TPV Podcast Episode 247, How Do I Weigh Quality and Budget in Dairy Products?

In this episode, Stacy and Sarah answer a question about dairy. What if you find grass-fed dairy to be prohibitively expensive? Could you still eat it if it was conventional in a regular milk bag?

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The Paleo View (TPV), Episode 247: How Do I Weigh Quality and Budget in Dairy Products?

• Intro (0:00)
• News and Views (0:40)
  • Welcome back everyone!
  • Stacy has sold her house, for real, y’all! But now she has to buy a new one or else the family will be homeless! (Not really, but it can feel like that!)
  • Hopefully, she’ll get a new house soon!
  • Meanwhile, Paleo Principles is almost done and turned in!
  • Think of it as The Paleo Approach and The Paleo Approach Cookbook smashed together, but more about general Paleo than autoimmune. Get it in September!
  • Sarah is just going to Just Keep Swimming until she’s done! And maybe Just Survive Somehow (CW: clips are from The Walking Dead) as well
  • Sarah is also going to record her own abridged audiobook! How cool is that! Stacy recommends the audiobook for Liz Wolfe’s Eat the Yolks.
  • Stacy’s Pukka Cinnamon Licorice Tea!
  • Today’s show and question is about weighing quality and budget. How do you choose between them?
• Question (11:24): “I have a question about dairy- I follow AIP and have been able to reintroduce some foods. One of them is butter. Living in Canada we unfortunately don’t have access to grass fed butter as readily as the US. This means that it is very hard to find any grassfed butter or dairy products and when I do, at a rare specialty health food store, grass fed dairy products are VERY expensive and very much out of our budget, even though we have set a large budget for high quality, nutrient dense foods. I have been eating butter regularly since being pregnant, and only buy Canada Grade A quality butter with cream and sea salt as the ingredients. I tolerate this well and seem to be craving this throughout my recent pregnancy. Is consuming this butter still a wise choice? In terms of other dairy products that I would like to eventually try and reintroduce what should I look for? Especially when grassfed is not an option…do the same principles apply in terms of grassfed vs conventional beef? Should I be purchasing homogenized or skim milk for my husband who does well with dairy? Should we aim to consume dairy on a less frequent basis and buy the more expensive cheeses (still not perfect or grassfed) from the deli section of the grocery store that have less added ingredients, rather than the classics large brick of brand name cheese? Any information would be greatly appreciated!!”
  • Remember: Paleo isn’t a religion. Focus on anti-inflammatory foods that are high quality and nutrition. If you’re adding these kinds of periphery foods, it’s you won’t be kicked from the club if you don’t eat grass-fed dairy. Do what works best for you.
  • Look into local farmers in your area if possible and get a relationship with a direct source.
  • Sarah says that many cattle in this area of Canada are pastured, but are supplemented with grains. So they’re better than grain fed, but not entirely grass-fed.
  • Dairy is a food you need to weigh if it works for you. It’s a good source of vitamins and minerals, and great fats. But it’s much better if it’s pastured because the good stuff is in the fat.
  • Sensitivity to milk is high. For instance, the occurrence of lactose intolerance can be as high as 90% in some populations of people of Asian or African descent. Allergy rate is 4-6%.
  • They tested people with IBS symptoms and found that many people found relief when they eliminated dairy. Intolerance to dairy is super high!
  • People are always talking about foods as yes or no foods, but sometimes there is a maybe food. This is where individuality comes in. Some people will tolerate something like dairy better than others. For example, Sarah and her family don’t eat dairy hardly at all because they don’t tolerate it well, but Stacy does eat it.
  • Sarah recommends not drinking skim. You won’t get the value that comes from the milk fat!
  • So if you are happy with how well you tolerate dairy, then don’t feel guilty about it!
  • Stacy wants you to make a distinction between foods that make you feel good and foods that don’t make you feel too terrible.
  • For example, Stacy figured out why she thought she couldn’t eat eggs: because she was eating them alone and her lack of gallbladder made it hard for her to eat that much fat with nothing else.
  • Take an appraisal of your diet like Stacy does. Figure out what’s making you feel your best! Then eat that.
  • You will tolerate things better if you are eating a nutrient dense diet, with vegetables and ample sleep and low stress. Everything works together and if things fall apart, you will start reacting to more things!
  • Paleo doesn’t have to break the bank. Making just the basic choices will get you so far, even if you can’t do grass-fed, organic, etc.
  • “Don’t Let Perfection Be the Enemy of Good.” – Robb Wolf
  • Figure out what will work best for you AND how you can fit that into your life. And remember: no one is perfect.
• Rate and Review us! Goodbye!
• Outro (39:05)