dairy Products: The NO List

Cheese (from Co’ws Milk)	Cream	Ice Cream
Sour Cream	Milk	Whey Isolate

Cheese and milk contain large amounts of lactose, a disaccharide sugar that will provide a tasty food supply for those nasty fungus yeast cells. If you are desperate for some milk and looking for a substitute, try unsweetened almond milk or unsweetened coconut milk (homemade nut milk are best).

There are many people who suffer from inflammation and sensitivity reactions to dairy products like milk and cheese. The potential causes are numerous, but they are usually related either to lactose (the sugar found in milk) or casein (a milk protein). These sensitivities can make dairy products quite difficult to digest and inflammatory. Raw milk and cheese are often a little better, but it would still be better to cut them out of your diet at this point. The only exception is cheese made from goat’s milk, which tends to be less

As we noted earlier, the main dairy products that you should be eating during this stage are plain yogurt with live cultures and kefir (both preferably raw). The best way to ensure that they contain enough of the bacteria you need is to make them at home.

This way you also have control over the amount of sugar that they contain -by fermenting them for longer periods you can actually reduce their lactose content to extremely low levels. If you can use raw milk for your yogurt or kefir, even though it is quite difficult to find, their respective lactose levels should already be quite low.