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Breathe Easy with Raw MilkIn early 2008, the magazine Stockman Grass Farmer and the organization VoteMilk.com requested permission to publish the article Breathe Easy with Raw Milk written by Ag/Grazing Program Coordinator Martha Pickard. Breathe Easy with Raw Milk In recent years there has been a rural resurgence of drinking fresh, raw milk for the health benefits and taste. Like most issues surrounding food, drinking raw milk has been fraught with controversy. Raw milk advocates have been portrayed as zealots by the media while regulatory agencies are accused of promoting unfounded fear campaigns. The answer most likely lies in the middle somewhere but if you are looking to the scientific literature for help, unbiased research has been scarce for the past 50-60 years. Recently, the scientific community in Europe discovered benefits of raw milk that they didn't expect. Asthma and allergies are on the rise in all industrialized nations. Lately, there has been a lot of interest in Europe about the relationship between farm children and the lower incidence of allergies and asthma they experience. Most researchers were working off the hypothesis of farm children being exposed to more irritants at a young age and thus protected from asthma and allergies. To their surprise, through food surveys included in the studies they found that farm milk, which is usually whole unpasteurized milk consumed early in the child’s life provided substantial protection against asthma and allergies. In rural areas of Austria, Germany and Switzerland 2618 families with children ranging from 6-13 years of age were surveyed and the results found substantial protection against development of asthma, hay fever and allergic sensitization in children exposed to stables, farm milk, or both in their first years of life (1). In the Study of Asthma and Allergy in Shropshire, UK 879 children participated in the skin prick test. Skin prick tests are a common allergy testing method that involves placing a small amount of allergen on the skin and scratching or pricking the skin so the allergen goes underneath the skin surface. This study found that unpasteurized milk consumption was associated with a significant 70% reduction in prevalence of skin prick sensitivity. No other food included in the survey showed the consistent protective effect of unpasteurized milk (2). Researchers in New Zealand became interested in the results from European studies and conducted a small study with 293 children. Unlike the European studies the small study in New Zealand found that children who lived on farms had more hay fever, allergy rhinitis, asthma and wheeze. But, like the European studies, children who consumed yogurt and/or unpasteurized milk in the first years of life had decreased the prevalence of hay fever and allergic rhinitis (3). And in a study so large it is very hard to ignore 14,893 children ranging from 5-13 years of age from five European countries concluded that consumption of farm milk early in life showed a significant protection from asthma, rhino conjunctivitis, sensitization to pollen, food allergens and horse dander. This association was independent of any other farm-related exposures and no other farm-produced products were associated with a lower prevalence of asthma and allergies (5). Several possible explanations exist for why unpasteurized farm milk provides protection. The most common explanation being batted around by the scientific community is that raw milk has beneficial bacteria that support the gut flora and gut immune system. This comes as no surprise to raw milk drinkers, yogurt eaters and people popping probiotics. Immune system development begins in the gut and we, as humans are highly dependent on good bacteria to help us assimilate vital nutrients and protect us from harmful pathogens. In our highly sanitized, pasteurized, sterilized world we are not exposed to bacteria like our ancestors who consumed raw milk, raw egg yolks, unpasteurized sauerkraut and occasionally a live bug or two. Another explanation is that raw milk is whole milk and thus provides children the necessary fats for proper lung development and function (4). Most cell membranes in the body are about 80% saturated fat but the specialized cell membranes in the lungs are 100% saturated fat. Diets high in hydrogenated oils and artificial trans fats have been linked to increased prevalence of asthma most likely due to the replacement of those important saturated fats in the cell membrane with artificial trans fats. And the third explanation, which is near and dear to all grassfarmers, is the nutritional superiority of grass fed dairy products, the basis of agriculture in most of the rural areas in these European studies. Grass fed dairy products are higher in Vitamin E, omega 3 fatty acids and the natural trans fat, conjugated linoleic acid and probably many other beneficial nutrients that haven't been singled out in the current scientific literature. There is strong evidence that whole, unpasteurized grass fed dairy products provide young children protection from asthma and allergies. Sanitary conditions and animal health are a large concern when consuming unpasteurized dairy products. Modern dairy farms are a far cry from the "distillery dairies" popular in cities at the turn of the century where cows were fed brewery wastes and workers sat in muck and coughed in open milk buckets. These dairies produced the poor quality milk that created the public demand for pasteurization and tainted public opinion of all raw milk. Today, stainless steel equipment, closed loop milking systems and well-managed grass fed dairy farming systems provide a safe alternative. Purchasing milk directly from clean, grass based dairy farms and supporting legislation that makes this possible could help our children breathe a sigh of relief, go through a summer without being in an antihistamine haze, and run outside and play without an inhaler. 1. The Lancet 358; Oct. 2001: 1129-1133 Exposure to farming in early life and development of asthma and allergy: a cross -sectional survey 2. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2006;117:1374-81 Which aspects of the farming lifestyle explain the inverse association with childhood allergy? 3. Allergy 2002:57;1171-1179 Farm Residence and exposures and the risk of allergic diseases in New Zealand children 4. Allergy 2000;30:187-193 Von Ernestine et al. Reduced risk of hay fever and asthma and allergic sensitization 5. Clinical and Experimental Allergy.2007 May; 37(5): 661-70 Inverse association of farm milk consumption with asthma and allergy in rural and suburban populations across Europe. Martha V. Pickard, M.S. Human Nutrition Ag/Grazing Program Coordinator anca-pickard@northnet.org Adirondack North Country Association 28 St. Bernard Street Saranac Lake NY 12983 518.891.6200 f518.891.6203 www.adirondack.org |
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