ADVERTORIAL
Supported by The a2 Milk Company
IS THERE A WAY TO SEE IF A1 PROTEIN MAY BE CONTRIBUTING TO YOUR PATIENTS ’ DIGESTIVE DISCOMFORT ?
To test whether your patient may be sensitive to A1 protein , a little selfexperimentation is required . This simple step-by-step method is what I use with patients when exploring whether A1 protein might be contributing to their digestive symptoms .
We start with a temporary trial removing all dairy from the diet . This includes temporarily removing things like milk , yogurt , and cheese . If symptoms improve , this tells me dairy could be contributing .
Our next step is to add milk back in . We start with milk containing only the A2 protein to determine whether it could be the A1 protein contributing to the digestive symptoms . If we know the patient is lactose intolerant , I ’ ll have them take lactase enzymes to ensure their lactose intolerance symptoms don ’ t confound the results .
if they trialled two cups of milk containing only the A2 protein daily , ask them to consume two cups of regular cows ’ milk daily .
If your patient ’ s digestive symptoms were better managed when consuming the milk containing only the A2 protein compared to regular cows ’ milk , then this could be an indication that A1 protein is a contributor to their digestive discomfort .
The good news is that milk containing only the A2 protein may be a great way for some of these patients to consume dairy while managing their digestive symptoms . a2 Milk TM comes from cows that only produce A2 protein – meaning they ’ ll get none of the A1 protein found in most regular cows ’ milk , which contains a mix of A1 and A2 proteins . No reason to give up dairy , simply swap your patient ’ s regular milk for milk containing only the A2 protein .
If milk containing only the A2 protein is tolerated – that is a pretty good indicator that the A1 protein could be contributing to their digestive distress – but we do one final check to see . Once they ’ ve trialled milk containing only the A2 protein for at least a few days and there has been no change in their digestive symptoms relative to baseline , it ’ s time to trial regular cows ’ milk . For the best comparison , trial an equal protein types amount of regular cows ’ milk . For example ,
Click here for a full reference list .
* A1 and A2 proteins refer to A1 and A2 beta-casein
© Dietitian Connection 28 Infuse | October 2021