Responses from Yahoo Groups

Someone just told me

"As I understand it, Tom Cowan has somewhat reversed his opinion on the issue as he has learned more about it, backing off from the position he took in the introduction he wrote to "Devil in the Milk".  So the jury is still very much out on this issue."

Date: Sat Jan 22, 2011 5:30 am

"cows made a genetic split about 5,000 years ago and that Holsteins and some other breeds were more domesticated because of calmness and other traits ( they were to become more A-1 dominant ). "

If the split happened 5000 years ago and the domesticated cows were A1, either people would have adapted to the protein over time or they would have all realized they all had an A1 intolerance and would have stopped domesticating the cows. Dairy management is NOT easy and nobody would do it if everybody had severe reactions to the milk! I am personally am becoming a non-believer in all our modern test methods. If our ancestors weren't able to tell if something was good without a fancy test, we probably won't be able to either.... We go for robust cows that are truly healthy and managed well. Who cares what the structure of one little protein is? :-)

Date: Sun Jan 23, 2011 6:05 pm

Subject: Re: A1 vs A2 milk - Information from Organic Pastures Dairy

Personally, I have a hard time believing that this split occurred that long ago. I would be more inclined to think that it was MUCH more recent than that. . .otherwise, as you say, people would have stopped using milk long ago. Some groups claim that human use of animal milk has only been in the last 5,000 years. I think that they like everyone else, are just guessing on this one.

#41052  From: "Jerica Cadman" <jericacadman@...>

Date: Mon Jan 24, 2011 5:18 am

Subject: Re: A1 vs A2 milk - Information from Organic Pastures Dairy

I think people have problems with milk from Holstein-type cows because they drink highly processed, low nutrient milk. It's not the Holstein breed itself that is bad--In England, the Freesian breed was quite popular a long time ago for their ability to graze well on poor pasture; they were very hardy and good milkers. They are the ancestors of the modern Holstein. No, I believe "the devil in the milk" is the fact that farmers have selectively bred in higher milk volume and left behind animal health, and the popular breed for doing that happens to be Holstein. They can do that because they only have to milk that animal for one or two seasons and they get their money's worth.... In theory, anyway, but we all see where conventional dairy has brought the modern farmer--to bankruptcy and ruin.

It's just like the modern beef industry--there's nothing inherently wrong with eating beef, but the modern cow is lanky, scrawny and scraggly unless pumped full of grain, and they literally would STARVE on a normal pasture because their genes have been selected over the years to perform in a feedlot and not on forage.

A milk cow can only produce so many nutrients in a day, so if you're doubling (or tripling!) the volume, that means you're halving the nutrients in every glass of milk. Then it's processed, adulterated, and shipped across the country and eaten on highly processed sugar cereals. No wonder people think they're milk intolerant.

Anyway, most reasonably healthy people do just fine on raw milk from a natural operation, regardless of the breed. But a well-run, natural operation requires the use of old-fashioned cows that haven't been breed to produce gobs and gobs of milk. I am personally not a fan of Holsteins, but then again--I've never been introduced to one of the old English Holstein-ancestors that may have been a wonderful pasture-based dairy animal.

#41061  From: safallon@...

Date: Mon Jan 24, 2011 2:12 am

This is what we have been saying.  For most people, the A1 and  A2 milk is not an issue.  But for those very sensitive, getting A2 milk can  be a big help.

We don't want to abandon attention to this subject.  It is  really a shame that it was manipulated by people who wanted to use it to get a  monopoly on testing and even the A2 genetics.

Hopefully, gradually over time, there will be a shift to A2  herds.  But it would be very hard on most dairy farmers to insist that all  their milk come from A2 cows right now.

Sally

Date: Mon Jan 24, 2011 1:10 pm

I bet there is nothing inherently bad about a1, it is just that the immune systems of the sick people have targeted it as bad because that is what they are generally exposed to.  A week from now, their immune systems might decide to hate A2 and like A1 again.

We are lucky that there are two choices for the allergic. They shouldn't be trying to exploit it--just label it so that people can be educated and nourished.   A1, A2, or a mix.   It is maddening to see r esearch that can help the sick be stopped because of marketing ploys.

Many moms, from experience, will tell you they believe allergens come through breast milk.  This may be just as important as the a1, a2 thing, and that may be why Mark MacAffee's product is well tolerated.  Allergies are like a bucket that gets filled, and his milk might keep the allergy bucket emptier in that regard.  No soy, wheat or corn proteins (3 very common allergies) coming through in the milk.