By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    learn to recognize and treat yeast infections
    Most Commonly Asked Questions About Yeast Infections
    November 17, 2021
    Advanced lung cancer diagnosis systems used by doctors
    Advanced Lung Cancer Diagnosis Systems Used by Doctors
    March 6, 2022
    The Top Benefits of a Wearable Blood Pressure Monitor Watch
    The Top Benefits of a Wearable Blood Pressure Monitor Watch
    June 13, 2022
    Latest News
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    July 31, 2025
    Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
    July 20, 2025
    How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
    July 17, 2025
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Soaring Medical Costs Pinned on Medical Devices
    June 7, 2011
    Debt Ceiling Negotiations on Health Care are Mere Cost Shifting
    July 15, 2011
    Is Kathleen Sebelius Listening to the NCPA?
    August 29, 2011
    Latest News
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
    How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
    July 17, 2025
    How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
    July 17, 2025
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Of Cows, Milk, and Humans
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Wellness > Home Health > Of Cows, Milk, and Humans
Home HealthWellness

Of Cows, Milk, and Humans

Dov Michaeli
Dov Michaeli
Share
6 Min Read
milk facts and myths
SHARE

Oh gods,whoever you are: please save me from True Believers. 

–Anonymous, 2013

Oh gods,whoever you are: please save me from True Believers. 

–Anonymous, 2013

More Read

Care Management in the Digital Age: The Advantages of Real-Time Patient Data in the Home
Thrive 4-7: Teaching Wellness Skills
4 Individualized Factors that You Must Account for in Your Exercise Regimen
How to Manage Your CBD Intake and Take the Best Dosage for You
How Staffing Agencies are Helping Healthcare Professionals Land their Dream Jobs

I recite this prayer whenever I am asked, nay interrogated is more apt, about the latest food public enemy number one. For a while I had run-ins with fructose haters. Then poor old gluten took over as the source of all ills afflicting modern civilization. More recently I received an email informing me that milk is toxic! Really? All these years I’ve been using milk with my morning cereal I have been poisoning myself? And all those Scandinavians who are consuming milk by the gallon, what would become of them? In a moment of weakness I decided to investigate.

A short perusal of the internet will tell you that milk containing the protein β casein of the A2 variety will cause the following afflictions:

  • Diarrhea, cramps, bloating and gas
  • Osteoporosis
  • Arthritis
  • Heart disease
  • Cancer
  • Recurrent ear infections and colic in infants and children
  • Type 1 diabetes
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Infertility
  • Leukemia
  • Autism

What a list! The only thing missing is milk-generated global warming. No, no, wipe the smirk off; bacterial metabolism  in the cow’s gut forms methane. And this gas in the cow’s flatus (Latin for the common fart), is a big factor in global warming…

milk facts and myths

Now, some of these conditions, such as diarrhea, bloating and gas, are well-known to be caused by lactase deficiency, the enzyme that breaks down the milk sugar lactose to its glucose and galactose components. But what’s the evidence for the protein casein causing all those human plagues?

Turns out that as is true for every cult, milk haters have a guru and a “Bible”. The guru is one Dr. Keith Woodford, and the Bible is his book “The Devil in the Milk”. The devil, as we know, can disguise himself in many forms. In milk it is disguised as an innocent-looking peptide, called BCM7 which is released from casein during pasteurization. Food chemists divided casein into type A1, which releases little BCM7, and type A2, which releases much more. The reason for that, for those of you who are intellectually curious, is that about 5000 years ago a mutation occurred in the gene coding for casein, and a proline was replaced by a histidine. The mutation occurred in Holstein cows, those black and white behemoths that happen to provide most of the milk in Europe and the Americas. And so, for 5000 years Western Civilization has been poisoning itself.

nutrition

Before you get alarmed, let’s look at the quality of the evidence. The peptide caused ‘schizophrenia-like, autism-like and a lot of other-like symptoms in rats. Of course, this peptide, 7-amino acids long, does not cross the intestinal wall to enter the circulation. Not to worry, the investigators injected the rats intravenously. How many people are injecting milk intravenously, or for that matter anywhere in their body? One study showed that after incubating BCM7 with nasal mucosal cells, some of the peptide adhered to the cells. So? It might explain nasal congestion in some milk drinkers…Advice to the allergic patient: don’t pour milk in you nose.

When you don’t have direct evidence, you resort to suggestive evidence. For instance, schizophrenia and autism are more prevalent in A2- drinking countries than in countries that drink milk with A1 casein (Africa, Asia, southern Europe). Epidemiologically, such studies suffer from a fatal flaw: there are known confounding factors (which can be accounted for in the analysis), known-unkowns (which cannot be factored into the analysis), and a multitude of unknown-unknowns (that, by definition, will never be  accounted for). In other words, the main value of such studies is in tantalizing cocktail party conversations.

If the story ended here – no real harm done. Let them drink goat, sheep or camel milk (no devil lurking in those). But when approximately the same kind of people deprive their children of life-saving vaccinations because of the firm belief that it causes autism, schizophrenia, ADHD, etc. etc., this can be fatal.

I think that many, if not all, food fads, both positive (ward off the common cold, inhibit cancer, prevent Alzheimer’s) and negative (causing allergies, causing cancer, causing intestinal disease, causing fogging of the brain), suffer from the same deadly combination: poor science and uninformed true believers. Trouble is, no matter how convincing the evidence to the contrary, their faith is unshakeable. Hallelujah!

TAGGED:milknutrition
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
Health
July 31, 2025
holistic dental
Holistic Dentist Services Are Natural and Safe
Dental health Specialties
July 28, 2025
botox certification
Help Improve People’s Skin Health Via Botox Certification
Skin Specialties
July 22, 2025
Telemedicine Apps
Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
Health
July 20, 2025

You Might also Like

FitnessHome HealthSpecialtiesWellness

Here are the 6 must-have ingredients for the ‘perfect plan’ for your physical well-being in future?

February 22, 2021
wearable health technology
eHealthTechnologyWellness

7 Tips to Create an Awesome Wellness Program

July 31, 2014

How Improvements to Hearing Technology May Help Your Memory Care Practice

February 13, 2018

Sensors and Smartphones Bring the Baby Monitor Into 2013

June 12, 2013
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?