The definition of a whole food, is a natural food that has not been processed or has been refined as little as possible. Unfortunately, ultra-pasteurized, homogenized, grain-fed cow’s milk is not a whole food. It is highly manipulated.
It Started with Kefir Grains
我决定开始用活的开菲尔谷物制作真正的开菲尔,从30多种益生菌中受益,而不是像大多数商业开菲尔那样只含有7种益生菌。我最近发现,商业或假冒的kefirs只是添加了干燥的益生菌粉末;他们没有传统文化。(实际上,它们是用冻干的开菲尔粉培养的,然后进行巴氏杀菌,然后在巴氏杀菌过程杀死所有活的益生菌后,再加入粉末状的益生菌。)于是开始了一些研究。我在一些不同的博客上看到的第一条说明是,克菲尔谷物不能在超巴氏杀菌牛奶中茁壮成长。这些博客声称,超级巴氏奶已经死亡,无法滋养这种文化。让我惊讶的是,我刚买的有机牛奶是超巴氏杀菌的!我不喝牛奶,这是一个新的领域。我开始看其他品牌的有机牛奶,哇,所有的大牌和他们的重新品牌都是超巴氏杀菌的。
What Is Ultra-Pasteurized Milk?
I knew ultra-pasteurized meant that the milk had been heated at a higher temperature than regular pasteurized milk. UHT or Ultra High Temperature processing takes cold milk to 280° F for 2-10 seconds, whereas in regular pasteurization the milk is brought to 161° F for 15-20 seconds, a one hundred and nineteen degree difference. What I didn’t know was that ultra-pasteurized milk is the same as extended shelf life milk, the stuff in tetra paks. This sterilized milk has a shelf life of up to 9 months in sealed containers and 3 months in a refrigerated carton (until opened). No wonder milk never seems to go bad anymore! Milk companies simply learned to repackage the extended shelf life milk into refrigerated containers and sell it in the cold dairy section, instead of in the warm tetra paks that Americans never took to. Brilliant of them, bad for the consumer, I fast found out.
It turns out milk proteins (casein) are complex, fragile, three-dimensional molecules and heat flattens and deforms those molecules. So the heating process alters and breaks up the milk proteins, and then also destroys the milk’s natural vitamin C, B6 and B12, and destroys all the natural enzymes found in milk. So, we are left with flattened casein that is difficult to digest with few remaining vitamins or minerals.1 Actually the test for successful pasteurization is absence of enzymes, so our bodies must work overtime to make the enzymes needed to digest pasteurized milk. All fresh, raw, unprocessed foods carry their own enzymes.
Another early and sometimes still valid complaint about UHT milk is that it tastes burnt. Milk bottlers have been working on this annoyance for decades and additives such as epicatechin (a flavonoid compound) may be added to suppress odor and restore taste. And yet another complaint is that due to the milk protein alteration at high temperatures, ultrapasteurized cream can take much longer to whip and does not achieve the same light, fluffy texture that raw or pasteurized cream can attain.
Homogenization Of Milk
Not only is modern milk pasteurized, but homogenized as well. This mechanical process forces the fat molecules through sieves or mills so they will all be a consistent size (and in the process heats the milk again). Homogenization destroys the original, large fat globules and numerous smaller, layered globules are created. The fat globules are made smaller by a factor of ten to fifty times and now carry the reactive xanthine oxidase.2a It appears these broken up, micronized proteins may now leak out of the gut and enter the lymph and bloodstream and irritate arterial walls. As the arterial walls become continually irritated, plaque grows over the irritation as a protective barrier. Before homogenization, when milk fat was its natural size, milk proteins were easily digested in the digestive tract and stayed in the digestive tract.2b
Homogenization has made it possible for production dairies to standardize milk fat. Prior to homogenization, milk fat differed as per cow, nutrition and environment, with a typical milkfat composition between 3.5% and 5.5%. Now, all commercial milk is completely defatted and then the fat is homogenized back in as per the desired proportion. Today’s whole milk has a standard 3.25% milkfat.
If milk is not homogenized the cream will float to the top. A simple solution to that is shaking before drinking, but years ago milk bottlers decided we should not have to perform that simple task. Too bad because that one container of milk could have pleased the full fat, and low fat drinkers of milk in a household and homogenization appears to have unhealthy consequences.
Fat Milk vs Skim Milk
If you are a fat free milk drinker, your milk is absent all its fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K and carotenoids) and lacking its natural synergy. You need the fat, to digest the fat soluble vitamins. Adding synthetic forms of vitamins A & D back into the milk is not the same as getting those real, live, natural vitamins that were contained in the fat. The added synthetic A & D are not taken up by our bodies without the fat. Also, fat soluble vitamins digest milk’s calcium, so without them, you are not absorbing the milk’s calcium.3
If you are drinking low fat milks, know that powdered skim milk or other milk solids are frequently added back in to fat free milk to improve its creaminess and color. Skim milk would be watery and pale blue and therefore impossible to sell without the added powder. This addition of powdered milk into skim milk does not have to be listed on the label. Unfortunately, it has been shown that commercial dehydration methods used to make powdered milk oxidize the milk’s cholesterol, rendering it harmful to the arteries, just like rancid/oxidized oils are bad for the arteries.4 High temperature drying also produces large quantities of cross-linked proteins, nitrate compounds and free glutamic acid (MSG), all of which are stressful to our bodies.5
现在许多人说全脂牛奶比脱脂或低脂牛奶对身体更好,饱和脂肪并不是我们健康问题的罪魁祸首脂肪给我们能量,是脂溶性维生素A、D、E、K和类胡萝卜素的载体。就像之前说的,这些脂溶性维生素是消化钙和蛋白质所必需的,而真正的食物维生素总是比合成维生素对你更好,更容易吸收。乳脂含有丰富的中、短链必需脂肪酸、长链反式棕榈油酸、共轭亚油酸和欧米伽-3脂肪酸,这些都能预防疾病,刺激免疫系统此外,脂肪通过触发胆囊收缩素(cholecystokinin)的释放来满足你的食欲,胆囊收缩素会产生饱腹感,所以身体可以更久不感到饥饿。所以多一点“健康脂肪”可能对保持体重有好处如果你在早上吃麦片时喝全脂牛奶,你可能就不会那么想吃冰淇淋了。实际上,脂肪对我们身体的许多功能都非常重要,建议成年人摄入的脂肪占我们总热量的15%到30%。我们应该消除的脂肪是人造脂肪,如反式脂肪和植物油中的精制多不饱和脂肪。
Antibiotics In Milk
Modern cows are breed to produce huge quantities of milk, at least twice as much as forty years ago, and all this mechanical milking irritates the cow’s udders and in course they become infected. If the udders become infected they release pus and the infection might overwhelm the cow and put her out of commission. So, milk farmers add enormous quantities of antibiotics to keep the infections in check. These days many cows are also kept in confinement and fed grains, not their natural diet of grass. Grain (GM corn and GM soy) fed cows tend to be hosts to numerous diseases, so again antibiotics are pumped into these poor beasts to make them live longer and produce more. Today’s confinement cows are also fed pesticide-tainted dried citrus peels, left over from juice processing, and bakery waste. And of course the growth hormones we have all read about, adds to this chemical cocktail.
Raw Milk
Another thing I learned in understanding the slow process of culturing, is that raw milk left out will sour and is still drinkable, because raw milk’s antimicrobial properties are still intact. But high heat and pressurized milk oxidizes—it becomes rancid. Rancid pasteurized milk must be thrown out.
Pasteurization was declared the law in the 1920s when unsanitary production methods and poor animal nutrition were rampant. Today, stainless steel tanks and refrigerated trucks make the dangers of raw milk less likely. Actually raw milk’s natural bacteria and enzymes counteract the growth of pathogens.
I do not have easy access to raw milk, but if you do, also note that that the older breeds of cows (jerseys, guernseys) and goat, sheep, yak (and human milk) are high in easy to digest A2 beta casein and the newer breeds of cow, like holsteins, are high in a tougher-to-digest A1 beta casein.
For my kefir making, my goal is to find lightly pasteurized, non-homogenized, local, grass-fed milk.
Remember all the big name organic milks are ultra-pasteurized and grain-fed…
Check out this website on raw milk for sources and LOTS more info…(like co-owning a cow through a herdshare arrangement). realmilk.com
Postscript: the kefir grains did fine in the UHT milk! But after all this research, of course I will not purchase it again, unless nothing else is available.
Dairy Farms Rated
Researchers at the Cornucopia Institute investigated the production practices of about 70 dairies nationwide. Their “4 Cow”- and “5 Cow”-rated superstars take sustainability seriously—producing happier cows and a healthier product. To view the list, see “Maintaining the Integrity of Organic Milk”.
Notes And Further Reading On Milk
1) From Sally Fallon’sNourishing Traditions
“Heat alters milk’s amino acids lysine and tyrosine, making the whole complex of proteins less available; it promotes rancidity of unsaturated fatty acids and destruction of vitamins. Vitamin C loss in pasteurization usually exceeds 50%; loss of other water-soluble vitamins can run as high as 80%; the Wulzen or anti-stiffness factor is totally destroyed as is vitamin B12, needed for healthy blood and a properly functioning nervous system. Pasteurization reduces the availability of milks mineral components, such as calcium, chloride, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and sulfur, as well as many trace minerals. There is some evidence that pasteurization alters lactose, making it more readily absorbable. This, and the fact that pasteurized milk puts an unnecessary strain on the pancreas to produce digestive enzymes, may explain why milk consumption in civilized societies has been linked with diabetes.”newtrendspublishing.com
2a) Homogenized Milk and Atherosclerosis
Homogenized milk and atherosclerosis are connected by the theory that the enzyme xanthine oxidase or XO, which is abundant in cow’s milk, transforms inflammation following physical, chemical or emotional stress into a degenerative disease process resulting in atherosclerosis.[1] XO is implicated in the formation of free radicals and in cyclical episodes of tissue damage or oxidative stress with degenerative disease symptoms largely characterized by the locale of the initial, inflammatory event.[2] As a central generator of reactive oxygen species (ROS) during inflammation, XO is linked to as many as 50 illnesses from Alzheimer’s and arthritis to diabetes and cancer.[3]wikipedia.org/wiki/Homogenized_Milk
2b)Homogenized Milk: Rocket Fuel for Cancerby Robert Cohen,health101.org&www.notmilk.com
A=Year
B=Number of cows in America (millions)
C=Billion pounds of milk produced in America each year
D=Quarts of milk produced per cow each day
E=Population of the United States in millions
F=Average daily consumption of milk per person (pounds)
G=Number of persons (daily milk consumption) supplied by one cow
A B C D E F G
1930 22.2 100.2 5.6 123.2 2.2 5.6
1940 23.7 109.4 5.8 132.2 2.3 5.6
1950 21.9 116.6 6.6 151.3 2.1 6.9
1960 17.5 123.1 8.8 179.3 1.9 10.2
1970 12.0 117.0 12.1 203.3 1.6 16.6
1980 10.8 128.4 14.8 226.5 1.6 20.4
1990 10.2 147.7 18.0 248.8 1.6 24.8
1998 9.3 156.6 22.3 270.0 1.6 30.7
3) From Michael Pollen’sIn Defense of Food
“To make dairy products low fat, it’s not enough to remove the fat. You then have to go to great lengths to preserve the body or creamy texture by working in all kinds of food additives. In the case of low-fat or skim milk, that usually means adding powdered milk. But powdered milk contains oxidized cholesterol, which scientists believe is much worse for your arteries than ordinary cholesterol, so food makers sometimes compensate by adding antioxidants, further complicating what had been a simple one-ingredient whole food. Also, removing the fat makes it that much harder for your body to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins that are one of the reasons to drink milk in the first place.” – Michael Pollan
4) Is Skim Milk Making You Fat? How the “diet” dairy choice is putting your health—and waistline—at risk
“To turn skim milk white, “some companies fortify their product with powdered skim,” says Bob Roberts, a dairy scientist at Penn State. Powdered skim (which is also added to organic low-fat milks) is produced by spraying the liquid under heat and high pressure, a process that oxidizes the cholesterol. In animal studies, oxidized cholesterol triggers a host of biological changes, leading to plaque formation in the arteries and heart disease, Spanish researchers reported in 1996. “OCs are mutagenic and carcinogenic,” they wrote. In 1998, Australian researchers studied rabbits fed OC and found that the animals “had a 64% increase in total aortic cholesterol” despite having less cholesterol in their blood than rabbits fed natural sources of the substance. (A 2008 Chinese study with hamsters confirmed these findings.) Roberts says the amount of OC created by adding powdered skim is “not very much,” but until the effects on humans are known, it’s impossible to say what’s a safe level.” Read Moredetails.com
5) From Sally Fallon’sNourishing Traditions
“Commercial dehydration methods oxidize cholesterol in powdered milk, rendering it harmful to the arteries. High temperature drying also creates large quantities of cross-linked proteins and nitrate compounds, which are potent carcinogens, as well as free glutamic acid, which is toxic to the nervous system.”
6) Rethinking Saturated Fat by Dr. Andrew Weill.
一项对21项早期研究的科学分析显示,“没有显著证据”表明饮食中的饱和脂肪与冠心病风险增加有关。分析的21项研究包括近34.8万名参与者,其中大多数人在入组时是健康的。他们被跟踪调查了5到23年,在此期间,有1.1万人患上了心脏病或中风。回顾从数千名参与者中收集的饮食信息,研究人员发现,饱和脂肪摄入量最低和最高的人群患冠心病、中风或冠状动脉疾病的风险没有区别。这完全违背了过去40年的传统医学智慧。现在看来,许多过去支持低脂建议的研究都有严重的缺陷。”drweil.com
Dairy consumption and patterns of mortality of Australian adults
“People who ate the most full-fat dairy had a 69% lower risk of cardiovascular death than those who ate the least. Otherwise stated, people who mostly avoided dairy or consumed low-fat dairy had more than three times the risk of dying of coronary heart disease or stroke than people who ate the most full-fat diary. Contrary to popular belief, full-fat dairy, including milk, butter and cheese, has never been convincingly linked to cardiovascular disease. In fact, it has rather consistently been linked to a lower risk, particularly for stroke.”nature.com
7)Trans-Palmitoleic Acid, Metabolic Risk Factors, and New-Onset Diabetes in U.S. Adults: A Cohort Study, Dec, 2010.
“在多变量分析中,全脂乳制品的消费与较高的反式棕榈油酸水平密切相关。较高的反式棕榈油酸水平与稍低的肥胖相关,且与较高的高密度脂蛋白胆固醇水平(五分位数内为1.9%;P = 0.040),降低甘油三酯水平(-19.0%;P < 0.001),较低的总胆固醇-高密度脂蛋白胆固醇比率(-4.7%;P < 0.001), c反应蛋白水平降低(-13.8%;P = 0.05),胰岛素抵抗降低(-16.7%,P < 0.001)。反式棕榈油酸也与显著降低的糖尿病发病率相关,五分位数4和五分位数5的多变量风险比为0.41 (95% CI, 0.27 - 0.64)和0.38 (CI, 0.24 - 0.62),五分位数1 (P趋势< 0.001)。这些发现与估计的乳制品消费量或其他脂肪酸乳制品生物标志物无关。Protective associations with metabolic risk factors were confirmed in the validation cohort.”annals.org
8)Is Skim Milk Making You Fat?“饮食”乳制品的选择是如何危害你的健康和腰围的。保罗·约翰·斯科特著。
In 2005, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and other institutions studied the weight and milk consumption of 12,829 kids ages 9 to 14 from across the country. “Contrary to our hypothesis,” they reported, “skim and 1% milk were associated with weight gain, but dairy fat was not.”details.com
Association between dairy food consumption and weight change over 9 years in 19,352 perimenopausal women-美国临床营养学杂志。
“Dairy foods may play a role in the regulation of body weight. Women who ate at least one serving of full-fat dairy a day gained 30 percent less weight over a nine-year period than women who ate only low-fat (or no) dairy products.”ajcn.org
Geenasays
Vegan diet. If you are ‘green’ you will be vegan..do 2 ways around it. A healthy, delicious and diverse way of feeding oneself
Bill Pickersgillsays
vit ‘D’ is stable in heat the only vitamin not stable in heat is’ C’ SO HEATING MILK DOES NOT ALTER IT TO ANY APPREACHABLE EXSTENT
jean huysersays
only raw milk is a whole food which means it hasn’t been manipulated at all. it comes from Camphill farm near Paarl here in the western cape and I get mine from The Healing Tree health shop in Adelphi centre, sea point. One has to order on a weekly basis and return the bottle to get ones deposit back but it’s real milk still with the cream on top.regards Jean
Rakesh Dwivedisays
thank u very much …………………..i have got what i m finding
Rakesh Dwivedisays
thank u very much …………………..i have got what i m finding