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| A2 Cattle from Jordan Rubin's "Beyond Organic" Ranch |
As I sit down to write this, I have a plate of snacks to keep me motivated. On my dish are slices of an organic Granny Smith apple, organic crackers (I am a sucker for gluten, not an advocate), a glass of organic orange juice (again, I am human, my OJ is pasteurized and from a carton) and last, but certainly not least, a huge hunk of Monterey Jack cheese (not organic, because I cannot find any organic cheeses usually, but at the very least it's "hormone-free").
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| Raw Cheddar Cheese Wheels made from healthy, Green-Finished TM cows! |
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I was told by a naturopath to avoid gluten and dairy. NObody should be told these things in the same year, let alone in the same sentence! Some of you reading this are probably already gluten and/or dairy free eaters. Way to be! I mean that honestly. If you are able to satisfy your cravings without giving into or eating these two "food groups", then you are one step ahead of me. So, this is how I look at it. I am a foodie. There is really no getting around it. I LOVE FOOD. Until it affects me in an obvious way, I will push the envelope.
Dairy is a huge part of my food chain. So long as I have no health symptoms that are apparent from eating dairy, I will continue to do so. There are really only 2 schools of thought on cow dairy (you either think it's healthy or you don't) I have to say I have teetered on the fence over the last several years between the thought of whether it is healthy for us or not. I have read literature before that states cow milk is the closest to human milk in its properties. When our oldest was done nursing from me (and there are some people now stating that even breast milk can be unhealthy, ugh), I thought I was being a health guru (pre-internet) by giving her rice and soy based milk in lieu of cow's milk. (Excuse me for a moment, I need to go get some more cheese) So, after the invention of the internet, it has come to my attention that rice milk offers nothing truly nutritious in value, I really don't know why I ever thought it would? Soy milk is ok for those who don't have a history of breast cancer in their family, since it can disrupt hormones and cause some havoc. Soy does have a lot of protein. If you are of Asian descent, you are clear to drink it for the most part, it's a gene thing.
There's goat milk, almond milk, sheep milk, hemp milk, coconut milk and more. All of these contain better health qualities than soy and rice, but definitely possess different flavors than cow milk. So, what's the 'problem' with drinking cow milk? Well, to start with, it's the cow that's the problem.
Dr. Thomas Cowan (I am not making this up, there's something in a name)- has spent most of his career researching this debate on cows' milk- the cows' genetic make-up, how they are treated, fed, and how the milk is handled thereafter. In a nutshell here is the explanation on why most of the western world's cattle, including the United States are no good for most of us. They mostly hail from the A1 beta-casein gene pool (such as Holsteins). This is important to note because beta-casein also contains an amino acid called BCM-7, which is a powerful opiate linked to negative health effects such as diabetes 1, heart disease, auto-immune diseases, and more. Where as the A2 cows, from more ancient blood lines are more healthy and favorable. The A2 type cows (which the proteins are very close to sheep and goat's milk) are very rarely found in the U.S., but if you are lucky to find a farmer with Jersey cows, they are A2 type. You are even luckier if this farmer sells you the milk raw so you can reap its full benefits.
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| Jordan Rubin's pastures in Missouri |
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