Got milk?

As your baby approaches 1 year of age, you may be starting to transition from breast milk or formula to cow or goat's milk. For almost all babies transitioning to cow's milk, whole milk is recommended. But, not all milks are created equally, or I should say processed equally. Of course, you want to give your baby the best possible milk, so consider the following:

What is the cow eating? Most people feel that all milk from cows is essentially the same. Not so. Cows are fed a variety of grasses, grains, and proteins that all effect the quality of their milk. The natural diet of a cow is grasses, not grains. So why do farmers feed their cows grain? The reason for confining our cows in feedlots and feeding them grain rather than grass is that they produce more milk—especially when injected with bi-weekly hormones. Today's grainfed cows produce three times as much milk as the old family cow of days gone by. On the other hand, cows fed grass produce less milk, but their milk is of a much higher quality. Milk from pastured cows contains an ideal ratio of essential fatty acids or EFAs. There are two families of EFAs—omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. Studies suggest that if your diet contains roughly equal amounts of these two fats, you will have a lower risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disorders, allergies, obesity, diabetes, dementia, and various other mental disorders. Pasture-fed cows have an equal ratio of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. Further, dairy products from grass-fed cows are the richest known source of another type of good fat called "conjugated linoleic acid" or CLA. When cows are raised on fresh pasture alone, their products contain from three to five times more CLA than products from animals fed conventional diets.

How is the milk pasteurized? Currently, U.S. food guidelines prevent the sale of raw milk to consumers. This means that all milk must undergo some form of pasteurization, but not all pasteurization is equal. Many milks sold in supermarkets labeled organic are ultra pasteurized, which, according to U.S. government guidelines, means that the milk is "thermally processed at or above 280° F for at least 2 seconds, either before or after packaging, so as to produce a product which has an extended shelf life under refrigerated conditions." So, the only reason to ultra pasteurize milk is to extend its shelf life. Have you ever noticed that ultra pasteurized milk typically does not expire for more than a month after purchase? These methods of pasteurizing milk have some undesired side effects, including whey protein denaturation, protein-protein interaction, lactose-protein interaction, isomerisation of lactose, Maillard browning which imparts a burnt flavor, sulphydryl compound formation, formation of a range of carbonyl and other flavor-imparting compounds, and formation of insoluble substances. These changes reduce the quality of milk, though it remains "commercially stable." A better form of pasteurization is called Vat pasteurization and is the most gentle of the pasteurization methods. It is a costlier process of pasteurization and the milk has a shorter shelf life, but it is the method that is the most minimal in terms of processing and allows the milk to retain the majority of its beneficial characteristics.

Is the milk homogenized? Homogenization is the process by which the milk is subject to a fine filter at pressures equal to 4,000 pounds per square inch, and in so doing, the fat globules (liposomes) are made smaller (micronized) by a factor of ten times or more. These fat molecules become evenly dispersed within the liquid milk, so that the cream in the milk no longer rises to the top when left to sit and you don't have to shake up your milk to re-disperse the fat before pouring yourself a glass. Unfortunately, the process of homogenization is the worst thing to happen to milk for the sake of convenience. Through homogenization, the fat molecules in milk become smaller and become "capsules" for substances that bypass digestion. Proteins that would normally be digested in the stomach or gut are not broken down, and are absorbed into the bloodstream through the small intestine. The homogenization process breaks up an enzyme in milk (xanthine oxidase or XO), which in its altered (smaller) state can enter the bloodstream and react against arterial walls causing the body to protect the area with a layer of cholesterol. If this happened only occasionally, it wouldn't be a big deal, but if it happens on an ongoing basis it leads to high cholesterol and heart disease. Consuming non-homogenized milk allows the gut and intestines to pass the large fat molecules through the body and eliminate them as waste. More disturbing when giving milk to children is that the homogenization process allows proteins that would normally be broken down to survive and enter the bloodstream. Often, the body reacts to foreign proteins by producing histamines, then mucus. And since cow's milk proteins can resemble a human protein, they can become triggers for autoimmune diseases.

How is the milk packaged? Exposure to UV rays of the sun or in the the bright lights of the supermarket quickly deplete milk's nutrients, degrading the vitamins and imparting an off-flavor to milk. To solve this problem, some manufacturer's package their milk in opaque containers that are impermeable to light, others use a PET bottle that does not leach into the milk like softer plastic dairy bottles do with a UV-blocker in the bottle. Either method is fine, but check a manufacturer's website to make sure they are employing one of these methods.

So, in summary, look for a milk that is package in a UV protective container, non-homogenized, Vat pasteurized from grass-fed cows. Where in the world are you going to get a milk that meets all these criteria? If you live in a rural area, check with local dairy farmers and with local health food markets for a source of good milk. If you live in a more urban area, find a farm online and see if they distribute in your area. One such dairy farm is called Farmer's Creamery, and they currently distribute to about 16 states in the Midwest and South. But fear not, they are not the only ones. Some carful research on the internet and you should be able to find a healthy milk near you.