So for those of you that heard me speak at MOPS you heard a little bit about the information I found on milk. If not, Ill give you all a recap. When I weaned both my children I knew that I wanted them to have nothing but the best so that would mean organic milk with the cute little cow on the carton, right? Nah. After Carter's official diagnosis we put him on a Gluten Free Casein Free diet. So he does not drink dairy milk. Cooper on the other hand loves dairy milk and he is showing no autistic tendiencies. After doing some research for a nutrition for kids meeting I realized that the organic milk I thought was so great turned out not to be. We used Horizon organic milk with dha. After reading all the dangers I changed quickly. What dangers are there? Well, lets start with the most common known danger, antibiotics and synthetic growth hormones. Do you even know why cow's are given antibiotics? Its because modern dairy cows produce up to four times as much milk as a traditional cow did a century ago. This makes the cows more prone to mastitis. The antibiotics are mixed in with the feed (corn grain feed I'm sure, which is not what god intended cows to eat) to make sure the cow's udders don't become infected. Poor cows! Synthetic growth hormones are given to increase a cow's milk production. Everything that is given to the cow will come out in her milk. One of my most recent discoveries was that basically the USA has the wrong type of milk cows. All cows aren't equal you say? That's right. Today most modern milk cows are Holsteins. You know the cute black and white ones. Well turns out that those cows produce something called A1 Beta Casein. This protein is different than the ancestral one more common to the traditional herds of cattle, sheep, goats and even humans, known as A2 Beta Casein. There has been all kinds of scientific research on the A1 Beta Casein. Our bodies have a hard time digesting that milk and there are an astounding amount of physical and mental disorders it can cause. There's a book out there called Devil in the Milk. 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. The cows we all should be getting our milk from are the Jerseys, Guernseys, African or Asian. They produce the A2 beta casein. Most modern milk is also homogenized and pasteurized. Before I didn't think much of it other than, Oh ok it just means they are taking great strides to make sure my family doesn't get sick. Wrong again. Homogenization is a process where all the fat molecules are mechanically forced to be the same size. When milk isn't homogenized the cream will lay on top, just like all the breast milk pumping mommas know. When the original fat globule membrane is lost and a new one is formed, it creates a much greater portion of casein and whey proteins, which in turn can lead to milk related allergies. Pasteurization destroys nutrients, enzymes that help with calcium absorption, and beneficial bacteria present in the milk. After milk is pasteurized they will then add back in the vitamins like vitamin D in a synthetic and indigestible form. The best form of milk is raw (non-pasteurized), non-homogenized milk from GRASS-FED cows producing the A2 Beta Casein. Since we all aren't so lucky to have a farm with cows on it (Oh I dream of farming) where do we get such milk? Well the internet is a great source. There is a farm in Cleburne, TX called Campbell's Classic Dairy that you can purchase raw milk from. There is also a farm in a place called Yantis, TX called Texas Daily Harvest. On a recent trip to Whole Foods I found this wonderful product. They have Grade A Jersey Certified Organic Whole Milk. They are humanely treated, grass based, a real local family farm, non homogenized, low temp pasteurized, and of course organic. LOVE!!
I got a half gallon to try on Cooper and he loved it! So we've decided it's best for our family. The milk should be kept between 36-38* and will only last about a week after opening. Which isn't a problem around here. A half gallon costs $3.49 and a gallon costs $5.99. That is obviously a big change for a lot of you who might buy the gallon jug straight from walmart (bad, bad shoppers). But this is worth every penny in our opinion. I seriously encourage all of you to take advantage of this wonderful, healthy product for your family. If you don't want to make a drive to the Arlington Whole Foods I will get it for you and you can pick it up from me. If we buy a case which is 6 milks we get a 10% discount. Not bad at all!!! Well I hope that you have all learned a little bit about the commercial milk industry and here is one little fact to leave you all with. A 12-year Harvard study of 80,000 nurses showed that a high intake of commercial milk appeared to actually increase the risk of bone fractures.
