Yogurt & Kefir

© Bee Wilder, Extensively Revised December 21, 2011

Yogurt and kefir would ordinarily be a good foods to consume, however unhealthy people cannot tolerant them, for a number of reasons. That includes homemade yogurt and kefir, when most of the lactose (sugar) content is removed by longer fermentation times, however during the process lactose is changed into another sugar called galactose.

The two rules regarding lactose/sugar in dairy products are:

1. The higher the butterfat content the lower the lactose/sugar, so that is why butter is good for health.
2. Butterfat in dairy products helps the body digest their lactose/sugar and proteins.

The problem unhealthy people have isn't only because of the lactose/sugar in dairy products. It is because most unhealthy people have poor digestion, making it more difficult for them to break down nutrients in all foods, including dairy products (other than butter), because lactose is more difficult to digest. One of the reasons is that pasteurization and homogenization of dairy products damages them.

Pasteurization destroys valuable enzymes, including lactase, for the assimilation of lactose; galactase for the assimilation of galactose; phosphatase for the assimilation of calcium. Literally dozens of other precious enzymes are destroyed in the pasteurization process. Without them, dairy is very difficult to digest, which puts undue stress on the human pancreas.

However the pancreas is not always able to produce these enzymes; over-stress of the pancreas can lead to diabetes and other diseases, in addition to interfering with the digestion of other foods. Sally Fallon of the Weston A. Price Foundation states that: "Pasteurization destroys enzymes, diminishes vitamin content, destroys vitamin B12 and vitamin B6 . . . "

Commercially made yogurt and kefir is high in lactose content because they are made from low fat milk products, in addition to being made from pasteurized and/or homogenized milk. Even though some of the problems associated with processed dairy may be eliminated consuming raw dairy it still doesn't seem to help unhealthy people.

Even when yogurt and kefir are homemade from raw dairy and fermented long enough to lower the lactose, it still causes problems for unhealthy people because the lactose is changed into another sugar called galactose during the fermentation process.

It has been found that unhealthy people who hang on to their dairy products, other than butter, continue to have problems until they entirely eliminate them.