For years, naturopathic doctors have recommended that patients who have frequent colds, allergies, congestion, asthma, sinusitis or are who are simply more prone to these conditions to consider a trial of eliminating dairy from their diet.
This is based on an observation that some people do better (by having less phlegm and congestion) when they avoid dairy, which includes milk, cheese, yogurt and whey. If they benefit from dairy elimination, great! If it doesn't make a difference, then at least they know that dairy does not affect their symptoms.
A new study may explain why. It turns out certain types of milk contain a protein called beta-CM-7 which stimulates mucus cells in the respiratory tract to produce more mucus.
Again, dairy does not have this effect on everyone, only a certain group of people react to beta-CM-7 this way. It's worth noting also that some may react to one type of dairy, but not to other types (say, someone can react to milk but not yogurt). While it's difficult to predict who will react and to what type of dairy, I advise my patients to just test it out--one type of dairy at a time.
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