So, yesterday I substituted raw cow kefir for my usual pasteurized goat yogurt in my shakes. Everything else remained exactly the same for the day. The results? Quiet stomach all day, no gas or bloat and I felt good all day. This morning I’m doing fine as well and all was good in the poop department. Overall, a very successful introduction of a food that is SUPPOSED to be very healthy for me.

Now, the question remains – Is raw cow milk or kefir Paleo? I think the strict Paleo answer is NO! But let’s take a few steps beyond that…

Advantages of incorporating raw milk and kefir into a Paleo diet:

• Raw cow milk has high levels of digestible protein and LIVE enzymes
• Raw grassfed cow milk has high levels of CLA
• Kefir made with raw milk incorporates not only the probiotics from the kefir but also the good bacteria that remains in the milk because it isn’t pasteurized
• Raw kefir is a lot more digestible than milk
• Raw cow dairy contains a good amount of saturated animal fats and a ton of other great stuff
• Raw cow milk from healthy animals contains a high level of Vitamin D

If you move away from the “Paleo” paradigm for a second and just think “primitive” I think you can see that cultured raw milk from grass fed cows on a local farm is about as “early” as you can get in the agricultural time-line. We’re basically talking Paleo plus a few hundred years or so. This is still very primitive and there’s a fair amount of evidence that primitive and hunter gatherer cultures have used raw dairy to good effect.

Another thing I find really cool about making my own kefir is the absolutely HEAVENLY butterfat thing that happens at the top of the jar when the cultures do their thing. That stuff is SO sweet and creamy and full of CLA and who knows what other good stuff!

The “making it” process is a little involved and can go wrong sometimes, but once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty easy. Currently, I’m getting my kefir starter from Body Ecology.

Really the only thing I have left to do here as far as testing is to keep using the kefir and make sure there isn’t any kind of delayed immune reaction. If I continue to do well on it, I’m going to keep eating it and see how I do. My hope is that the big doses of probiotics I get from the kefir daily will really help out my health and digestion. We’ll see what happens!

[Note: I was ORIGINALLY planning to include a bunch of references here to back up my points in this article. I haven't found the really good stuff I'm looking for so I'll update this post as I find better info.]

ttys

Adam

]]> http://practicalpaleolithic.com/paleolithic-diet-blog/raw-milk-kefir-paleo-diet/feed 5 http://practicalpaleolithic.com/paleolithic-diet-blog/sun-fun-crossfit http://practicalpaleolithic.com/paleolithic-diet-blog/sun-fun-crossfit#comments Wed, 23 Jun 2010 21:01:50 +0000 Adam http://practicalpaleolithic.com/paleolithic-diet-blog/?p=123

I don’t know if it was a coincidence or what, but I happened to read some really good stuff on Mark Sisson’s blog, Mark’s Daily Apple, last night. The two blog posts I really got into were a primer on how to increase testosterone naturally and another on vitamin D, sun exposure and dosage. The reason this was so interesting to me is that I’ve been hiding out at my family’s beach house here in Old Saybrook, CT for well over a week now. I’ve been burning myself out for a LONG TIME and it was starting to reach red line again. Instead of fighting it I just packed up, left the kitties extra food and water and showed up here.

Now, I’ve spent the week relaxing and just working on projects I WANT to work on. Getting a lot of writing done and jogging around the beaches, doing yoga and CrossFit (I brought a 20lb med ball an Olympic bar with some weight) and getting lots of sun. About two days ago I was at my favorite tanning place down the road getting a little extra glow and I realized I was starting to feel better. I just felt better. Like more well-being and more optimistic.

It’s now a few days later. I did a WOD out in the yard and took a great run around the beaches today. I added a few hill sprints too. I go out without a shirt too, so there’s plenty of sun exposure. Every time I finish a run I walk for a while afterword and sit at the beach for a while. The view of the Long Island Sound is incredible.

Once again, today I am definitely feeling better. My mood is much better. And my digestion has been awesome! I’m on a strictly Paleolithic diet (with the exception of goat yogurt) and that’s helping too. So, here you go: I shut off the phones, started working on projects I’m passionate about, am getting plenty of sun and exercise and am eating well. And I’m feeling really good!

I’m going to spend some timing looking at some Vitamin D science later and see how much of a role that in itself might be playing, but the bottom line is sun, fun and some good hard training seems to have done some serious good for me! This is just one more example of how a slower, Paleolithic lifestyle is worth more than anything for getting back on track.

ttys

Adam