Quality Homegrown Milk

Several months back I was reading something over at Oak Hill Homestead, but I don’t remember what the title of the article was, maybe Kathi will let us know. Just in passing she mentioned A2 or A1 milk, which made me think, “What in the world is A2 milk?” I really didn’t think there was an animal called A2, maybe a robot or something, like C3PO or R2D2……that really was a good movie. I have always felt like the force was with me…..

Never mind, back to milk. Since we milk goats and consume the milk, I wanted to know what Kathi was talking about, so I looked it up. Don’t you just love the internet? You can look up just about anything, even things you didn’t even know existed. It would be easy to get into the raw vs. pasteurized milk debate here, but that is not what this article is about. To explain the difference between A1 and A2 milk, I will use excerpts from other articles. I don’t want to inadvertently word this wrong.

According to Handpicked Nation, “A1 is a mutated beta-casein protein found in milk.”…….“Milk that does not contain this mutated protein is called A2 milk.”……..

At Mercola.com we find this information. “All proteins are long chains of amino acids. Beta casein is a chain 229 amino acids in length. Cows who produce this protein in their milk with a proline at number 67 are called A2 cows, and are the older breeds of cows (e.g. Jerseys, Asian and African cows). But some 5,000 years ago, a mutation occurred in this proline amino acid, converting it to histidine. Cows that have this mutated beta casein are called A1 cows, and include breeds like Holstein.

Proline has a strong bond to a small protein called BCM 7, which helps keep it from getting into the milk, so that essentially no BCM 7 is found in the urine, blood or GI tract of old-fashioned A2 cows. On the other hand, histidine, the mutated protein, only weakly holds on to BCM 7, so it is liberated in the GI tract of animals and humans who drink A1 cow milk. 

BCM 7 has been shown to cause neurological impairment in animals and people exposed to it, especially autistic and schizophrenic changes. BCM 7 interferes with the immune response, and injecting BCM 7 in animal models has been shown to provoke type 1 diabetes. Dr. Woodford’s book presents research showing a direct correlation between a population’s exposure to A1 cow’s milk and incidence of autoimmune disease, heart disease, type 1 diabetes, autism, and schizophrenia. (Dr. Mercola is referencing the book The Devil in the Milk, written by Dr. Keith Woodford.)

Simply switching breeds of cows could result in amazing health benefits…….Raw goat and sheep’s milk is another option, as these types of milk do not contain BCM-7.”

I had to read over this several times to understand the specifics of what it is saying. A mutated piece of protein found in much of our nation’s milk supply, has been linked to some serious health issues for some people. This is known as A1 milk.

According to Lara Briden, a Naturopathic Doctor, “We cannot get around the fact that one of the proteins in milk – A1 casein – is highly inflammatory for some people.  In susceptible individuals, A1 casein is cleaved to form a powerful immune-modulating opiate called casomorphin.” She goes on to discuss several different health issues some people face when consuming A1 milk.

In all of my reading, I found that goats, sheep, and what they are calling the ‘old fashioned’ breeds of cows like Jersey, Dexter, Asian and African, are A2 milk producing animals. There are some others but the recommendation is to have them tested before you buy them to use for home milk consumption if you want to avoid A1 milk. We have read a lot about raw vs. pasteurized milk for years, but I did not know that the breed of cow you choose to milk could have an impact on the human body in an adverse way.

My knowledge on this subject is not very deep. I just felt like it was something I wanted to share in case there are other folks out there that didn’t know about A2 vs. A1 milk. There are many things around us that impact our health in so many different ways. Knowledge is the key. Knowledge gives us the power to make informed decisions. You can never have too many books and you can never learn enough. Go find out something new today that will impact your life and the lives of your family members in a good way. You never know when it may be of vital importance. It may be sooner than you think.

Until next time – Fern