Gut Microbiome - All About Cows and Sugar

About 2000 years ago in Northern Europe, there was a genetic mutation that changed the basic protein in cow milk from a casein a2 to casein a1. And the trouble with casein a1 is, it causes an attack on our immune system. And it explains why 65% of Americans are what is called lactose, the sugar in milk, intolerant. Actually, what we really are is intolerant of that protein casein a1. Most breeds of cows in the US are this type. So you can get great cheeses from Switzerland, France, and Italy, and it's fine to eat them, but not the cheeses that are manufactured in the US. You can also get goat milk butter, and clarified butter, ghee, with no dairy. Easy now to get goat milk and goat yogurt.

There's also a brand of milk now called a2. In other words, casein a2. Not the casein a1, or the bad milk. Some of you may have been reading that it was a 60 Minutes special, that over a million small dairy farmers have gone out of business in the last 10 years. And actually, the two largest dairy farmers in the US recently filed for Chapter 11. Most of the public is starting to get onto this now. Cow milk just isn't that great for us, especially the cow milk in the US.

Most of you, I'm sure, know sugar is not a food, and it's just a food additive. there is no biochemical reaction in any animal cell that requires sugar. It is addictive through the same brain pathways that alcohol is addictive. And the trouble with sugar is this, remember the low-fat fad from many years ago, Dr. Alan Keyes, all turned out to be BS, and so the manufacturers started making food that was low fat. Well, the trouble was, when you got rid of fat, the food tasted horrible. So, they added sugar, and typically, salt. Any of these great-sounding foods, low-fat salad dressing, barbecue, pasta sauce, breakfast cereals, fruit juices, soft drinks, baked goods, candy, and cakes, molasses, honey, keep going on down the list, are full of sugar.

John Asher used to love ketchup. Ketchup is actually 25% sugar, which is unbelievable. So I'm not eating too much ketchup anymore. Here's the problem with sugar. The bad bacteria in our microbiome love simple sugar. And in addition to that, sugar and artificial sweeteners kill the good gut bacteria. So sugar is addictive, and so are all these artificial sweeteners. Now the good news is, there are natural sweeteners, monk fruit and Stevia, both approved by the FDA as sugar substitutes, and both are great. Both have zero calories, and they're both much sweeter than sugar, so you only need a little bit.

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Tune Your Diet to Promote a Healthy Gut Microbiome