Paleo, dairy and toddlers.... « Back to Group Discussions

[Jillgayle]

Hi-

My husband and I follow a primarily paleo diet.  My husband eats no dairy. I am still eating some.  I am wondering what to do about my toddler though?  He has been drinking whole cows milk since 12 mos.  His ped says its time to switch to 2%.  I am not sure what to do.  He is not underweight by any means, but has been very picky lately with his animal protein.  I wonder if he still needs the full fat from whole milk or not.  What have others done?  Is there any literature out there about this issue?

THank you!

jill

[Cynthia Mosher]

Looks like your post was missed so I thought I'd bump it up for attention. 

Anyone have anything to share?

[Jillgayle]

Thanks! I hope to hear back-

[Pogo0685]

I personally don't find anything wrong with dairy. We don't drink milk but if my DS wanted to I would let him without issue. He does not like it though, but we do eat a lot of cheese. I find that cheese is a good snack for him. This makes us more of a primal family more than a paleo family but we took cheese out for a while and when we added it back we had no noticeable reactions.

[itsajenism]

We don't, and never have given our kids milk, even pre-paleo. 

With that said, if I did choose to give them milk I would never give them anything less than full fat milk, preferably raw grass-fed if I could get it. When I was a milk-drinker (into adulthood, but pre-kids) I never drank anything less than whole milk. 

A lot of the vitamins in milk are fat soluble (meaning they dissolve in fat, or need fat for better absorption in your body). Take the fat away and your body won't absorb the vitamins as well. Not to mention, the processing it takes to make 2% and less also removes the vitamins which then have to be replaced with synthetic vitamins which are not as easily absorbed. 

If a cow doesn't produce 2% on their own, I'm not drinking it. 

Also, weight should have no factor in the decision to drink/not to drink whole milk. Fat is not what makes us fat. 

I found this article when looking for something that might explain things better than I can and found this: Why Skim Milk Isn't Necessarily Better. I know skim milk and 2% aren't exactly the same, but it's the same idea behind both. They're both processed and have fat removed. 

There's a great quote in the book Practical Paleo that says "We are not smarter than nature. We cannot make better food than nature. We need to eat real, whole food - period." Paleo or not, this quote works. If the food needs to be processed to be edible or is processed, it's not food and/or it's not as beneficial for us to put in our bodies. 

I hope that helps! 

[Jillgayle]

Thank you!  I just saw this last post.  We are sticking with whole milk, organic pasture raised (although not raw).

BTW- Jen- I see you are preg and paleo.  How is has that been for you?  Were you paleo with your first preganancies?  I am TTC #2 and was not paleo with DS #1.  Have you noticed any differences?  Any supplements or foods that you have tried to have more of during pregnancy?

j

[itsajenism]

This is my first paleo pregnancy and there are so many differences. 

The biggest difference for me between this (my paleo) pregnancy and the other two is that I have not been nearly as sick this time. I had severe nausea/vomiting, border-lining on HG, with my first two pregnancies -- had to take anti-nausea meds for nearly my entire pregnancy with both. Despite all of the puking, I still somehow managed to gain A LOT of weight with the first two as well (80 and 60 pounds), most of which took place in the 3rd trimester. We're talking 15 pound gains in two weeks. 

I was still very nauseous in the first trimester and a few times randomly since then, but compared to my other two pregnancies it was a breeze. I know "they" say that each pregnancy is different and that the difference between this one and the other two could be chalked up to that mystery, but I really feel that it has everything to do with how I was eating then compared to now. Not to mention the fact that the only two times I've puked this pregnancy were when I had dairy and gluten. 

My weight gain has been really good so far, too. I'm gaining about a pound a week, which is right on target for where I should be. We'll see what happens now that I just started the third trimester though, and history shows that this is when I really start gaining. 

I've also had more energy overall this time around. 

Besides those few things, my other two pregnancies were "text book easy" in that I didn't deal with any of the pregnancy related issues (swelling, GD, pre-e, etc) that can happen, so I don't have those to compare to. 

I try to keep more starchy foods on hand like sweet potatoes because there are days where I REALLY crave carbs and veggies just don't seem to cut it. I've also caved a handful of times when I couldn't satiate that need for carbs. After the two times I puked after eating dairy and gluten, I definitely keep it gluten-free. Usually something like rice that my body is generally ok with and I don't seem to react to. I'm not really hard on myself about caving when I do, but I also try everything else I know of to try before caving and I don't have any problems with binging if I do cave. I also learned that I really needed to up my fat intake, though this might be very different for other people. I feel like if I wasn't still learning and had already figured out some of the things I figured out while pregnant, I would have done better... but that's ok.

For supplements, I'm definitely taking magnesium (Natural Calm) and because I'm still working on increasing my very low vitamin D levels I take that as well. I also take fermented cod liver/butter oil blend. I'm not very good at taking my pre-natals, but I do take those off and on when I remember. That's it. I've never been super strict very good at taking anything, pregnant or not. My blood draw for vitamin levels will be in a few weeks and I'm anxious to see where my levels are. I haven't had them checked in about a year and a half now (since right after I started eating paleo). Will be interesting to see the differences. 

[Jillgayle]

Thanks so much for your response.  Your first two pregnancies sound just like my first. I was beyond nauseous, ended up losing weight, was on zofran and almost need hospitalization for dehydration.  It did not really stop until 20 weeks.  Even still, I gained about 60 lbs. I am now 10lbs lighter than i was pre-pregnancy and if we are blessed with a second, I am hoping for a better experience this time around!    Wishing you the best in the rest of your pregnancy-

j