Is it possible that the farm fresh dairy you are buying is not healthy? Yes, this is very possible and this week’s vlog tells you why and shows you how to discern the best one for your family. Â I also go over the difference between A1 and A2 raw milk which refers to the different type of casein (protein) in milk from different breeds of cows. Â Â What type of cow your fresh milk comes from is CRITICAL to your health.
It is important to know that nearly ALL the dairy from the store is from the WRONG kind of cow, just another reason to not buy products from companies like Organic Valley and instead seek out dairy from a small farm that uses old fashioned cows.
Dr. Tom Cowan MD wrote an excellent article published by The Bovine a few months back that explains the A1, A2 beta casein issue in depth.
A1 and A2 Explained
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
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Sarah, How perfectly fateful that I have researching milk and what to do for my twins that are 16 months old. After switching to whole milk after they both stopped stopped nursing on their own at a year, my smallest twin, quit growing and was eventually hospitalized for failure to thrive, severe anemia and iron deficiency and received blood transfusions. She is doing better now, but we were told to pump up her milk intake with carnation instance breakfast and of course fortifying her regular diet. My other twin, though looking healthier was also diagnosed with anemia…they are both take extra liquid iron…but I have serious doubts about the whole milk along with pumping it full of sugar. DO I just switch them to goats milk to get the A2 benefits and maybe improve their eating all around and help them gain weight along with hopefully making the raw chappy cheeks go away that I think is a milk allergy on one? Or do I try and find a good dairy with pure milk? You would think in Utah we could find grass fed cows…. Just wondering what your thoughts are…and thank you for taking the time and doing all this research and sharing it with the rest of us!
ReNee
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I have never heard of dutch belted dairy cows. I would be a little concerned about only a quarter of the milk being cream, though. That doesn't seem like a big enough creamline to me. Do you have a jersey based farm in your area.
Hi Gina, I don't know of any farms in your area. Best to check out realmilk.com and see who is closest to you.
Raine, you are so spot on here. The genetics is very much messed up. However, as one who has been drinking raw milk for many years I can tell you that even if the genetics of the jersey cows where I buy my milk is not pure, I feel a HUGE difference between when I drink that milk or eat jersey cheese and when I eat or drink holstein milk or cheese. The genetics may not be pure, but it sure makes a difference anyway to seek out old fashioned cows.
We aren't doing milk right now but when we do, we will do raw goat's milk because it's always A2.
When I got raw milk, I got the milk from a farm that had swiss brown cows and they did not produce entirely A2 milk.
This is just another reason we shouldn't mess with our food sources. Before breeding all cow's milk was A2. I honestly think it'd be hard to find any cows now that produces only A2 milk.
Tina
"Dr. Tom Cowan MD wrote an excellent article published by The Bovine" Wait a second!
Dr. COWan/The Bovine <—coincidence?? sounds almost too good to be true! LOL
I purposely asked our farmer what kind of cows he had, for this reason. Guernsey was the answer so I was satisfied we were getting what we needed. 🙂 (Of course it's raw, grass-fed, etc. too.) This is just another reason why you should know your source!
Hi Sarah – I wrote an article series about raw milk and after I posted these I learned from the farmer where we get our raw milk that most of the breeds in the world now are obliterated beyond recognition and produce A1 milk – even Jersey, Guerneys, and other heirloom breeds. This disturbed me greatly, as it makes me realize that this would mean that most grass fed milk from small, sustainable farms is not A2. The farmer who sells our milk is also an attorney and has worked tirelessly in our state to secure the availablilty of clean, raw milk, and I respect his opinion greatly. But it really makes me realize that our margins with real food are getting narrower and narrower, just when you think you've got it figured out…some new piece of information comes along! What are your thoughts about this?
I am currently reading my complimentary copy of The Devil in The Milk by Keith Woodford, which was sent to me by Chelsea Green Publishing last week. This book is fascinating and has a great deal of useful information about this topic. It's such a complicated subject, sometimes the information makes my head spin! I highly recommend it to anyone.
Hi Sarah, the milk we get is from Dutch Belted Dairy Cattle. The cream line is never half way but usually a quarter of a gallon. It is A-2 milk. Have you heard of these cows?
We keep a family cow – a Dutch Belted – because we don’t need a lot of cream, don’t like having to shake the milk to blend it each time, find it easier on our taste buds and tummies (It’s A-2, small globule fat), and they convert grass better than most, so don’t need grain, and are light on the environment when managed on rotational grazing. Heritage breeds have a lot to offer. To me the choice is far more than Jersey v Holstein; it’s about farming practices and breed resilience, too.
I have not yet located a place to buy milk. Publix has nothing good! What do you suggest I use just for cooking pancakes and making muffins? I am still researching farms in my area. (If you know of a good farm near Pensacola, Florida I am all ears!) Also, I have switched to healthy oils and I can tell a difference in the taste of the food. My husband even noticed this morning that the sweet potatoe pancakes tasted better (used coconut oil and butter)! Thank you so much for the info and the videos are very helpful. Gina B.