Casein Intolerant Too, But What Does That Mean?

[Nancym]

Just curious, there's tons of information out there about how gluten intolerance is related to various diseases but I haven't seen much on casein intolerance. Is it not as bad as gluten intolerance? My impression is that it either isn't as bad or else it just hasn't been studied. I'm wondering whether I can tolerate an occassional casein-ing and just suffer the bloating and flatulence etc or whether I'm really undermining my health by doing that.

Anyone know?

[Canadian Karen]

I'm not too up to date on the casien thing, but when I first had celiac disease, I was also lactose intolerant. What happens is that the part of our intestines that break down lactose are on the very tip of the villi that gets destroyed. When you go on the gluten free diet, eventually your villi grow back, and once that happens, you can again tolerate lactose. I am not sure if this also applies to casien.

I'm sure someone else will pipe in with more knowledge about casien than I have!

Karen

[shayesmom]

Just curious, there's tons of information out there about how gluten intolerance is related to various diseases but I haven't seen much on casein intolerance. Is it not as bad as gluten intolerance? My impression is that it either isn't as bad or else it just hasn't been studied. I'm wondering whether I can tolerate an occassional casein-ing and just suffer the bloating and flatulence etc or whether I'm really undermining my health by doing that.

Anyone know?

I don't know about disease and casein intolerance. However, there is plenty of info out there linking most conventional dairy to disease.....heart disease, osteoporosis and cancer to name a few.

Anyway, there is speculation on whether or not casein intolerance is as pronounced when using raw milk. Apparently, casein is changed during normal commercial processing and many individuals who switched to raw milk are saying that their allergies/intolerances are gone and that they can now have it regularly.

Bear in mind that they are not drinking raw milk, just purchasing it raw and boiling it themselves (at lower temps for shorter periods of time than commercial pasteurization). That renders the milk safe for consumption, without overdoing it and destroying the beneficial properties of dairy. I have seen raw cheese sold in health food stores, but raw milk has to be purchased directly from a dairy farm. It cannot be sold in stores....at least where I am at in Ohio.

I know that doesn't exactly answer your question, but hopefully it gives you an option to look into as far as your own preferences in how to proceed.

[kabowman]

I am lactose and casein intolerant. I cannot have any dairy products, at all. All animal milk protein (casein) is similar (or the same - maybe Tiffany can clarify) and I cannot have goats milk or cheese either. Both make me just as sick. A pill can help with the lactose but there isn't anything to help with casein intolerance.

I don't know that this is a disease but is more likely an intolerance.

[julie5914]

Good question. I don't think enough research has been done to know if casein is as bad as gluten. It depends on if it is a straight up allergy or if it is an auto-immune response that also damages your intestine lining. Most people think that it does not cause damage although the symptoms are just as severe. I think that for some celiacs the casein is being detected as gluten and the reaction is the same and therfore a damaging one. Rye, barely and oats all have similar proteins to gluten but not the same. They cause the same reaction though. It my opinion/theory that casein does the same in those that extra sensitive. Perhaps we celiacs have different degrees of how hyper-reactive our immune system is.

[tarnalberry]

From what I've read, a casein intolerance almost never causes intestinal damage. It's possible, but highly unlikely. It can certainly cause a variety of symptoms, and just because it isn't likely to cause villi bluting doesn't mean you should have dairy when you have a casein intolerance, just that it's not an autoimmune condition like celiac disease.

The intolerance is to the casein protein - a substance found in all mammalian milk. There are different types of casein, however, and different species of mammals have milk that contains different proportions of the different types of casein. Most people are only sensitive to one (or maybe two or three) subtypes of casein, which means that some people find that they can tolerate the milk of another species. It's not true for everyone, and there isn't a good way to find out unless you test yourself on it (and that can get tough too - I'm trying it right now! ;-) )

[shayesmom]

The intolerance is to the casein protein - a substance found in all mammalian milk. There are different types of casein, however, and different species of mammals have milk that contains different proportions of the different types of casein. Most people are only sensitive to one (or maybe two or three) subtypes of casein, which means that some people find that they can tolerate the milk of another species. It's not true for everyone, and there isn't a good way to find out unless you test yourself on it (and that can get tough too - I'm trying it right now! ;-) )

There is some really interesting research being done on raw milk products and how many people with documented milk allergies are doing fine with raw milk. Also interesting is the fact that The Lancet has several studies on its site which show raw milk as preventing asthma and allergies as well as offering other health benefits. Raw milk was even used to aid diabetics before injectable insulin was available.

Realmilk.com has info on how to get hold of raw dairy (for those who are experimenting with their intolerances). I finally located a dairy farm somewhat nearby and plan on offering to do a "cow share" program for a while. LOL!! Dd, dh and I are pretty sensitive to dairy so I figured I'd try it on myself first (maybe dh) and see how it turns out.

Casein proteins in dairy are changed during pasteurization, supposedly at the high temps used for conventional dairy products. From what I understand, heating raw dairy at lower temps can destroy most pathogens, but will not denature the milk proteins and render them as "toxic" to humans. Once again, this really is an individual thing. No one can predict how they'll react until they actually try it. And there is a lot of controversy surrounding this issue.

The Weston A. Price Foundation has some interesting literature out that may be of more help to those looking into the casein/allergy connection. I also find Dr. Mercola's site helpful, interesting and accurate. And as a final reference, I go to The Lancet and PubMed (dry reading but the studies are often there and many articles on The Lancet are free, though not all).

[Nancym]

Oh! Here's an interesting article at wikipedia about the different sorts of pasteurizing.

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