Calcium’s Critical Role in Curing Gum Disease – Guide Part 5/8 
Healing gum disease requires restoring adequate levels of vitamins and minerals in our diet from sources that our body can recognize and metabolize—whole foods. By far calcium is the most important mineral needed to reverse gum disease. 

Calcium Stops Gum Disease 
Based on the work of the dentists Dr. Harold F. Hawkins and Dr. Melvin Page, we learned that when the loss of calcium exceeds the body’s requirement for this mineral, there could be disintegration and eventual destruction of the alveolar process that supports the teeth. 
Calcium Protects Against Alveolar Bone Loss 
Dr. Hawkins’s forgotten remedy for gum disease was a high calcium diet, combined with alkalizing foods and a moderation of high phosphorous foods (red meats and grains). Low blood calcium directly correlates with severe periodontal disease. Other literature also shows direct correlations with low calcium intake, imbalanced calcium to phosphorus ratio, and severe periodontal bone loss.1 The less calcium one eats, the more severe the periodontal disease.2 The calcium and phosphorus ratio in the blood is maintained by an adequate calcium intake along with the ability to metabolize calcium, which requires fat-soluble vitamins, a balanced glandular system, trace minerals, and a healthy digestive system. 
Dairy Products Help Cure Gum Disease 
A more recent study shows an inverse relationship between periodontal disease and dairy consumption.3 The more dairy products people consumed, the lower the prevalence of periodontal disease.4 
Pasteurization Damages Milk 
Many people have learned from an unpleasant experience that pasteurized milk makes them sick or congested and as a result they avoid it. This is rarely due to the commonly blamed lactose intolerance; rather, it is most often due to pasteurization and grain-fed milk intolerance. Probably pasteurization’s worst offense is that it makes an important portion of the calcium contained in raw milk non-absorbable. Pasteurization also destroys probiotics, which have been shown to be beneficial for periodontal disease.5 Pasteurization was introduced as an attempt to neutralize (kill) pathogens found in dirty milk from filthy and inhumane “distillery dairies” in the mid 1800s.6 It was never intended for clean milk from healthy animals on pasture.
In order to absorb calcium from milk, we need the enzyme phosphatase, which is naturally present in raw milk. High temperature pasteurization typically heats milk to 165 degrees or more, and thereby destroys phosphatase.7 Significant portions of other vitamins are lost in the pasteurization process as well, such as vitamin C. Typically the conventionally produced milk that most people drink contains fecal matter, blood, and pus. Commercial milk must be pasteurized to render it even drinkable. Pasteurization cooks this material. It is not surprising that significant portions of the population are allergic to this toxic soup.
Because pasteurization damages the probiotic content of raw milk, pathogenic organisms associated with disease can easily grow unchecked in pasteurized milk. When the probiotic organisms are destroyed, pasteurized milk lacks its own protective mechanism against harboring toxins that make people sick. In 2007, three people died from drinking pasteurized milk in Massachusetts. Many times when people get sick from milk it is assumed that the milk was not pasteurized properly. Again, as with the diseases tooth decay or gum disease, bacteria are always blamed. Toxic foods, sick animals, and residues of antibiotics and growth hormones are never considered to be the cause of poisoning from pasteurized milk. Even worse, because milk was pasteurized, doctors will automatically eliminate it as a likely source of causing a particular illness. As a result, sickness caused by pasteurized milk is vastly under reported, while sickness claimed to be caused by raw milk is vastly over reported. With clean hygienic milking standards healthy raw milk from grass-fed animals is far safer than pasteurized milk from confined animals in concentrated dairy operations.8 
Pasteurized Milk and Gum Disease 
While cats naturally thrive on raw milk, cats drinking pasteurized milk over time develop gum disease and arthritis. Cats fed pasteurized milk eventually suffer bone loss in their jaws and lose all their teeth.9 
Homogenized cow’s milk renders many nutrients in the milk unusable to the body because the process breaks apart the milk fats’ cellular structure. It does so by forcing milk at high pressure through extremely small holes which rupture the wall of fat cells, preventing the fat from rising to the surface of the milk as it would do naturally. Do not drink homogenized milk. Many commercial ice creams are made with homogenized milk to give it a creamier texture. 
Commercial dairy animals are injected with rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone), and they are fed genetically modiﬁed grains, which are not a part of their natural diet. Avoid non-organic dairy foods. 

Raw Grass-fed Milk 
Consuming pasteurized commercial milk raises the level of non-absorbable calcium in one’s diet.10 11However, we’ve all heard that milk is a good source of calcium. That would be true of raw milk, which is not pasteurized. 
Milk is spoken of reverentially in the bible as pure and sacred nourishment, and ancient societies correlated milk with health, abundance, and fertility. It is a delicious and healthful gift from the animals. High quality raw milk will substantially contribute to the health and well-being of you and your children. Milk is very high in calcium and phosphorus, which we know now we need for strong teeth and strong alveolar bones. When pastured (not to be confused with pasteurizing) cows eat grass in the time of rapid growth after the rains of early summer and autumn, which means there will be moderate amounts of bone hardening activator X / “K2” in the milk.
Before the recent invention of refrigerators, milk was consumed either immediately after milking, known as sweet milk, or it naturally began to sour and was transformed with cultures into cheese and fermented milk like yogurt. Probiotics are vital to our health, support good digestion, and aid in periodontal health.12 Many forms of soured milk are excellent for obtaining beneficial and vitamin-creating bacteria. Having healthy gums is a result of more than just eating well; it is about absorbing the nutrients in food well. An essential aspect of nutrient absorption is having a diet rich in probiotic, live foods. In addition to a wide spectrum of probiotic bacteria, different forms of soured milk including yogurt contain highly absorbable forms of calcium. Soured milk is also low in milk sugar, known as lactose. A more recent study shows that people who consume more fermented dairy products (like yogurt) had less severe periodontal disease than those who did not. 13
People in excellent health consume milk in many different forms such as buttermilk, clabber, cottage cheese, kefir, and yogurt. Several ancient Ayurvedic texts describe using milk, yes, raw, grass-fed milk, as a cure for literally hundreds of ailments. The most particularly healing milk to the body was identified as buttermilk. Since all milk was cultured in those days (the refrigerator was not yet invented) this would of course be non-pasteurized cultured buttermilk. Part of milk’s healing power lies in its nutrient density and the ease with which our body can digest it. 
Let’s review some of the life-affirming, mostly cultured, varieties of raw milk: 
•	Clabber is a pleasantly soured yogurt-like milk product produced by allowing milk to sit out in a jar at room temperature. 
•	Kefir (pronounced keh-FEER) is produced when milk is cultured with kefir “grains,” or organisms. The kefir grains are a symbiotic matrix colony of bacteria and yeast that resemble a piece of cauliflower. Kefir grains can be obtained online, or from friends making kefir at home. At room temperature the kefir grains consume milk sugars and transform raw milk into a potent, nutrient-rich, cultured beverage. It can be drunk plain or in smoothies. Kefir culture seeds our intestines with milk-digesting bacteria and aids in cleansing and detoxification of the body. Regular consumption of kefir will increase your vitality and longevity by filling you up with more than sixty beneficial yeasts and bacteria, not to mention the highly digestible forms of calcium and other minerals found in kefir milk. 
•	Whey is the light yellowish liquid that remains when milk solids are removed from cultured milk. You may have seen it on the top (or at the bottom) of your yogurt container. After milk sours, the liquid portion of the milk can be separated from the solids, leaving you with curds and whey. Whey is an ancient health remedy because of its ease of digestion along with its vast probiotic contents. Whey can be obtained from yogurt if you do not have access to raw milk. 
•	Buttermilk is the liquid that is left over from the process of churning butter. It has a refreshing sweet and sour taste, and will aid your overall health. 
Room temperature milk can be easier to digest than milk fresh out of the refrigerator. Consider warming your milk to room temperature. 
Milk Can Be Mislabeled 
Some milk laws are backwards these days. Milk laws are controlled at the state level, so the law may be different in your state. Dairy products that are sold in larger chain stores labeled as kefir, buttermilk, cottage cheese, or cream cheese are in fact counterfeit. Because of these laws, real kefir, real buttermilk, and real cream cheese are banned from our stores. Instead, the products you see have a specific strain of culture added to the milk or cream to create these products. The natural, old-fashioned way to make these products is through fermentation without adding enzymes. Store products, besides yogurt, do not benefit from the natural culturing process and are dramatically inferior. Usually the taste is completely different from what the real food, generally not available in stores, actually tastes like. Equally, the health benefits from the store-bought products will not be the same as those made from honest, fresh raw milk.
The problem with store-bought dairy is not just in the culturing process, but also in the quality of the original milk used. Some milk products labeled as organic may not come from cows that are raised completely on their natural diet. Instead of being on grass, they are fed organic grains and other fodder, which is not natural to a cow’s diet. The result of this large scale, profit-driven production is that the grain-fed milk lacks wholesome life-sustaining nutrients. In general people do not do well on grain-fed milk; it is too sweet and nutrient deficient. Unless clearly labeled as grass-fed, you can assume that store-bought milk is completely grain-fed, even the organic varieties. If we see a new product in the store we are interested in, we call the farm to learn what conditions the dairy animal was raised under. Although the ideal of organic milk is that it comes from pasture-fed, free ranging cows, the reality is that many larger dairies selling organic milk in grocery stores do not meet these optimal standards. 
Obtaining Raw Milk 
Due to laws that assault our personal freedoms, liberty, and the right to choose guaranteed by state and the U.S. Constitutions, raw milk can be difficult to obtain. In many states raw milk is harder to get than hard liquor, cigarettes, guns, marijuana, and prescription drugs that have known dangerous side effects. The facetious term for raw milk in locales where it is illegal to be sold to the public is “moo-shine.” 
realmilk.com – One easy way to find raw milk in your vicinity. 
westonaprice.org – Get involved with and contact your local Weston A. Price Foundation chapter leader. Many times they can direct you to lesser known cow-share programs and legal direct-from-the-farmer dairy products. 
Whole Foods Market® has a very nice artisan cheese section with many raw milk cheeses. You can tell if a cheese is grass-fed typically by how pungent it is. Grain-fed cheese has a bland or “normal” milk flavor. Grass-fed cheese is flavorful, usually pungent, and sometimes contains hints of a grassy flavor. In cities or more affluent areas, you can often find cheese mongers who will have several varieties of grass-fed raw cheeses, many of which are imported from Europe. If you like cheese, do yourself a favor and try some new varieties. 
Dairy Sensitivities 
Many people are told that they cannot digest dairy foods, or experience negative effects from pasteurized milk. Yet for a majority of people these negative effects do not occur when they drink raw, grass-fed milk. This is because raw, grass-fed milk is a completely different product from pasteurized confinement dairy milk. If raw cow’s milk does not work for you, but you still want to consume dairy, then I highly recommend starting with soured milk in the form of kefir or yogurt. Also do not be afraid to try milk from other animals such as sheep, goat, camel, or mare’s milk. Some milk consumers who cannot tolerate fluid milk find that they have no problems with really good cheese. Over a period of months, consuming real kefir will restore most people’s ability to drink raw milk. If you are unable to tolerate dairy products, then usually it is a sign that your digestive system is not working properly. 
Food Sources of Calcium in Milligrams 
	
Traditional Foods Whole Bone Calcium – ½ teaspoon 	720 mg 	
Hard / Soft cheeses – 2 ounces 	404 mg 	
Traditional Foods Bone Marrow Calcium – 1 teaspoon 	400 mg 	
Canned sardines with bones – 1 can 3.75 ounces 	351 mg 	
Goat milk – 1 cup 	327 mg 	
Yogurt, whole milk – 1 cup 	296 mg 	
Canned salmon with bones 3.5 ounces 	277 mg 	
Whole milk – 1 cup 	276 mg 	
Cooked collard greens – 1 cup 	266 mg 	
Cooked Tahitian taro root – 1 cup 	204 mg 	
Cooked kale – 1 cup 	171 mg 	
Cooked beet greens – 1 cup 	164 mg 	
Cooked dandelion greens – 1 cup 	147 mg 	
Cooked broccoli – 2 cups 	120 mg 	
Traditional corn tortillas – 3 at 4.2 ounces 	120+mg 	
Cooked scallops – 3.5 ounces 	115 mg 	
Cooked white beans – ½ cup 	113 mg 	
Herring – 3 ounces 	90 mg 	
Sesame seeds – 1 tablespoon 	89 mg 	
Heavy cream – ½ cup 	78 mg 	
Cottage cheese- ½ cup 	69 mg 	
Tahini roasted – 1 tablespoon 	64 mg 	
Halibut – 3 ounces 	50 mg 	
Cooked pinto beans – ½ cup 	45 mg 	
Sweet potato, one medium 	40 mg 	
Shrimp – 3 ounces 	33 mg 	
Salmon without bones – 3.5 ounces 	28 mg 	

NewsTarget) The popular milk campaign has been very successful in reversing declining milk sales in America over recent years. Common teaching is that milk is a "perfect food," for building strong bodies in children and preventing osteoporosis as we age. The modern dairy products that are available in most supermarkets are nothing like the unpasteurized, unhomogenized milk of yesteryear, however. Today's milk looks the same, but it is not the same product.

Pasteurization was discovered by Louis Pasteur in the mid-1800s. Pasteurization compromises your milk. It destroys vitamins and interferes with calcium absorption. When you boil a liquid, you kill any bacteria and make that food sterile. In the process, you can't help but affect the taste and nutritional value of that food. Pasteurization is the process of heating a liquid to a high enough temperature to kill certain bacteria and disable certain enzymes. Milk can be pasteurized by heating it to a temperature of 145 degrees F for 30 minutes or 163 degrees F for 15 seconds (called flash pasteurization).

Ultra High Temperature (UHT) Pasteurization completely sterilizes a liquid. This process is utilized for the "boxes of milk" that can be shelved at room temperature. For UHT Pasteurization, milk is heated to 285 degrees F for a second or two.

Homogenization is a more recently invented process and it has been called "the worst thing that dairymen did to milk." When milk is homogenized, it is pushed through a fine filter at pressures of 4,000 pounds per square inch. In this process, the fat globules are made smaller by a factor of ten times or more. These fat molecules then become evenly dispersed throughout the milk.

Milk is a hormonal delivery system. When homogenized, milk becomes very powerful and efficient at bypassing normal digestive processes and delivering steroid and protein hormones to the human body (both your hormones and the cow's natural hormones and the ones they may have been injected with to produce more milk).

Homogenization makes fat molecules in milk smaller and they become "capsules" for substances that are able to bypass digestion. Proteins that would normally be digested in the stomach are not broken down and instead they are absorbed into the bloodstream.

The homogenization process breaks up an enzyme in milk which in its smaller state can then enter the bloodstream and react against arterial walls. This causes the body to protect the area with a layer of cholesterol. If this only happened once in a while it wouldn't be of big concern, but if it happens regularly there are long term risks.

Proteins were created to be easily broken down by digestive processes. Homogenization disrupts this and insures their survival so that they enter the bloodstream. Many times the body reacts to foreign proteins by producing histamines, and then mucus. Sometimes homogenized milk proteins resemble a human protein and can become triggers for autoimmune diseases such as diabetes or multiple sclerosis.

Two Connecticut cardiologists have demonstrated that homogenized milk proteins did in fact survive digestion. It was discovered that Bovine Xanthene Oxidase (BXO) survived long enough to affect every one of three hundred heart attack victims over a five-year time period. Even young children in the U.S. are showing signs of hardening of the arteries.

Historical Summary

1600s and 1700s: Each cow yielded approximately one quart of milk per day. Cream was churned into butter and was stored to help provide nourishment during the hard winters.

1908: Pasteurization was introduced to reduce spoiling and the growth of bacteria

1919: Homogenization begun to prevent the separation of fat

1932: Synthetic Vitamin D first added to milk

1964: Plastic milk containers are first commercially introduced

1994: Monsanto Company develops the genetically engineered growth hormone (recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST) or bovine growth hormone (BGH)) to boost dairy yield

The bottom line is that today's milk may contain assorted drugs and antibiotics, pesticides from treated grains, bacteria from infected animals, and genetically engineered growth hormones, in addition to being chemically altered into something that is incompatible with our bodies.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/022967_milk_pasteurization_dairy.html#ixzz4GZwJ9A6J

Does Dairy Cause Osteoporosis?
on August 30, 2013 by Chris Kresser 350 comments
Facebook132TweetPin42Google+ 
I do a lot of myth-busting around here, and it’s usually conventional wisdom that crumbles in the face of scientific evidence. But this time I’m actually siding with conventional wisdom, and busting a myth that’s common in the alternative health community. I addressed this topic in-depth on a recent podcast, but it’s such a common question that I decided to write an article on it for easy reference.
The myth in question is the idea that dairy foods contribute to osteoporosis by ‘acidifying’ our bodies. This claim is especially common in vegan-oriented alternative health media, but also comes up in other internet realms, including those with a Paleo orientation. The claim is based on the “acid-ash hypothesis of osteoporosis,” which I addressed extensively in my ‘Acid-Alkaline Myth’ series a couple months ago. (Check out part two as well.)
For those who missed the articles, this hypothesis states that foods high in phosphate leave an ‘acid ash’ after digestion, thereby lowering serum pH. The body supposedly compensates for this and restores normal blood pH by stealing alkaline minerals (such as calcium) from the bones, thus decreasing bone density.
Dairy products and bone health: one thing conventional wisdom gets right. 
Because of their phosphate content, milk and other dairy products are usually considered ‘acid-producing’ foods under this hypothesis. Thus, proponents claim that even though dairy contains calcium and other nutrients that can be used to build bone, dairy’s acidifying effect on the body outweighs its calcium content and results in a net loss of bone density.
Although I’ve already written about the hypothesis as a whole, I want to specifically address the claims regarding dairy for a few reasons. First, because my readership is acutely aware of how many times conventional wisdom has led us astray, I think we’re all more likely to believe a hypothesis that directly opposes mainstream health claims. In this case, dairy is so heavily advertised as a panacea for healthy bones that it would seem only natural for those claims to be dead wrong. You’ll see that (for once) this is not the case!
Additionally, I came across a 2011 study that specifically addresses the dairy-acid balance-osteoporosis connection. They came to some interesting conclusions that I want to share with you all, and hopefully we can put this issue to rest.
Dairy, acid balance, and osteoporosis: the real scoop
In this study, “Milk and acid-base balance: proposed hypothesis vs. scientific evidence,” the authors review both the acid-ash hypothesis as a whole and the specific claim that dairy contributes to osteoporosis. After reviewing the scientific evidence (or lack thereof), they reach the same conclusions that I have: the studies available simply do not support this hypothesis.
First, they emphasize that urine pH is not indicative of systemic pH. In fact, except in cases of serious renal insufficiency, diet does not affect serum pH at all. If it did, we’d be in a lot of trouble! The pH of our blood is maintained in a very tight range, and if it deviates significantly, we will die very quickly. No doubt we can really mess up our health by eating the wrong things, but thankfully our minute-to-minute survival doesn’t hinge on whether we can correctly balance the acidity or alkalinity of the foods we eat.
Further, the bones don’t even come into play in the regulation of our serum pH; that’s our kidneys’ job. Any ‘acid ash’ that is left behind by the foods we eat can be easily dealt with and eliminated in the urine. This is why your urine changes pH depending on what you eat. It’s just a sign that your kidneys are doing their job!
In short, their conclusions simply reiterate the points I made in my Acid-Alkaline series, and demonstrate that the acid-ash hypothesis of osteoporosis has no scientific backing. But perhaps the most interesting thing about this particular study on milk is the authors’ assertion that dairy isn’t even acid-forming in the first place!
The authors cite two studies that indicate that milk actually leaves an alkaline ash as opposed to an acid ash, based on measurements of urine pH and net acid excretion (NAE) following milk ingestion in clinical trials. (Remember, this doesn’t mean that milk raises serum pH. Foods can change urine pH, but not blood pH!) So not only is the hypothesis itself wrong; the application of the hypothesis is wrong too, at least in the case of dairy. Even if the acid ash hypothesis of osteoporosis were viable, there would still be no mechanism by which dairy would contribute to osteoporosis.
Dairy probably is good for your bones after all
The majority of the evidence indicates that conventional wisdom may actually be right about dairy. Clinical studies have found that drinking milk leads to a positive calcium balance, indicating that more calcium was absorbed than was excreted. (1) Other studies show that phosphate in general – not just from milk – increases calcium retention and improves bone health. (2) Increased dairy consumption is also consistently associated with lower rates of osteoporosis and better bone health. We all know to take observational studies with a grain of salt, but when clinical data backs up their conclusions, they’re significantly more convincing.
For example, an increased dairy intake in postmenopausal Korean women was associated with a decreased risk for osteoporosis. (3) Another study found that in the US, dairy intake was a significant predictor of osteoporosis among postmenopausal women. (4) And in Polish women, higher dairy consumption during childhood and adolescence predicted better bone health as adults. (5)
Although you won’t see me sporting a milk mustache in a “Got Milk?” ad anytime soon, it does appear that dairy can be beneficial for bone health. That’s not to say it’s necessary; after all, we got along just fine without dairy for most of human history! But based on the evidence, it’s safe to say that dairy does not contribute to osteoporosis, and full-fat dairy (preferably raw) can be a beneficial addition to the diet for many people.
When people think of calcium, bone health is usually the first thing that comes to mind, but calcium’s benefits go far beyond helping to build and maintain a strong skeletal structure. Calcium is also needed to regulate heart rhythms, aid in muscle function, regulate blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and is involved in numerous nerve signaling functions, and much more.
Research is now even suggesting that calcium, in combination with vitamin D, may have the ability to help protect against cancer, diabetes and heart disease too—three of the biggest threats to American’s health and the health of many other nations too.
Calcium is the most present mineral in the body, stored in the body mostly in the bones and teeth. About 99% of our calcium is found in bones and the teeth, mostly in the form of calcium deposits, with the other remaining 1% being stored throughout bodily tissue. (1)
We all require a relatively high amount of calcium in comparison to many other trace minerals—in fact we are thought to have enough calcium in our body to constitute 2% of our total body weight. Calcium is also needed to control levels of magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium in the blood, since these minerals all work together to balance one another. This is why it is so important to avoid calcium deficiency and strive to consume calcium rich foods on a regular basis.
Aside from dairy products like milk, calcium can be found in certain plant foods as well. Leafy green vegetables, like collard greens and kale, are great sources of calcium, as are other plant foods like okra and a variety of beans.
NOTE: It is important to note that magnesium is key to calcium absorption. These two work in a very special relationship with each other in the body. Many times, if you have a calcium deficiency or imbalance, then you also may have a magnesium deficiency — and often a magnesium deficiency can be a precursor to later calcium issues, because of this affect on calcium uptake! This relationship is why calcium food sources are the most effective when eaten with magnesium-rich foods.

Calcium Deficiency: Risks & Symptoms
Each day, we lose calcium through our skin, nails, hair, sweat, urine and stool. We also cannot make calcium ourselves within our own body, so ideally every day we must replenish our body’s supply.
Experts believe that most adults in the U.S, and many other developed nations too, do not get enough calcium on a daily basis. This is true despite the fact that most of these populations, including Americans and Europeans, consume plenty of dairy products.
It’s believed this discrepancy may be happening because calcium is not being absorbed properly due to low levels of Vitamin D and other essential nutrients. Another theory is that the soil used to grow conventional crops which are normally high in calcium has become depleted of minerals to a certain extent — therefore calcium levels in foods are declining.
The people at highest risk for experiencing a calcium deficiency are children, adolescent girls, and postmenopausal women. (2) Since dairy products are one of the most common sources of calcium, people who are lactose intolerant or who do not eat dairy for ethical reasons (like vegans and some vegetarians) are also at an increased risk for having a calcium deficiency.
Other people who have digestive disorders that make it hard to break down and use calcium are also at a higher risk for calcium deficiency.
A calcium deficiency can result in symptoms and illnesses including:
•	Brittle, weak bones 
•	Bone fractures 
Osteoporosis 
•	Problems with proper blood clotting 
Weakness and fatigue 
•	Delays in children’s growth and development 
•	Heart problems involving blood pressure and heart rhythms

Part of the reason that low levels of calcium can cause a range of negative symptoms is that your body pulls calcium from “calcium reserves” that are stored within your bones when your diet does not include enough. It does this to maintain enough calcium in your blood, which is needed at all times and is crucial for ongoing blood vessel and muscle function.
When your body is forced to prioritize its use of available calcium, it uses it for nerve and muscle functions, like those that control your heart beat, rather than for supporting your bones. So, ideally you want to continue to incorporate these calcium sources to keep your calcium at optimum levels and avoid calcium deficiency.

13 Best Food Sources of Calcium
Here are 13 ways to add more calcium to your diet naturally (the following percentages are based on the recommended daily allowance of 1000 mg for adult men and women under the age of 51):
1. Whey Protein
3 scoops (86 grams): 600 mg (60%) (5)
2. Sardines
1 can (3.75 oz): 351 mg (35%) (6)
3. Kefir (Goat Milk)
1 cup: 327 mg (32.7%) (7)
4. Raw Milk
1 cup: 300 mg (30%) (8)
5. White Beans
½ cup uncooked/about 1 cup cooked: 242 mg (24%) (9)
6. Raw Milk Cheese
1 ounce (depending on style of cheese): about 200mg (20%) (10)
7. Kidney Beans
½ cup uncooked/about 1 cup cooked: 180 mg (18%) (11)
8. Sesame Seeds 
2 tbsp: 176 mg (17.6%) (12)
9. Okra
1 cup cooked: 164 mg (16.4%) (13)
10. Collard Greens
½ cup cooked: 134 mg (13.4%) (14)
11. Almonds
¼ cup: 114 mg (11.4%) (15)
12. Natto
¼ cup: 95 mg (9.5%) (16)
13. Goat Cheese
1 oz: 84 mg (8.4%) (17)
14. Mustard Greens
½ cup cooked: 82 mg (8%) (18)
CALCIUM
By Dr. Lawrence Wilson
© July 2016, L.D. Wilson Consultants, Inc.
All information in this article is for educational purposes only. It is not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.
Table Of Contents
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SOURCES OF CALCIUM
III. FUNCTIONS OF CALCIUM
Strength of Bones/Osteoporosis
Nerve Conduction
Cell Membrane Permeability
IV. SYMPTOMS OF CALCIUM IMBALANCES
Deficiency Symptoms
Toxicity Symptoms
Biounavailable Calcium
V. IDENTIFYING CALCIUM IMBALANCE
Blood And Other Tests
Hair Mineral Analysis
VI. CORRECTING CALCIUM IMBALANCE
VII. OTHER TOPICS
Calcium In The Life Cycle
Esoteric Understanding Of Calcium
Calcium Synergists
Calcium Antagonists
I. INTRODUCTION
Calcium is one of the more plentiful elements in the body. Most of it in the bones, teeth and nerves. Most people do not ingest nearly enough bioavailable calcium because there are few excellent sources of available calcium. 
Calcium is the primary structural mineral in the body. It allows us to stand upright by giving strength to our bones. However, it has many other functions as well.
II. SOURCES OF CALCIUM
FOOD SOURCES 
Bone broth. An excellent source of calcium is bone broth. Anyone may have some daily. Cook it only 3 to 4 hours, and no longer. For details, read Bone Broth on this site.
Raw dairy products. An excellent calcium food is raw dairy products. If you tolerate them, you may include up to four ounces total dairy daily of either raw milk, raw cheese, raw yogurt or raw kefir. Pasteurized dairy products are not as good. For more information about this topic, read Dairy Products on this site. 
Carrot juice. Another very good source is fresh or even store-bought carrot juice. Adults may drink about 10-12 ounces of this daily for its calcium content. Children need proportionately less. Do not drink more because it is very yin. For more on this topic, read Carrot Juice on this site.
Kelp. This contains a very usable form of calcium. For more details, read Kelp on this website.
Other. Other good sources are sardines and good quality egg yolks that are runny, not cooked until hard. Others are toasted almond butter. Cooked dark green vegetables such as collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, comfrey leaves and carrots tops are also decent sources.
Corn tortillas or corn chips prepared in the traditional way with lime are other good sources. However, most corn chips do not contain lime and are not a good source of calcium. Neither is corn bread or corn eaten as a vegetable.
Strict vegetarians (no meat bones, dairy or eggs) often develop a calcium deficiency. Although they eat greens, and nuts and seeds, the calcium from these sources is less available than in bone broth, eggs, kelp and raw dairy products. Their diets are also low in calcium synergists such as vitamins A and D.
CALCIUM SUPPLEMENTS
The best calcium supplements include kelp and bone broth. These sources, in theory, combine a very usable form of calcium with other vitamins and minerals needed for calcium utilization.
Those with a hyperthyroid condition may have trouble with the iodine in kelp, in which case they should just reduce the amount used daily, or use other sources of calcium.
Other calcium supplements. The best absorbed forms of calcium supplements are calcium citrate, calcium chelate, calcium lactate and MCHC or microcrystalline hydroxyapatite crystals.
Somewhat less well absorbed are calcium gluconate and bone meal. Others forms that are less common are calcium orotate and calcium aspartate.
Calcium carbonate, phosphate, dicalcium phosphate and tricalcium phosphate are as not well absorbed. Phosphorus binds tightly to calcium and interferes with absorption. Calcium carbonate, found in egg shells, coral calcium and some supplements, is extremely alkaline-forming. Some people with excessive stomach acid may benefit from it. Unfortunately, stomach acid is important for digestion and reducing it too much interferes with digestion.
Coral calcium. In his book, Barefoot on Coral Calcium. An Elixir of Life?, author Robert Barefoot mentions that coral calcium contains significant amounts of iron, aluminum and strontium. Aluminum and strontium are poisons. Most people also have toxic levels of iron stored in their livers. Dr. Barefoot dismisses this problem. I suggest avoiding coral calcium.
Some commercial calcium preparations in drug stores also contain lots of sugar. Some are even sold like candies. These products will be less effective because sugar upsets calcium metabolism. I suggest avoiding all sugared calcium supplements.
While supplements are helpful, our experience is that food sources of calcium are best.
Nutritional balancing supplementation of calcium. I find that every adult and child needs supplementary calcium, even those taking kelp, bone broth and eating some daily product. 
On a full program, every adult receives at least 750 mg of supplemental calcium chelate or citrate, along with about 450 mg of supplemental magnesium chelate or citrate. If a hair analysis indicates a four lows pattern, the amount of calcium is greater.
Synergistic nutrients are always needed, as well, to help with calcium absorption and utilization. These include a digestive aid, zinc, vitamin D3 5000 iu daily for adults, and perhaps copper and other nutrients depending upon the hair mineral test results.
III. THE FUNCTIONS OF CALCIUM
The functions of calcium include:
1. Bone strength. Calcium is the main structural mineral in the bones. If it becomes low, one develops osteopenia or osteoporosis. This is very common in women after menopause.
Restoring the calcium in the bones, however, always requires more than taking calcium. A number of trace minerals, along with balancing body chemistry, are also required. For more on this topic, read Osteoporosis on this site. 
2. Calcium helps regulate cell permeability. Calcium in the cell membrane stabilizes the cell membrane and reduces it permeability. This is important in some health conditions, such as thyroid imbalances, in which reduced or increased cell permeability influence how much hormone moves into the cells from the blood.
3. Maintenance of acid-base balance. Calcium is extremely alkaline-forming. The body uses calcium to maintain the pH of the cells and elsewhere.
4. Muscles and nerve transmission. Calcium is primarily involved in slowing nerve transmission and in muscle relaxation. In other words, it has a sedative effect upon the nervous and muscular systems. This includes both the voluntary and the autonomic nervous systems.
5. Calcium inhibits thyroid-releasing hormone. There is an inverse relationship between calcium levels and the activity of the thyroid gland. Thyroid activity tends to reduce calcium in the body.
6. Promotes insulin secretion. Dr. Paul Eck said that calcium is necessary for proper insulin secretion.
7. It is required for phosphorus metabolism and energy production in the krebs cycle.
8. Calcium is also important as an antagonist to some toxic metals, especially lead and cadmium. It opposes or helps block the absorption and utilization of these toxic metals. 
9. Calcium is involved in blood clotting.
10. Fat digestion depends upon adequate calcium. 
CALCIUM AND THE FIGHT-OR-FLIGHT RESPONSE
When our bodies come under a lot of stress, they move into what is called the fight-or-flight response. When this happens, the body excretes calcium in the urine. This causes the muscles and nervous system to go into a state of heightened alertness to respond to stress. Those who live in a fight-or-flight pattern much of the time are continuously losing calcium in their urine.
A different phenomenon occurs when a body is in slow oxidation, or the exhaustion stage of stress. Low tissue sodium and potassium levels prevent calcium from remaining in an ionized or soluble form in the blood. Instead, it precipitates and deposits in many body tissues including the joints, arteries, kidneys and elsewhere. This is a cardinal sign of aging. It is associated with elevated hair tissue calcium and a calcium shell pattern. For more, read The Calcium Shell on this site.
The process is identical to calcium deposition on faucets in hard water areas. ‘Hard’ water does not contain enough sodium to ‘soften’ the calcium. Adding salt or potassium with a water softener prevents calcium deposition.
The same approach can dissolve calcium deposits in the body. Eating salt and potassium are not adequate. One must restore adrenal glandular activity which is responsible for normal retention of sodium and potassium.
THE PERSONALITY OF CALCIUM
Stability, hardness and physicality are qualities of calcium. Calcium personality types tend to be earthy, plodding, steady and blunt. They often move slowly and awkwardly, and are unpolished in their language and mannerisms. They develop slowly and have a great potential for love and spirituality.
When calcium is deficient, a person tends to become weak and fragile. The dental arch, shoulders and pelvis tend to become narrower. This is very common today.
When calcium is in excess, one can become somewhat rigid, detached, suppressed emotionally, and out of touch. These are personality characteristics of those with a calcium shell on a hair mineral test.
IV. SYMPTOMS OF CALCIUM IMBALANCE
Deficiency Symptoms. These may include osteoporosis, rickets, non-union of fractures, tooth decay and insomnia. Teeth, fingers and other bones may be misshapen. The posture can be poor and legs bowed.
Other symptoms are muscle cramps, irritability, hyperkinesis, hyperacidity, bruising, high blood pressure, fight-or-flight reactions, fast oxidation, lead and cadmium toxicity, tetany and cancer. 
Toxicity Symptoms. Calcium toxicity symptoms may include fatigue, depression, defensiveness, muscle weakness, pain, arteriosclerosis, arthritis, kidney stones and gallstones. Others are bone spurs, rigidity, slow metabolism, constipation, social withdrawal and spondylitis (rigidity and inflammation of the spine).
Biounavailable Calcium. In many instances of calcium toxicity, calcium builds up in the body in a biounavailable form. This means it is present, but cannot be used properly. This condition causes symptoms of both deficiency and excess at the same time because there can be a deficiency of available calcium, and an excess of biounavailable calcium at the same time.
The biounavailable form can be an oxide. On this website, this is referred to as an “amigo” form of a mineral. For more details on this subject, read Iron, Manganese and Aluminum – The Amigos.
V. TESTING FOR CALCIUM IMBALANCE
Serum Calcium. Calcium tests in the blood are generally of little value. The body robs the bones to keep the blood level in a narrow range.
Urine tests can measure how much calcium one is excreting. However, they are subject to daily variations due to stress, hormonal factors, diet and other things such as the state of the autonomic nervous system.
X-rays. X-rays are helpful to assess bone density. However, they have several weaknesses. 
- Osteoporotic changes are a late indicator of calcium imbalance. 
- Osteopenia and osteoporosis can be due to other imbalances besides calcium. For this reason, low bone density does not necessarily indicate a greater need for calcium. The bones also require boron, magnesium, manganese, zinc, copper, phosphorus and vitamin D. 
- A normal bone density test does not necessarily mean that one’s bones are healthy. For example, lead deposited in the bones will cause opacity on an x-ray, giving a false reading. Strontium in the bones will do the same. These minerals do not produce the same bone strength as having plenty of calcium in the bones.
- Bone strength is due to more than just the calcium level. It is also due to the integrity of the protein matrix of the bones. This cannot be seen on x-rays or other standard medical tests.
Nutritional balancing programs address many of these concerns. The program helps eliminate toxic metals such as lead and strontium. It also helps restore dozens of trace minerals, and it helps strengthen the protein matrix of the bones.
Hair mineral testing. The level of calcium in human hair tissue can vary from about 8 mg% to over 1200 mg%. Hair analysis is not a method to detect osteoporosis. However, if a very low or very high calcium persists in the hair for years, osteoporosis is likely.
Hair mineral testing is very helpful to evaluate other aspects of calcium metabolism. Among these are the degree of biounavailable calcium, calcium buildup in the tissues, and calcium loss through the hair.
To do this, the hair analysis must be interpreted properly. The method is discussed in several articles on this website and in the book, Nutritional Balancing And Hair Mineral Analysis, (2010, 2014, and 2016 editions).
Also, hair must not be washed at the laboratory for accurate hair calcium readings. I recommend Analytical Research Labs only at this time (2016). Trace Elements, Inc. does not wash the hair, but their testing is not as good, in my experience.
Interpretation of hair tests. Tissues such as the hair become depleted of available calcium long before blood tests or x-rays reveal a deficiency. The body shunts calcium out of the tissues, usually early in life, and moves it into the blood to maintain the blood.
However, although available calcium in the tissues is depleted, the reading in the hair may actually increase due to accumulation of biounavailable calcium in the soft tissues.
Fast oxidation. In the state called fast oxidation or an alarm stage of stress, generally the hair tissue calcium is low, and is always low relative to the levels of sodium and potassium. This is due to excessive thyroid and adrenal gland activity that raises sodium and potassium. these minerals tend to dissolve calcium out of the tissues and the blood. 
Slow oxidation. In the state called slow oxidation, the hair calcium level is usually elevated, and always elevated in relation to sodium and potassium. A reason for elevated hair calcium is that biounavailable calcium precipitates into the soft tissues of the body because the body cannot keep it in the blood.
The excess calcium in the tissues is a biounavailable form of calcium, often an oxide or carbonate. Calcium becomes essentially a toxic mineral, causing narrowing of the arteries and calcium deposits in the joints, arteries, kidneys, brain and elsewhere. 
VI. CORRECTING CALCIUM IMBALANCES
Here are some important principles I use when addressing all calcium imbalances:
1. Never attempt to correct a calcium imbalance in isolation. This means that one must correct all the macrominerals or electrolytes, not just calcium. The reason is they are all closely tied together. Dr. Paul Eck realized this, but most doctors, even holistic doctors and naturopaths, do not understand how all the electrolytes are closely related. 
2. Always begin by balancing the oxidation rate on a properly performed hair mineral analysis. This works because it balances the calcium and the other electrolytes at a deep cellular level. Any other type of balancing using blood tests, urine tests or others, so far, I have found to be far less safe, reliable or accurate. 
Some people use machines, kinesiological testing or other methods. None appear to be half as good as a properly performed and correctly interpreted hair mineral test when it comes to balancing and replacing calcium in the body.
3. In addition to the diet and supplements, the detoxification procedures greatly enhance nutritional balancing programs. In some cases, these are absolutely essential or progress will be minimal.
VII. OTHER TOPICS
CALCIUM IN THE LIFE CYCLE
Children and breast milk. Children’s growing bodies need lots of calcium for their bones and for their nervous systems. This is why substituting soda pop, teas, water or even other milks such as soy milk for the more nutritious breast milk is a terrible crime against babies.
Mother’s milk is a rich source of calcium and vitamin D that help create a calcified skeleton. Keep breastfeeding until the child will not accept any more, or about age three. This will give a child the best start in life. For the breast milk to taste good, the mother usually needs to be on a nutritional balancing program. For more on this topic, read Breastfeeding. 
Cow’s milk and milk substitutes. Pasteurized and homogenized milk is not as good a source of calcium. In earlier times, well-informed doctors recommended only raw, certified milk for children. This is milk from cows that have been rigorously inspected for disease by government authorities and must meet very high standards of cleanliness. 
This excellent food is outlawed in most states, often not only for false health reasons, as is claimed, but for political reasons as well. There are forces that do not want people to take control of their lives and their nutrition, though it is sad to say.
Pasteurization. Cooking the milk renders its calcium less biologically available to the body. It also damages the protein in the milk. It also allows milk from sick cows to be sold. It also permits lax standards of cleanliness on a few huge dairy farms that supply large areas of America. 
Copper and pasteurization. Copper rollers are often used in the pasteurization process. This can add excess copper to the milk products.
Homogenization is another insult to milk. Vigorous shaking breaks up the fat particles so they stay in solution instead of rising to the top. However, the small particles are absorbed directly into the blood stream instead of being digested properly. This also renders the milk less healthful.
ESOTERIC UNDERSTANDING OF CALCIUM
Calcium may be considered the life element. It is required for all life on earth.
Calcium is a compressive or pressure mineral. It exerts a kind of pressure that allows life to flourish on earth. Without it, life cannot exist. As one’s calcium stores are used up, life ebbs out of the body. As one replaces the body’s calcium properly, life energy returns. In this regard, calcium functions as a kind of valve or receiver of etheric energy that fuels the human, animal and even the plant frame or organism.
Calcium may be said to represent structure, meaning living structure, not just the bones and teeth. Calcium may also be said to represent voltage in an electrical analogy, which is more than an analogy. 
In fact, calcium actually regulates the voltage at which nerve cells fire. Too much biounavailable calcium and too little available calcium will stabilize cell membranes too much and prevent the proper firing of the nerve cells.
This is one of the problems in slow oxidizers, in particular. This causes mental and physical depression, among many other symptoms. It also impairs the passage of nutrients and waste products through the cell membranes, which is deadly if it continues for any length of time.
In contrast, some fast oxidizers have excessive cell membrane permeability. This can cause problems such as too much thyroid hormone passing into the cells too quickly. This leads to a condition in which the serum thyroid hormones are low, yet a person really does not need more thyroid hormones.
The person really needs a lower degree of cell permeability. When doctors give thyroid hormone replacements in these cases, they can cause severe illness or even death by further unbalancing the body and causing an even faster oxidation rate. In this regard, the balance of calcium, and its bioavailability, is really a key to health in all living things.
CALCIUM SYNERGISTS
Magnesium helps keep calcium in solution. Good sources are cooked vegetables, almond butter and kelp. I don’t recommend eating nuts and seeds because they are too yin and harder to digest.
Silica is another calcium synergist. It may be transmuted into calcium according to Dr. Louis Kervan, author of Biological Transmutations.
Chlorine, hydrochloric acid in the stomach and adequate protein in the diet are also required for calcium utilization.
Potassium. This is another potent calcium synergist, although in high quantity it can become an antagonist by dissolving calcium from the bones and elsewhere. See the section in this article and separate articles on Fast Oxidation for more on this topic. Potassium is absolutely critical for calcium metabolism in many enzymes. In fact, a recent study found that potassium is required for bone strength or density. (Jehle, S., et al., Partial neutralization of the acidogenic Western diet with potassium citrate increases bone mass in women with osteopenia, J Am SocNephrol. 2006;17:3212.) 
Copper is required to fix calcium in the bones and helps raise the hair tissue calcium level. Many people have biologically unavailable copper which causes their calcium problems. In fast oxidizers, copper deficiency contributes to a calcium deficiency. 
Iodine is required for thyroid activity. Low thyroid activity is associated with biounavailable calcium and calcium deposition in the soft tissues. The best sources of iodine are fish and sea vegetables such as kelp. Iodized salt is not as good a source. Also, I do not recommend Iodoral or Lugol’s solution. Both are toxic and will build up in the liver.
Boron apparently improves adrenal gland activity, which makes copper more available. Boron is found in beans, leafy greens and bone extracts.
Vitamins A and D are important for calcium utilization and are commonly deficient. Vitamin D is only found in enriched milk, fish oils, lanolin and from sun exposure. Vitamin A is only found in fish oils and meats. 
Some people substitute beta carotene for vitamin A. However, beta carotene must be converted to vitamin A and deficient thyroid activity – almost universal today - impairs the conversion. I always recommend vitamin A, not beta carotene, for this reason.
Adequate adrenal hormones levels are also essential for proper calcium metabolism. Hormone replacement therapy, however, is not the best way to improve adrenal hormone production. Assuming the glands have not been removed, a nutritional balancing program will easily improve natural hormone production.
Infrared light is also extremely beneficial for calcium metabolism. 
CALCIUM ANTAGONISTS
Sugar in any form, including fruit and juices, upsets the calcium/phosphorus ratio in the blood more than any other single factor, according to researcher Dr. Melvin Page, DDS. It also stresses the adrenal glands and upsets the hormone balance which affects calcium metabolism.
Lead and cadmium antagonize and replace calcium in the bones and elsewhere. Hidden lead toxicity, for example, is an important cause of weak bones and osteoporosis. Tests for toxic metals may not reveal it when it is deeply embedded within the bones. However, a hair analysis often reveals it later as it comes out of the body through the hair and other routes.
Excessive fluoride replaces calcium in the bones, causing them to become brittle and weak. Sources are fluoride tablets, fluoridated tap water, some mineral waters, foods contaminated with fluorides from the soil and foods processed with fluoridated water such as reconstituted fruit juices and soda pop. Some foods are naturally high in fluorides like tea. Drinking fluoridated water or consuming products processed with fluoridated water is a cause of osteoporosis.
Excess phosphorus binds calcium and impairs its absorption from the intestines. Sources are soda pop and diets very high in animal protein.
Phytates found in high grain diets, soy and other beans bind calcium preventing its absorption.
Excessive oxalic acid found in spinach, cranberries, rhubarb and tea can interfere with calcium utilization, but only if eaten in large quantities.
Low stomach acid and low protein diets impair calcium utilization.
High tissue sodium and potassium tend to dissolve calcium out the bones.
Are you the Half that Should Avoid Dairy?
by Wendy Myers 

Fifty percent of the population has a food sensitivity to dairy. The other half have adapted and can enjoy it freely, though some forms of dairy can still be problematic for this population. Learn about the different forms of dairy and which you may be able to tolerate. 
Many Paleo diet plans recommend avoiding dairy simply because we never ate diary until animals were domesticated and milked very recently in history, roughly 10,000 years ago. True. Humans lived for millions of years without dairy. However, this is not a good enough reason to avoid it. Just because they lived without dairy doesn’t mean you must do the same. The Modern Paleo Diet says go for it if you’re one of the lucky that has adapted.
Dairy poses problems for a lot of people for many different reasons. Many people are lactose intolerant, meaning they don’t possess the enzyme to digest milk sugars called lactose. Others have a casein – dairy protein – allergy. Others can’t handle whey. Some people simply cannot tolerate pasteurized milk. The key is figuring out which elements you may have a problem with so you can learn which types of dairy you can enjoy. Let’s start with reviewing the different categories of dairy: Conventional, organic, grass fed and raw. Raw dairy is in a class by itself!
Conventional Dairy Contains Cow Crack
Most people are guzzling conventional, nonorganic dairy and it’s making them sick. Eighty-five percent of nonorganic milk sold in the US contains rGBH, AKA cow crack, which is a genetically modified synthetic growth hormone made by Monsanto, used to increase a cow’s milk production. These poor cows are on crack!! These hormones double their milk production. When you eat conventional dairy, these hormones wreak havoc on your hormones, too. rGBH is shown to increase inflammation markers in humans.
You may not have a problem with dairy – just a problem with the hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, GMO feed, pasteurization, and homogenization characteristic of conventional dairy. Forget the proteins in milk, the GMO’s alone can cause allergic reactions. This milk clearly contains toxins and is going to be far less nutrient dense compared to milk from a cow that is allowed to eat grass and produce milk at a normal rate. Just buy organic, grass fed milk already!
Organic
Organic milk is one step up from conventional, but still has its problems. The cows are usually fed grains, unless specified on the label, leaving the milk with too much omega-6, contributing to inflammation. The grains may not be GMO, but the cows are not eating a natural diet and the milk has less nutrition as a result. All organic milk is also pasteurized, which we’ll get into in a minute.
Not all organic dairy is created equal. I would avoid Horizon brand milk, which I do not consider organic. Their ‘farms’ have up to 20,000 cows and are run very much like factory farms. Additionally, the omega-3 in the milk is not from healthy fats naturally found in the milk but is from a synthetic, laboratory-produced version of DHA derived from microalgae species. This synthetic DHA oil is not on the organic standards list of acceptable ingredients. It is synthetic. Created in a lab by a big Biotech firm, it is added to milk and all infant formulas that claim ‘Rich in omega-3’ or ‘Plus DHA’ on the label. This omega-3 oil has never been tested for safety and can cause adverse reactions in infants, including excessive gas, diarrhea, and vomiting. (5) Just get your omega-3 from grass fed milk!
Grass Fed
If you’re going to eat dairy I can only recommend eating dairy from cows that ate grass. Eating grass fed dairy underscores the whole point of going Paleo – eating whole nutrient dense foods from animals eating their natural diet. The milk is going to have more omega-3 and less inflammatory properties than conventional milk from cows fed grains. Eating grass will confer the most nutrition to their meat and milk.
Raw Dairy
Raw dairy is in a class by itself. Raw dairy is a whole food, while pasteurized dairy is a processed food. These are completely different foods with greatly differing nutrient profiles. They cannot be thrown under the same dairy umbrella.
When I eat dairy, I eat raw, unpasteurized organic diary. I’ll admit when I first tried it, I was a bit freaked out by the potential for bacteria in raw milk, but I’ve never had a problem with it. The only catch is it goes bad in about a week. It’s fresh! No preservatives! This is the price of fresh food. Frankly, the pasteurized milk that lasts for a month or more in the fridge freaks me out.
Salmonella, E. coli and many other bacteria cannot survive in raw milk; beneficial bacteria, enzymes, and immune complexes naturally present in raw milk destroy bad bacteria. If these pathogenic microbes get into pasteurized milk, however, they thrive because the enzymes and beneficial bacteria have been destroyed by pasteurization. If you can’t bear the thought of bacteria in your milk, you can kill it with a few drops of 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide, but this will kill the probiotics as well.
The statistics aren’t too worrisome either. About 1 in 90,000 people are hospitalized by drinking contaminated raw dairy, while 1 in 880,000 people are hospitalized by contaminated pasteurized dairy. So, you have about a nine times increased chance of being sickened by raw milk. This is a risk some aren’t willing to take, but I am happy to ‘risk’ it given raw milk’s far superior nutritional gifts.
Why drink raw milk? People are drinking raw milk because pasteurization and homogenization destroys so many nutrients in milk. Proteins and fats in the milk are deformed, making them very unhealthy and difficult to digest.
Pasteurization – milk is heated to high temperatures to kill bacteria.
Raw dairy, especially raw butter, contains essential fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, most of which are destroyed during pasteurization. These fat-soluble vitamins are necessary to absorb vitamins and minerals. Because vitamin D is destroyed during pasteurization, synthetic vitamin D2 is ironically added back to the milk! That’s why it’s called vitamin D milk. Synthetic vitamin D2 is not absorbed very well, while natural D3 is readily absorbed. Needless to say, pasteurized milk in not a great source of vitamin D for this reason. Without adequate fat-soluble vitamins, needed to absorb minerals yet destroyed in pasteurized milk, we can make ourselves more vulnerable to osteoporosis – even if we eat plenty of dairy.

Why does the US drink the most dairy and yet still has one of the highest osteoporosis rates in the world? This is because the pasteurization of dairy renders calcium in the milk biounavailable. It turns it into a form that is not readily usable by our bodies so the body then stores it or gets rid of it in the tissues and joints, calcifying them. Ever wonder why you have stiff, tight muscles and achy joints and arthritis? It’s calcification of your tissues in part caused by pasteurized milk. (6) Of course, there are other causes to these ailments, but the biounavailable calcium in pasteurized milk is a biggie. This is caused by lack of magnesium as well that directs calcium on where to go in the body. Most are magnesium deficient.
Homogenization – forcing milk under high temperature and pressure through tiny holes to prevent the milk and cream from separating.
Raw dairy almost always comes unhomogenized. Why? Homogenization damages milk severely. Homogenization forces the milk through tiny tubes at extremely high pressure to break the fat in the milk into smaller sizes. The process can involve extreme heat, so it is akin to a second pasteurization. It causes the fat particles to be surrounded by whey and casein, which is unnatural. These tiny fat particles may be absorbed directly into the blood stream without being digested because they are so small. (6) When food is not digested properly before absorption into the body, it can contribute to milk allergies, inflammation, and other health issues, plus it is unnecessarily taxing on the immune system.
Raw milk can be usually be tolerated by people who thought they had a dairy intolerance. Raw milk is a whole food that has everything you need in it, including lactase, to digest the milk. I am amazed at how much better I tolerate raw milk. I still have to limit my consumption, but I’m far less reactive to this whole food.
Are you dying to try raw milk now? You won’t find raw dairy products in major stores. You’ll have to buy it at farmer’s markets, your local dairy farm, or small natural health food stores. For a list of organic raw dairy farmers and retailers in your area, see www.realmilk.com.
Dairy Intolerance
Fifty percent of the world is intolerant to dairy for a couple reasons. It’s interesting that dairy intolerance decreases the farther away we get from the equator. The need for vitamin D may account for why some people – especially northern Europeans – became able to digest milk, a very recent mutation. Many theorize this is because people get more sun, and thus more vitamin D production, closer to the equator. African-Americans and Asians tend to not tolerate dairy because their ancestors generally lived close to the equator. As people moved farther away from the equator, their skin got lighter and they developed the ability to digest dairy as an adaptation to obtain vitamin D.
Then there’s the science of epigenetics. Genes are turned on and off according to diet and lifestyle. For this reason, it is absurd to suggest the epigenome of modern humans is identical to that of our Paleolithic ancestors given the substantial changes in environment and food that have occurred since that era. Epigenetic changes can happen relatively quickly. One such quick change is called lactase persistence or the ability to digest lactose into adulthood, which began about 8000 years ago. This is roughly 2,000 years after we began domesticating and milking animals.
Chris Kresser of Chriskresser.com eloquently stated:
I know a study in 2007 where researchers looked at DNA from skeletons of people who died in northern or central Europe about 7000 to 8000 years ago, and there were zero, none of them had lactase persistence at that time. And then another study from the Bronze Age, about 3000 years ago, with a similar population found that about 25% had the allele for lactase persistence, and then today in some Scandinavian countries, I think, like Sweden and Denmark, lactase persistence has reached about 95% penetrance in the population. And the cow herding tribe, the Tutsi tribe in East Africa, I think, has about 90% lactase persistence. So that’s a huge genetic change in a short period of time, but even that period of time is incredibly long compared to how quickly some of these epigenetic changes can happen.
A traditional Paleo diet warns to avoid dairy because our ancestors at it, but that it not completely accurate given the evidence above. Thus, The Modern Paleo Diet was born. It makes more sense to use the Paleo diet as a template and adjust it according to one’s individual tolerances.
Find the Forms of Dairy You Tolerate
The key to eating dairy is finding the forms that work for you. For instance, I found that I can eat raw milk and cheese – though I tolerate hard cheeses the best. And I have no problem with butter, cream or fermented dairy like yogurt and kefir. You have to test each form and see which work for you.
While it’s true that some people react to the casein proteins in milk, most who are sensitive are reacting to the sugar in milk: lactose. Lactose intolerance is one of the most common food intolerances, affecting up to 65% of the world’s adult population. Most stop producing lactase around 3 to 4 years of age.
If you’re sensitive to dairy, you need to figure out the element in dairy to which you’re sensitive. If you have an issue with the lactose, you can still enjoy just about any dairy product except for milk. You can enjoy hard cheeses that have almost no lactose. You can enjoy fermented dairy because it has almost no lactose. And you can enjoy butter and very often cream. If you’re casein intolerant, that’s a little harder because a lot of cheese has significant amounts of casein. The casein is concentrated in cheese.
A food elimination diet is the final word in determining what you react to more than a lab panel. The lab panel might be able to tell you you’re generally allergic to dairy or give you ideas about what you should avoid, but the testing for dairy sensitivity is not terribly accurate. Even with testing, you still need to remove the different forms of dairy and reintroduce to see if you react. The food elimination method is still the gold standard that the top people use in the food allergy and immunology field. For more information on how to do a food elimination diet, see my blog post Food Sensitivities Make you Fat and Sick.
Milk
A lot of people have an issue with milk because it contains ALL the things that people can react to, including casein and lactose. In a sign of nature’s wisdom, raw milk contains lactase, the enzyme needed to digest dairy.
If you’re drinking conventional milk, you have to contend with all the other irritating ingredients it contains. You may not have a problem with dairy — just a problem with hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, GMO feed, pasteurization, and homogenization.
Raw unpasteurized grass fed organic unhomogenized milk can usually be tolerated by people who cannot tolerate pasteurized milk because it contains lactase needed for its digestion (destroyed during pasteurization).
Cheese
The same rules apply here as with milk above. Organic cheese does not have the antibiotics and hormones, but it has all the problems that go along with pasteurization. Some find that they cannot tolerate soft cheeses but they can do hard cheeses. Hard cheeses usually have very little or almost no lactose. Others find they can tolerate goat milk and sheep’s milk cheeses because they are more easily digestible than cow’s milk. You have to find what works for you.
If you’re casein intolerant, cheese is likely not on the menu for you. Cheese has significant amounts of casein. These proteins are concentrated in the cheese.
Cream
Cream contains small amounts of lactose. Most people, even if they don’t tolerate milk, can tolerate butter and very often can tolerate cream.
Cream contains casein so that’s out if you’re casein sensitive.
Butter
Butter is almost casein and lactose-free. The least problematic macronutrient in dairy is the fat. This means that since butter and cream are mostly fat, most people can tolerate them even if they have a sensitivity to dairy.
Ghee (Clarified Butter)
Ghee, or clarified butter, is the runner up for the least problematic form of dairy. Many that have a problem with dairy can eat ghee. It is technically casein and lactose-free.
Yogurt and Kefir
Fermented and cultured raw organic dairy products like sour cream, yogurt, and kefir work for many people, as the lactose proteins have been broken down making them easier to digest. The longer the fermentation, the less lactose the product contains. These dairy foods are also high in probiotics.
If you’re casein intolerant, fermented dairy is likely not on the menu for you. The fermentation process might improve tolerance of dairy for people that are casein-intolerant, but probably not completely.
Whey
Whey is the least problematic nutrient in dairy. Whey is 99.9% lactose-free. Many love to make whey protein powder smoothies. I’m not a huge fan of these processed powders, favoring whole foods. You can never emulate the power and nutrition of whole foods. If you are addicted to your quick and easy protein powder, whey protein is the best. Whey intolerance is almost unheard of. It is the least reactive nutrient in dairy. It does contain small amounts of casein, but still does not cause problems for many.
Non-fat vs. Low-fat vs. Full-fat (Whole) Dairy
I would only eat full-fat, whole milk dairy. This study shows that people who ate the most full-fat dairy had a 69% lower risk of cardiovascular death than those who ate the least. (3)
Non-fat and low-fat dairy may have lower fat, but they also have powdered milk added to give them body. This results in low-fat and fat-free dairy containing more allergenic casein proteins. In order to make dried milk powder, milk is forced through tiny holes at a high pressure. During this process, the cholesterol in the milk becomes oxidized and other fats become deformed, resulting in milk powder that damages arteries, raises the risk of heart disease and cancer, and can cause liver damage. Because it’s considered an industry standard, even in organics, to use milk powder, milk processors aren’t required to list it on the ingredient label. These processed milks should generally be avoided as they can cause sensitivity issues where whole milk may not.
Unhealthy Guts Don’t Like Dairy
Another reason dairy causes problems boils down to gut health. If someone has compromised intestinal permeability, or “leaky gut”, it’s more likely that their immune system will respond to potentially allergenic components in milk. When their gut is healed, they are able to tolerate dairy and other foods to which they were previously sensitive.
Milk proteins commonly cross-react with gluten, so if you react to gluten, it’s more likely you will have a sensitivity to dairy.
In the same vein, people with small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) – one of the major causes of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) – may be more likely to react to milk because the bacteria in their small intestine aggressively ferments lactose, the sugar in milk, causing gas, bloating and other intestinal symptoms.
By healing a leaky gut and taking certain kinds of probiotics you may be able to tolerate dairy. Consuming fermented dairy on a regular basis can also improve or eliminate lactose intolerance. Consuming lactase from dairy products can promote the growth of these bacteria in the colon. Over time, this can lead to greater lactase content in the gut, improved lactose digestion, and eventually the elimination of intolerance symptoms. Start by taking probiotics and small amounts of raw and fermented dairy. Work your way up.
Dairy is incredibly nutritious, full of healthy fats, probiotics (if raw or fermented), protein, calcium and lots of vital minerals and vitamins. I would never recommend avoiding it unless you had a sensitivity to this incredibly nutritious, luscious treat. If you eat a Western diet, it is difficult to meet your calcium needs without the inclusion of dairy in your diet. We don’t absorb enough from fish and green leafy vegetables. Sardines are a great source of calcium, but when was the last time you popped open a can of sardines? That’s what I thought.
You don’t have to eat dairy to meet your calcium needs. Many traditional peoples never consumed dairy and they were perfectly healthy. Some cultures have adapted to a low calcium diet. (4) Others ate animal foods that are high in calcium, such as fish heads, bones, skin and ground crustacean shells. Yum! Just eat these foods and you don’t need dairy. Problem solved