“The Devil in the Milk” — Dr. Thomas Cowan on how the A1 – A2 factor explains why even raw milk sometimes does not seem to be enough of an improvement over “store-bought”

The trouble is that we have “the wrong kind of cows”. It seems the black and white cows — Holsteins and Friesians — generally give milk that contains a small but significant amount of beta-casein type A1, which behaves like an opiate and which epidemiological studies have implicated in heart disease, Type 1 diabetes, autism and schizophrenia. This is big news, folks. Heart disease is the leading cause of death. This is like cigarettes and cancer. Dr. Thomas Cowan, co-founder of the Weston A. Price Foundation has published this fascinating introduction to the subject in his email newsletter:

Devil in the Milk

“I have been involved in thinking about the medicinal aspects of cow’s milk virtually my entire career. As one four-year-old child pointed out to me many years ago, “Mommy, I know why he always talks about milk, his name is Cow—an.” So, I guess this milk “obsession” is no surprise. 

The obsession started in earnest about 25 years ago when I read the book The Milk of Human Kindness Is Not Pasteurized by maverick physician William Campbell Douglass, MD. This was one of the most influential books I have ever read. I became convinced that a large part of the disease in this country is related to the way we handle, or rather mishandle, milk and milk products. Raw and cultured dairy products from healthy grass-fed cows are one of the healthiest foods people have ever eaten. It is the very foundation of western civilization (not that this is necessarily so good). On the other hand, pasteurized, particularly low-fat, milk products have caused more disease than perhaps any other substance people are generally in contact with. This view was re- enforced when I met and joined up with Sally Fallon and learned the principles of the Weston A. Price Foundation. End of story, I thought – I could stop thinking about milk. 

The Bovine reached 405 posts & 66,666 hits yesterday — with no let-up in sight

Reuters dubbed raw milk the top health news story of 2008. And this winter Toronto Life called it the news story that just won’t go away. We’ve just had a first-ever raw milk symposium right here in Toronto, followed by a very amusing copycat raw milk symposium put on by regulators down there in the States.

The flood of raw milk related news on the internets shows no signs of letting up as more regulators vie to regulate it and more health-and-freedom-seeking individuals work to liberate it for freer public access. As the market for conventional dairy is collapsing across the States, open minded farmers are waking up to the business opportunity that raw milk represents.

On the local scene, spies have been spotted in recent weeks on the blue bus. What does this portend? Is another public health worker  suffering from terminal illness and looking into forbidden therapeutic alternatives. Meanwhile, court judgements on the 20 charges related to Michael Schmidt’s alleged operation of an unlicensed milk plant await final submissions and a verdict.

A new book has just been published on the whole A1 – A2 milk issue (not raw milk related) which has been pretty much under the radar here in North America as yet, but is certainly worthy of public interest. Stay tuned for more on that.