The Devil in Milk: The A1 Casein vs A2 Conundrum

September 21, 2015

The Devil In Milk: the A1 vs A2 Protein Story 


 Sept 21, 2015 


 Reference: The Devil in Milk by Keith Woodford Diabetologia Elliott 


 Did you know that there are several forms of milk? The protein casein is not the same in every cow. Most European (black) cows have what is called A1 casein. Most Asian and African cows (Brown) have A2 casein. Casein is about 30% of the protein in human milk, but 80% in cows’ milk. At position 67, A1 milk has a histidine amino acid, A2 has a proline amino acid.   Beta-casomorphine-7 (BCM-7: Black Cow Milk-7) is a 7 amino acid peptide that survives your gut when you consume A1 milk, but not when you consume A2 milk.  That extra histidine makes it indigestible and makes it detectable, unchanged, in your urine.  It activates your immune system through the morphine receptor.   BCM-7 is a morphine-type chemical that can be blocked by naloxone. 


 Now, there is all sorts of interesting epidemiological data around milk. For example, you can show that populations that drink more A1 milk have more insulin-dependent diabetes in their children, and more heart disease in adults. You can also find that Samoan children, raised in Samoa don’t get insulin-dependent diabetes, but raised in New Zealand, they do at a 10 fold rate over Samoa(brown cows in Samoa). If you take mice that are genetically sensitized to getting diabetes, and feed them either A1 or A2 milk, you can show that 47% of the mice fed A1 milk got insulin-dependent diabetes, but none of the A2 fed mice did. And if you feed them A1 milk, but block BCM-7 with naloxone, they don’t get the diabetes they otherwise would have developed. 


 Now, this is where this topic goes down a “rabbit hole” of controversy. Most of the big dairy money in the world that trades milk internationally, uses A1 milk. That means they are in deep trouble if this data is true. A1 milk might be dangerous for you. The dairy trade would collapse. That would mean it would be in “big milk’s” best interest to deny, degrade, denigrate, obfuscate and attack anything they can about this issue. And they have. 


It is possible to change over a dairy herd from A1 to A2, but it takes about 10 years of time to breed new cows and get the genes into them with proper breeding.   It can be done. It just takes 10 years. And there continues to be data about the dangers of A1 milk. There was a patent application in New Zealand claiming that autism has a strong correlation to the consumption of A1 milk.   That application was made by the company denigrating the original research, and then withdrawn and never published in the medical literature. Oh, the intrigue!   


So, more epidemiology: the Masai in Africa have A2 milk and drink 7 liters a day. No heart disease. In Europe, the Finns drink only A1 milk and have lots of heart disease. The French have mostly A2 milk and have half the heart disease. On and on… 


 What’s happening in Wisconsin?   There are some herds in Wisconsin that are being converted by using A2 bulls.   Some of the alternative media is beginning to run articles on it.   New Zealand seems to be leading the pack in developing an A2 herd. But there remains controversy. And some of that controversy appears to be research that proves the opposite, but was in fact, intentionally sabotaged with BCM7 protein (by "big milk"), and should be actually taken as proof of the fact it was trying to unseat. Isn’t the intrigue a riot? Like a detective novel.   (Get the whole story, read the book)


 WWW.   What do I think of all this?   I believe there to be some truth to it all. Not certain how deep, but I trust passionate truth-tellers more than corporate monied interests. Between Johne’s Disease in cows (paratuberculosis that I think may be the cause of Crohn’s Disease) and concerns about how proteins are altered with pasteurizing, I don’t drink much milk.   If I could find A2 milk from a single herd that was Johne’s free, I might reconsider.   I’m certainly going to think about it and pay attention to it. And likely to tell more clients to avoid milk, unless it’s A2.  My grandchildren will certainly not drink A1 milk.        


Pop Quiz

  1. Our current milk supply in America is digested into a product that has morphine like qualities to it?   T or F                        Answer:  True.   You can detect BCM7 in human urine after drinking A1 milk.  Interestingly enough, BCM-7 levels correlate with severity of autism.  
  1. American Milk is primarily A1 milk which is a genetic variation off the original aboriginal milk, now found in Asian and African cows, called A2 milk (even though it was the original).   T or F.          Answer:  True. You are now getting the gist of this article.  Goat milk, sheep milk, camel milk.....all other milk besides A1, black cow milk, is A2.  Even human milk.
  1. There are epidemiological studies connecting A2 milk to heart disease and insulin dependent diabetes. T or F                      Answer:  False. That’s backwards, it’s A1 that is connected to those two.   And autism, and Crohns, and, and, and…
  1. You can convert a herd of cows to being A2 cows by using only an A2 bull for about 10 years.   T or F                    Answer:   True. And it’s happening right now in a bunch of Wisconsin herds.
  1. One little amino acid substitution at position 67 out of over 200 amino acids is all it takes to make this mystery mysterious?   T or F                      Answer:   True. Amazing, isn’t it. But the same can be said for Sickle Cell and many other conditions.   

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