DAIRY PRODUCTS

DAIRY PRODUCTS

by Dr. Lawrence Wilson

All information in this article is for educational purposes only. It is not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.

Definition. Milk is the basic dairy product. It can come from various animals, and is used in many nations as a staple food. Human breast milk is the ideal food for babies, but if it is not available other animal milks can serve as substitutes.

Milk can be consumed in its fresh state or processed into cheese, whey, cream, butter, colostrum, yogurt, kefir, buttermilk and a few other products. Sometimes milk is further isolated or broken down into substances such as casein, calcium supplements, sodium caseinate (a milk protein) or lactose (milk sugar).

DAIRY PRODUCTS AND DEVELOPMENT

Most dairy products do not contain much of the chemicals needed for development. Therefore, please limit milk, cheese, yogurt and kefir together to no more than four ounces per day or about 100 grams daily.

An exception (2018) is that we recommend about 8 ounces of plain goat yogurt per week for adults and less for children. This amount of goat yogurt does seem helpful for early development.

COOKING

Dairy products are one of the few products that we suggest eating uncooked. Cooking milk, cheese or other dairy products tends to damage them.

Certified raw dairy products in the United States are good, but small dairies usually cannot afford certification and it is not necessary.

If raw dairy is not available in your area, you may be able to contact a dairy farmer directly to obtain it.

Organic dairy products or dairy from animals that are pasture-fed is definitely better than commercially-produced dairy products.

PROBLEMS WITH ALL DAIRY FOODS

1. Yin. Milk, cheese, yogurt and butter are all quite yin. Yin means cool and expanded in macrobiotic terminology. It is a physics quality. Milk is the most yin dairy product, while cheese is about the best.

This is the reason that all dairy products must be limited on a development program. In addition, many dairy products are of poor quality, as explained below.

Some dairy products are unclean, so be careful. Some are also heavily processed, as explained below.

2. Pasteurization. Pasteurization mean either heating milk to about 149° F. or 65° C. for about 30 minutes (the batch method). A more modern method is called the continuous method, and involves heating the milk to 161° F. or 72° C. for at least 16 seconds by passing it over copper rollers. This adds copper to the milk, which is not desirable. Another method is called ultra-pasteurization that is at a higher temperature and is even worse.

The rationale for pasteurization is to kill pathogenic bacteria. Unfortunately, it also destroys some vitamins C and E, denatures or ruins some delicate proteins in the milk, damages the fat in the milk, and severely damages the bioavailability of the calcium in the milk. In addition, it can affect hundreds of enzymes, hormone factors, immune factors, and more. No one seriously disputes this fact.

Pasteurization may have been necessary 100 years ago in America. Today, however, with modern refrigeration and clean farming practices, it is not needed, given the great damage to the milk. However, certain interests viciously defend pasteurization. Among the real reasons are:

1. Pasteurization causes the centralized control of the milk industry. This is very hard on small dairy farmers, who are not permitted to sell their milk directly to consumers, but must cater to the centralized pasteurization facilities that can set milk prices, etc.

2. Pasteurization allows some sloppy dairy farmers to have sick, infected cows that give infected milk. The attitude is that the bacteria will be killed with pasteurization, so who cares if the cows are malnourished and sick.

3. Many doctors and other health authorities do not understand the nutritional damage to milk done by pasteurization, and do not respect the right of people to have choice in their food. Most of them also have no interest in providing the best food to the people of America and other nations.

3. Homogenization. Homogenization prevents the fat in milk from separating and rising to the top of the container, as it should.

Homogenization turns milk into a much more toxic and yin product. It causes the fat particles to be surrounded by whey and casein, which is unnatural. Also, the fat particles are so small they can be absorbed directly into the blood stream without digestion. This is very harmful for the body because fat should be digested before it is absorbed. It causes many milk allergies, among other problems.

Homogenizing milk involves forcing it through tubes with a tiny diameter at extremely high pressure to break the fat globules in the milk into much smaller particles. The process may also involve extreme heat, so it also has an effect similar to a second pasteurization process, as well.

4. Hybrid cows. Due to hybridization, today’s dairy cows produce two to three times as much milk as did cows 100 years ago. However, the cows are not hormonally balanced, and the result is a much less healthful and more yin milk. This applies to most “organic” milk, as well.

A few dairy farmers are bringing back what are called heirloom cows. These are older non-hybridized cows that are far healthier, but give less milk. This trend, however, is still very early and such milk is difficult to locate.

5. Drugs in the milk. Many, if not most dairy cows are very sick today due to their hybrid genetics, improper diets and bad living conditions. As a result, antibiotics and other drugs are used liberally on many of them. Residues of these drugs pass easily into the milk.

An improvement is something called organic milk, which is supposed to be from cows raised and handled more naturally. I suggest this type of milk, cheese and yogurt if you can find it.

6. Other additives. Some milk contains chemical vitamins such as synthetic vitamin D added to it. Please do not drink this milk, as the chemicals make it more yin and less healthful.

Also avoid junk dairy such as chocolate milk and artificial cheeses such as Kraft singles and Velveeta. A dairy worker once told me that milk that is slightly spoiled and tastes bad is used to make chocolate milk. Enough sugar and cocoa is added so the person cannot taste the spoiled product.

Another horror are the “milk shakes”, “floats” and “frappes” from the fast food restaurants that barely contain any natural ingredients.

Another poor quality product is any cooked cheese, milk or yogurt. This is found in all pizza, quiche, lasagna and many other dishes. Cheese, milk and yogurt should be eaten in the natural state.

CERTIFICATION OF MILK

In the United States, over 100 years ago scientists and doctors knew pasteurized milk was unfit for babies, in particular, and made them ill. Pasteurization was used commonly to prevent diseases associated with drinking dirty or contaminated milk. As a result, a much better method of protecting milk was devised called certification of the safety of raw milk.

The standards include that the herd of cows be free of tuberculosis and brucellosis, with tests every two years. Also, the milk must contain less than 10,000 bacteria per milliliter. Equipment is inspected and the milk testing frequently. An even stricter system is the newer Raw USA milk standards.

Lobbying by the large dairies has contributed a lot to banning the sale of raw milk in most states in America. The large dairies see it as competition that they cannot control. However, in my experience, raw milk that is produced in a healthful way, as most of it is, is safe and a much better product than pasteurized and homogenized milk.

We don’t know whether other nations have certification programs.

Organic Milk. A recent attempt to improve the quality of milk by the health food community is the development of a standard called organic dairy products. While I am not sure of the exact requirements, presumably fewer drugs, pesticides and other harmful practices are used in the production of this milk. In fact, it does appear to be a better product, although most, sadly, is still pasteurized and some is homogenized as well.

MILK AS A FOOD, NOT A BEVERAGE

Milk is often treated as a beverage. However, while it can be drunk, it is really a very rich food. Downing a huge glass of milk is not wise at any time. Milk should be sipped, as babies take it, to obtain all the nourishment it offers. Drinking huge quantities at once are harmful, as it is not that easy to digest.

There are several reasons for this. Whole milk is very rich in fat. This is not easy to digest and is one reason that milk is processed to remove the fat. Second, milk is rich in lactose, a sugar that is also difficult for many adults and also for some children to digest. This is another reason why mixing it thoroughly with saliva in the mouth is a very wise idea. This is one reason that cheese and yogurt are much easier to digest than plain milk, especially for many adults.

Babies who drink milk or formula too fast often vomit it up rather than try to digest it when it has not mixed with some saliva. Saliva can help greatly to digest milk sugar.

In addition, milk is high in calcium. Calcium is a needed mineral, of course, especially for babies. However, drinking too much of it at once tends to alkalinize the stomach. This is not healthful because the stomach is supposed to be quite acidic for proper digestion.

TYPES OF MILKS

Whole milk is the milk as it comes directly from the source. It is called whole because it contains all of its cream or fatty part.

However, milk is also commonly sold in containers that offer low fat, 2% cream and no fat milk, which is also called skim milk because the fat is skimmed off the milk at the dairy or a processing plant.

Some people buy the low-fat varieties because they believe or are falsely told it will keep them and their children from gaining weight. The opposite is often true, however. The fat is needed. If the child does not get it, he will drink more than he needs of the skim milk, causing him to ingest too much sugar in the process. Sugars often cause most weight gain, not quality fats as are found in quality milk.

Eating more fats actually helps many children and adults to lose weight, especially those with fast oxidation rate. See the articles on the Oxidation Types to understand why. Skim and low-fat milks are not good for most adults, either. It is too high in sugar in many cases.

Buttermilk. This is a partially fermented milk, often with a high fat content. It is easier to digest for some adults than regular milk because the yeast or ferments consume some of the sugar in the milk. However, the ferments can make it more difficult to digest for others. For this reason, it is not highly recommended. A small amount on cereal may be okay, but that is all that is best. Children who are fast oxidizers may feel better on quality buttermilk, which is hard to find because it should be organically raised and minimally processed, which means certified raw.

Colostrum. This is the first milk that a female animal produces after giving birth. It has a slight bluish color and is the finest milk in the sense that it contains special immunoglobins and other substances that help prepare the intestinal tract of the baby to receive all food items in the future.

Recall that until a baby begins to feed, the intestinal tract is not in use, since all nutrition and development depends on the blood that flows from the placenta to the baby through its naval or bellybutton area. Thus the intestinal tract must be primed, so to speak, with bacteria and other flora in order for it to work correctly.

For this reason, the horrible practice of starting a newborn on formula in the hospital if the mother cannot begin to breastfeed immediately is a totally insane practice that just causes illness in the baby. Every effort should be made to assist a baby to obtain colostrum immediately when he or she wants to begin feeding. There is no reason to force this process, as the baby may require rest or sleep for hours after a difficult delivery, or any birth, for that matter.

The easiest way to obtain colostrum is to allow and, if needed, assist the mother to start breast feeding. Dried colostrum powder is not nearly as good.

If the mother cannot breastfeed and the baby is calling for milk, another woman should be found to offer some milk, preferably, before resorting to formula. This may sound unclean, but it is far healthier in most cases than formula of any kind and would result in much healthier babies.

In some nations, formula is given out to hospitals and birthing centers at no charge by companies that want to “hook” the babies on the taste of formula. Then they will never want to breastfeed. This supports the formula company, but does nothing beneficial for the child or the mother. The mother is left with engorged breasts and a colicky child in most instances. We can only hope that the practice of giving formula in the hospital to newborns will be abandoned sometime soon, though I doubt it as it is “convenient” and inexpensive.

Yogurt, Kefir and other fermented milk products. These are very popular. They are often easier to digest because the milk sugar, to which some are allergic, has been consumed by the fermenting organisms added to the milk.

The best kinds are made from organic milk, and are plain rather than sweetened with fruit or other sugars. Also, the best are full-fat and live culture. This means the fermenting organisms are still alive. Many, such as lactobacillus acidophilus, are healthful for the human intestine in many cases. Most yogurt and kefir that is sold, however, is pasteurized, homogenized, flavored, low-fat and not live culture. This is not a very healthful product and should be eaten only rarely.

Powdered and Canned Milks. These are poor quality products and should not be used.

Powdered milk is much harder to digest in most instances, as it is prepared by spraying the milk over copper rollers in many cases that add copper to the milk, a chemical element that is not usually found in milk in any appreciable quantity. Canned milks are usually even worse, and are often old.

Chocolate Milk. This is a horrible concoction for anyone. Don’t ever give it to children, as it is mostly sugar. Chocolate milk sold in stores often contains older or poorer quality milk whose taste is disguised by the sugar and chocolate flavors.

MILK AND BABIES

While there is much controversy over the nutritional wisdom of eating dairy when one is an adult, most agree that babies love milk, especially human milk.

Mother’s milk is by far the best for babies for dozens of reasons. I will just name a few, however, to make the point.

To begin with, it is uniquely made for human babies. A second reason is that it is free from harmful bacteria in most cases. When formula is made up, the purity of the water and even the container are unknown. This is a common source of infection among formula-fed babies.

A third reason is the nutritional content is far better than any formula, and much better than cow or goat or sheep milk as well. For more breastfeeding, an extremely important subject, see our article entitled Breastfeeding.

Alternatives to Breast Feeding. If mother’s milk is not available or is not tolerated well, a number of options exist. Here is a list of these, from best to worst. Please look at it carefully, because too many babies are immediately placed on store-bought formula which is about the worst alternative.

1. A Wet nurse is, by far, the best alternative to having one’s own mother’s milk, and may be better if for some reason the baby will not tolerate the mother’s milk. This could be due to the mother’s health, psychological condition or some other incompatibility.

For this reason, nursing mothers need to exercise care when taking vitamins or any medications, even over-the-counter drugs. Babies can be extremely sensitive to them. Always take the vitamins or medication at least two to three hours before starting breast feeding.

If the baby will not tolerate the mother’s milk for any reason, a wet nurse is an old idea that should be revived. Some nursing women have too much milk and would gladly help with another baby. The baby could feed at the breast or the milk can be expelled or pumped into a container. Even a little of this is wonderful.

2. Formulas: A meat-based formula is one option. It is best using lamb, for example, that is cooked, preferably boiled for a while and then shredded. This, however, is a lot of work and may not taste best, either.

Also, be sure with any bottle feeding not to warm the milk, either mother’s milk or other, in a microwave oven if possible. Use a pan with hot water in it and place the bottle in the water. This is not only much gentler. It will not burn the milk, or introduce plastic from a plastic bottle as much into the milk. Microwaves may also damage the nutrients in the milk.

For the recipes for a meat-based natural formula, read Natural Baby Formula.

3. The animal milk formula. This is almost as good as the meat formula and much easier to prepare. Goat milk, preferably raw and certified, is often less allergenic, but organic cow milk, preferably raw and certified, is also good for many babies. Always modify non-human milks for babies by adding fish or flaxseed oil and vitamins and minerals. The essential fatty acids contained in these oils are critical for a baby’s brain development. For the recipe for a milk-based natural formula, read Natural Baby Formula.

4. Nut, seed or bean milks. These should not be called milks because they are not nearly as nutritious as real animal or human milk. They are also very yin in macrobiotic terminology. We suggest avoiding them all. This includes soy, almond, hemp and other nut and seed milks.

5. Grocery Or Drugstore Canned or Packaged Formula. The worst food for babies is often a drugstore formula that is loaded with sugar, artificial flavors, some powdered milk or milk substitute and comes in a can.

OTHER DAIRY PRODUCTS

All dairy products should be eaten in as natural and whole a state as possible. Organically raised animals are the best sources, where this is possible.

Cream And Butter. Whole milk separates if left standing for several hours or more. The liquid part is called milk and goes to the bottom. On top is the fat, which is called cream.

If the cream is whipped or churned for an hour at least, its chemical structure changes and it becomes butter. Butter is very similar to cream, but is much harder at room temperature and can be more easily spread on foods like bread.

Butter is not quite as healthful as the original cream because the chemical reaction needed to make it destroys a little of the cream’s beautiful structure. However, butter and cream are both good fats, especially if the cows are allowed to graze freely.

In this case, the butter and cream have a rich texture that contains a good quantity of omega-3 fatty acids that are much needed today. Sadly, if one pasteurizes the cream or butter, much of this is destroyed. If possible, always use raw butter and cream and do not cook them. If they are to be added to a dish, cook the rest of the dish and add the cream at the end.

CHEESES

Cheese is made in special ways that change the properties of the milk substantially. The process varies, but is basically the following:

1. The milk is usually heated to above room temperature, but not to a boil.

2. Then a “culture” is added to the milk. This consists of live bacteria or other organisms. In the warm milk, the added organisms grow fast.

3. The product is left overnight, and sometimes for much longer. The result is called curds and whey. Both are nutritionally rich. The curds are more solid and contain more protein. The whey is usually watery, richer in certain sugars and has a sweeter taste.

4. The next step is to separate the curds from the whey. This is done traditionally by forcing the water out of the curds with a cheese press or squeezing the curds in a cheese cloth, a semi-permeable piece of cloth that only allows the whey to pass through.

If the process stops here, one gets what is called cottage cheese, named after people making simple cheese in their own homes. Among Italians, a fresh cheese that is healthful is called ricotta.

Aged Cheeses Harder To Digest. If cheese processing continues, the cheese is allowed to dry somewhat and usually is placed in molds to form its shape. Often the cheese is aged, which means it is left to settle for a number of days or longer. This end product is called aged cheese and is usually harder in texture.

Junk Cheeses. Most cheese today is mass-produced in huge batches and many shortcuts are taken to produce it faster. For instance, many chemicals may be added to it, it is not aged naturally, and preservatives and other chemicals are added to make it keep longer.

As a result, most cheese is close to junk food status. This is what your child is eating when he or she eats most pizza, for example, or most Mexican dishes. It is especially the case in restaurants, where cutting costs is the primary consideration, and not your health.

The worst cheese is called “cheese food” or “processed cheese”. Velveeta and Kraft make this fake food. Its ingredients don’t let you know that it may be made from rejected milk and other dairy products that cannot be sold fresh. Then many chemicals, colors, flavors and more, are added and even glue is added to give it “consistency”. This is not really a food, but it is what is served in some schools, many restaurants and even in fancy establishments as well.

A Word About Margarine. Margarine, shortening, Crisco, non-dairy creamers and related products are often found in the dairy section of supermarkets. However, they bear little resemblance to real dairy products. They contain hardly any nutrients and many toxic substances.

Never eat these unless you are starving to death and they are the only available foods. They are all quite harmful to our bodies. Despite scientific evidence regarding their harm, they are widely used in restaurants, in particular. They are also found in hundreds of prepared food items from peanut butter and eggs cooked in them, to almost all pastries, rolls and other baked goods.

For more on this subject, see the article on this website entitled Butter Versus Margarine.

MILK PRODUCTS AND ADULTHOOD

Many adults (and children, too) have a milk sensitivity or “allergy”. This can cause stomach pain, a runny nose and many other possible symptoms. In a few cases, it seems to result in a milk addiction. Read Food Addictions for more information on this interesting topic.

The adult problem with most milks may be due to the casein (milk protein) or lactose (milk sugar). However, it can be to other constituents of milk as well.

Some contend that the reason for the allergies is that adults should not consume dairy products as they are designed for suckling babies. However, most cultures in the world do consume dairy into adulthood, including many extremely healthy populations in Europe, for example. Asians and black-skinned people often have more problems with dairy products as a rule, and consume much less of them. It appears that the Caucasian or white race can digest dairy protein better.

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