In his most recent book, The Paleo Answer, Dr. Loren Cordain, takes a deeper dive into the mechanisms through which the typical Western diet contributes to illness. On the relationship between milk and exercise-induced asthma, Dr. Cordain writes:
If the gut becomes leaky, which it invariably does on a typical Western diet, beta casomorphin-7 in milk can enter our blood stream and travel to our chests, where it stimulates production from MUC5AC glands located in our lungs and respiratory tracts. A final piece of this puzzle is that beta-casamorphin-7 is much more likely to trigger mucous production if the lungs and the respiratory tract are inflamed by asthma. Many people’s exercise-induced asthma symptoms disappear on the Paleo Diet.
He then presents a case reported by a personal trainer:
I am a trainer, and I work with very overweight woman, Jenny, who recently started my boot camp. She weighs 360 pounds at present. Until recently, she also suffered from exercise-induced asthma. For the first week of boot camp, she could ot get through a class without her inhaler. Although I admired her dedication, it was painful and a bit scary to watch.
Then I put her on the Paleo Diet. This week, after doing this for a little less than two weeks, she no longer needs her inhaler. Miraculous!
Jenny’s also doing great on the diet – she’s not hungry at all, so I know the weight will be coming off soon as well.