Why those who eat lowfat are at significantly higher risk for stomach bugs, food poisoning and gastrointestinal disease, and how a specific fatty acid in dairy powerfully inhibits intestinal pathogens.
Have you ever noticed how some people seem to catch every single stomach bug that passes through the community while others seem completely immune?
How about the curious fact that some people get food poisoning all the time while others rarely succumb even if they ate the identical dish at the same restaurant?
It may not just be bad luck if it seems that you’re getting more than your fair share of stomach bugs.
Food Selection Impacts Gastrointestinal Risk
While “eating organic” is great, it actually doesn’t offer much protection against intestinal pathogens.
Folks who rarely eat processed foods and take great pains to make their own meals from scratch can still be plagued with more than their fair share of stomach bug woes.
Why is this?
I used to ponder this very question as to why I kept catching so many tummy bugs despite eating everything organic in my twenties.
While important, it appears that food quality is not necessarily the best way to prevent gastrointestinal illness.
Could it be the composition of the foods that we eat is a major contributory factor in the frequency of intestinal illness?
For example, is it possible that a very simple change such as increasing the amount of butterfat in the diet could actually be of benefit in avoiding gastroenteritis?
Milk Fat Protects the Gut from Pathogens
Glycosphingolipids are a special type of lipid found in bovine milk fat.
Sources include butter, cream, whole milk, whole yogurt, kefir, ghee, and cheese.
These foods offer protection against gastroenteritis because they include anti-pathogenic fatty acids.
Children who drink lowfat or skim milk suffer from acute gastrointestinal illness at a rate 3-4 times higher than children who drink whole milk. (1)
This is an incredibly significant difference!
According to the Weston A. Price Foundation:
Glycosphingolipids are lipids with single sugar molecules attached found in cell membranes, especially in the brain. They also protect against gastrointestinal infections, especially in infants and children. (2)
According to in vitro studies of milk fat, glycosphingolipids are not only protective against pathogenic bacteria such as salmonella and listeria but also against viruses and fungi as well. (3)
Taking a therapeutic quality probiotic every day is also highly protective.
Whole Dairy is Best
I experienced this same effect even as an adult.
Once I switched to whole milk products and butter and away from butter substitutes and lowfat dairy, my tendency to succumb to stomach flu vanished.
In fact, in my household, no one has had a tummy bug or gastrointestinal illness of any kind in many years!
This is not to say that consuming plenty of milkfat in the diet will guarantee complete avoidance of gastroenteritis. It will, however, significantly increase your resistance to it.
In essence, butterfat is a functional food in that it works as a broad spectrum anti-microbial agent in the gut.
What About all that Butterfat?
Concerned that all that butterfat might be bad for your health? Take heart (literally)… it’s all a myth!
Unfortunately, it’s taking decades for the public to finally awaken to the fact that those who eat butter and drink whole milk have HALF the heart attack risk as those who drink lowfat milk and eat margarine. (4)
This study followed 5,000 men between the ages of 45 and 59 for 10 years.
Of those who drank at least a pint of whole milk a day and ate butter, there was only a 1% risk for a heart attack!
What do heart doctors say?
This prominent cardiologist’s opinion of a lowfat diet is that it is “scientifically and morally indefensible”.
In summary, then, it’s not just any milk that does a body good, It’s whole milk!
(1) Milk fat and gastrointestinal illness
(2) Digestion and absorption of food fats
(3) Bactericidal Activities of Milk Lipids
(4) Milk Decreases Heart Attacks
More Information
I’ve seen several go through my office in the last 2 weeks.
Are You a Stomach Bug Magnet? A Lowfat Diet May be the Cause. (thanks to @purple_p) http://t.co/y636e1sY
Bring on the butter!!! Are You a Stomach Bug Magnet? A Low fat Diet May be the Cause – The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/LgAW8zGn
I believe this but I often wonder about why my 2 year old got a tummy bug the day after she drank a lot of raw milk and cream. We ran out of raw milk/cream for a few weeks prior to that. It must be to do with the break but I got so worried about the milk that I didn’t let her have any for the next week. She hardly held anything down for a few days, just some sips of broth.
What a fascinating article! I have been one of those who would catch every stomach bug on the block. When we started milking our own Jersey cows two years ago, I never got another one. When both cows were dry this winter, I had TWO stomach viruses!
This SO true!
I was trying to explain to a guy in my writing class why I need to drink milk, regardless of whether it’s raw or not (I personally buy milk that comes from one farm instead of from one of the big brands that pool milk together from multiple farms, since it’s freaking illegal to buy raw here); we were talking about his assignment, which incorporated how pasteurized milk from industrial farmed cattle can cause Crohn’s disease. I get sick if I don’t drink any at all, so I guess I’m not as much of a freak as I thought… Plus I eat tons of other fatty foods at home, since I can cook there. Maybe I should up my intake of other fatty foods so I can not be drinking so much milk in general, though, since I tend to drink a lot…
Of course, the food at my university also plays a part – I found out they use margarine instead of butter, and since I can’t cook much in my room (only a kettle and microwave in the lounge, ugh), I’ve been getting so many stomach bugs it’s ridiculous. Course, half the time it’s the food itself making me sick, but I have no doubt that my lack of fat while there plays a part. I never get sick when I’m at home!
A well written article – except for the fact that some folks cannot drink milk, eat yoghurt, …. cheese is out also!
I tried lactose free…. I tries A2, I tried goats milk too……. NO CAN drink any of them, use any of their products except for a tad of butter now and again! Even coconut milk makes me nausiated.
Dietician says I am casein intolerant.
Hi JustMEinT, if coconut milk also nauseates you, it’s more than casein problems. I would suppose that you potentially have gall bladder issues as well as those who get nauseated from coconut fat typically have issues digesting fats in general. If you start slow with the coconut milk and work your way up, you may be able to overcome this by slowly getting your body to adjust to higher fat foods. I’ve seen this work for others.
Sarah – perhaps your post on Swedish Bitters may have relevant info for her as well.
I had a problem with coconut oil, full fat dairy, and FCLO when I first started. FCLO gave me horrible nausea and I wanted to vomit, same thing with coconut oil. But I started at small doses and worked my way up and now I don’t have any problems taking up to 1 TBS FCLO and 1 tsp HVBO. I think it was the years of eating low fat!
It is worth noting that HUMAN milk does everything that you are talking about here, except better. This is why nursing children until a natural age of weaning, between 2.5 and 7 yrs, is so important. The Secretory Immunoglobulin and stem cells in breast milk actually create the lining of the gut which is open prior to this. The exclusive feeding of breastmilk allows the gut to mature properly without the interference of the unhealthy bacteria found in formula milk or in solids. Avoiding these foods until the gut lining has developed due to sufficient application of Sig A and other healthy fats as well as stem cells prevents a susceptibility to stomach viruses from developing in the first place. Certainly consumption of healthy whole foods in later years will increase health, but it has been found that even adults who suffer from digestive tract difficulty benefit greatly from consuming human breastmilk.
I am somewhat of a “real food” blog junkie, and I just wanted you to know that your blog stands out as having some EXCELLENT information. Thank you for the hard work you do!
Would you have any suggestions for avoiding stomach bugs if one was restricted from consuming ANY dairy?
Hi Crunchy Pickle .. coconut fat is also quite a broad spectrum anti-microbial so coconut milk, coconut oil in the diet would be very beneficial in this regard as well. Glad you are enjoying the blog! 🙂