ORGANIC DAIRY AND AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS

Digestive distress? Bloating? Fatigue? Auto-immune disorder? Autoimmune diseases now affect over 25 million people in the United States alone, and include rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, thyroid disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and more. All of these conditions are linked to one biochemical process: an over-reactive immune response also known as systemic inflammation in the body, where your body attacks it’s own tissues.

Sadly, most people are being treated with dangerous immune-suppressing medications which further compromise health, rather than eliminating the root cause.

The root cause could be linked to dairy consumption. Yes, even organic.

The vast majority of organic milk is pasteurized at ultra-high temperatures (UHT) also called ultra-pasteurized (UP) to kill all the bacteria in the milk. Unopened organic milk can actually be shelf stable for 6 to 9 months and doesn’t even require refrigeration. It is usually refrigerated in stores only because manufacturers realized people distrust shelf stable milk.

Ultra-pasteurization is an extremely harmful process to the milk proteins which are complex, three-dimensional molecules that can only be digested when special enzymes are present. Fast heat treatments including pasteurization and especially ultra-pasteurization, flatten the molecules so the enzymes cannot do their work. The body is unable to digest the casein proteins in milk without these necessary enzymes. (See more on the casein-cancer connection HERE).

If those distorted proteins pass into the bloodstream –  a common problem among those who get “leaky gut syndrome” from regular dairy consumption -the body perceives them as foreign proteins and mounts an immune response. That means a chronically overstressed immune system and much less energy available for growth and repair.

This makes people sick tired, lacking in energy and can depress the immune response so it won’t work when we need it most, and can be the precursor to autoimmune diseases of all kinds. It also leads to conditions like asthma because both pasteurized and ultra-pasteurized milk destabilize MAST cells, which release histamines that cause inflammation, mucus production and bronchial spasm.

Almost all of the popular organic brands are all ultra-pasteurized including Stonyfield Farms (all UP), Organic Valley (most UP), Whole Foods 365 (most UP), and Horizon (most UP, some non-up).

Of course if you are not consuming organic, and choose regular dairy including yogurt, cheese, ice cream and milk, you are ingesting BGH (Bovine Growth Hormone) used by dairy farmers to increase their milk production in addition to the problems mentioned above.

BGH causes an increase in an insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) in the milk of treated cows which survives milk pasteurization and human intestinal digestion. It is directly absorbed into the human bloodstream where it has been shown to  promote the transformation of human breast cells to cancerous forms. IGF-1 has also been established as a growth factor for already-existing breast and colon cancer cells, promoting their progression.

Additionally, dairy cows are fed unnatural, GMO, pesticide filled feed with no access to fresh green grass.  And whereas the average lifespan of a cow is about 15 years, the dairy producing cows in these farming operations is about a year and a half. Thus, it is an absolute necessity that milk from these confined cows be pasteurized as it is loaded with pus and pathogens due to the chronic mastitis they experience.

There are so many healthy, nutritious and safe non-dairy milks that are easy to make at home and are loaded with vitamins, minerals, healthy fats and enzymes. I don’t recommend most store bought non-dairy milks, due to the high levels of BPA in the aseptic containers, along with additives like carageenan which are also linked to increased cancer risk. Click here for an easy two minute plant milk recipe!

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