We are discovering that store bought probiotics (even the expensive ones) are not able to give us the amount of good lactic-acid loving bacteria that are needed to repair damaged digestive tracts. These bacteria will also neutralize the pH in the gut – creating the conditions for good bacteria to thrive.
Before the era of processed food, many traditional cultures (lacking in refrigeration and preservatives) understood the importance of micro-flora in the intestines to prevent bad bacteria in food from making us sick. This is explained in Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions cookbook. We recommend that you purchase this book.
Cultured raw dairy products contain the necessary enzymes to digest casein found within them. Unless a person is highly allergic to milk (manifesting as breathing problems or severe skin rashes), a casein reaction / leaky gut should be able to be healed over the course of a year. The first step to re-introducing dairy products is to feed your child raw goat’s milk yogurt. When you are sure they can tolerate this, you may move on to raw goat’s milk and organic raw goat’s milk cheese. When this has proven itself to be safe for your child you may move onto raw cow’s milk yogurt, and then organic raw cow’s milk and cheeses.
Many small, organic / all-natural family farms will allow you to purchase raw milk from them. It may come with an orange label. Trader’s Point Creamery in Indianapolis sells raw milk – it is understood within the organic community that this milk is safe for people.
The Nourishing Traditions cookbook is based on the philosophy of the Weston-Price foundation. This is a community of people who believe that deep, lasting health comes from nature, the proper foods and preparations. Google Weston-Price – Indiana, and a local chapter in your area will come up. The contact person will be able to guide you to a farm where you can purchase the raw goat’s milk. It is important that the goats be grass fed – the Weston-Price people in your area will understand this. The farmer may want you to enter into a yearly financial contract where you are ‘legally’ the goat’s owner and the farmer is the boarder – then giving you your own milk from your goat. Like the orange label, this is a legal maneuver to keep everything “above board.” Before entering into any contract, make sure you can sample the milk, make the yogurt, and see how your child responds.
The directions for making fermented goat’s milk yogurt are at the SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet) website: www.pecanbread.com/yogurt. You can purchase a yogurt maker or follow the directions on the website for fermenting it in your oven with the oven light on. The yogurt starter can be purchased from GI Pro Health www.GIprohealth.com .
It is a wonderful idea to keep other fermented foods in your child’s diet. Some natural farms and health food stores will sell raw sauerkraut or Kimchee (Korean) – this is loaded with the good lactic-acid loving bacteria that our kids need. Also, you can purchase a fermented coconut water drink from www.bodyecology.com called Cocobiotic – this is an excellent probiotic drink. We also recommend that you introduce Kombucha – a raw, fermented drink purchased at health food stores to heal leaky and damaged digestive systems. |
