5 Realities About Milk

NutriWhite Mom, your breastfeeding will be the best and most perfect food for your baby as long as you are comfortable and properly digesting your food. What you eat, your baby also eats. That is why the WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life and continuing with complementary feeding until 2 years of age or more, if you wish.

Based on this, after 2 years, should milk be consumed?

Throughout your life, your parents have taught you that drinking milk is a fundamental part of a healthy diet. But have you ever wondered why?

Of course, the answer points to the following “advantages”:

• The “bioavailability” of calcium in the food
• The low cost
• The easy access

It is a fact that milk is one of the eight foods that cause IgE-mediated immune reactions; that is, one of the most allergenic foods. That is why it is one of the foods that can affect a healthy intestine, altering its function and generating a leaky gut, producing inflammation.

So... is it important to talk about allergies?

It is relevant to talk about allergies and sensitivities because more and more people suffer from food allergies. The World Health Organization in 2007 stated that allergy is considered the greatest pandemic faced by children in developed countries, and by 2010 it established that 1 in 4 children will suffer from a food allergy, specifically cow's milk protein allergy.

What happens with those individuals who react to milk — is it to all types of mammalian milk or just cow's milk?

Aristo Vojdani, an immunologist and microbiologist with more than 40 years of research experience, together with Chris Turnbaugh and Elroy Vodjani, conducted a study called “Immune Reactivity Against a Variety of Mammalian Milks and Plant-Based Milks” in 2018. This research aimed to evaluate the allergenicity and antigenicity (sensitivity) of different mammalian and plant-based milks.

It was carried out by measuring IgE, IgG, and IgA antibodies in serum, in response to the consumption of cow, goat, sheep, camel, human milk, and plant-based milks such as soy, almond, and coconut, in 500 individuals to find the percentage of antibody elevation following the consumption of these milks.

Aristo Vojdani presented 5 immunological realities, summarized as follows:

1. Human breast milk is the best nutritional and least reactive option for humans, followed by camel, sheep, goat milk, and lastly cow's milk. Camel milk is considered better than the other alternatives because it lacks beta-lactoglobulin (considered a highly allergenic protein), just like breast milk, which makes it less reactive immunologically.
2. Regarding plant-based milks, almond milk is the most allergenic compared to soy and coconut milk. Coconut milk proved to be the least reactive in both allergenicity and antigenicity.
3. There were individuals who reacted immunologically (in terms of both allergenicity and sensitivity) to coconut, almond, and soy. And there were also a few individuals who did NOT react to mammalian milks, so we SHOULD NOT ASSUME that the consumption of plant-based milks carries no allergenic risk; therefore, the most accurate approach is to get tested.
4. Five types of cow's milk were studied (non-organic, organic, Holstein A1, Holstein A2, and Jersey A2), discovering that there was NO difference in terms of sensitivity and allergy among the five types of milk. That is, all are immunoreactive.
5. The state of the gut microbiota can also affect your gut health and determine how you react to the consumption of this food.

Are plant-based milks useful as a substitute for animal milk?

These are non-dairy beverages made with water and plant ingredients, so they do not contain animal protein, but they have become a different alternative for those who want to replace animal milk with a plant-based option for various reasons.

It is important to clarify that they do not have complete nutritional content, so they are not recommended for children under two years of age. By this, we mean that they CAN be a culinary substitute, but NOT a nutritional substitute.

Are those allergic to cow's milk destined not to consume calcium?

Most people probably associate calcium intake with milk or dairy products, but there are many foods that also provide a good amount of this mineral, depending on each individual's tolerance.

Here is a list of foods and their calcium content, expressed in milligrams per 100 g:

• Sardines in oil: 400 mg
• Almonds, hazelnuts: 240 mg
• Crayfish, prawns, shrimp: 220 mg
• Dried figs: 180 mg
• Chickpeas: 145 mg
• Pistachios: 136 mg
• White beans, dried broad beans: 130 mg
• Clams, cockles, small clams: 120 mg
• Chard, cardoon, spinach, leek: 114–87 mg
• Walnuts, dates, raisins: 70 mg
• Olives: 63 mg
• Lentils: 56 mg
• Chicken egg: 51 mg
• Cod: 51 mg
• Cakes and pastries: 48 mg
• Sardines: 43 mg
• Artichokes, cabbage, green beans, Brussels sprouts: 40 mg

Now you have options to vary your diet and include calcium in it.

At NutriWhite, we care about your health and are aiming for more. Possibly, if you do not consume milk, it will be important to supplement with Vitamin K2D3, which helps improve calcium absorption.

What are the steps to recover your health?

• Schedule an ONLINE consultation with our NutriWhite Ambassadors, experts in immunonutrition, to create an individualized nutritional plan based on your tolerance.
• Start your 3R Protocol: where you Remove enemy foods, Replace with friendly foods, and Restore your intestinal health.
• It is advisable to take a Food Sensitivity Test to consume foods that are considered "friendly foods" for you.

REFERENCES‍

3 Turnpaugh C., 1,2 Vojdani A. and 4 Vodjani E. Immune reactivity against a variety of mammalian milks and plantbased milk substitutes. 1.Immunosciences Lab., Inc., Los Angeles CA, USA. 2. Department of Preventive Medicine, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda CA 92350, USA. 3. Turnpaugh Health and Wellness Center, Mechanicsburg PA 17050, USA. 4. Regenera Medical, Los Angeles CA 90025, USA. 2018

Consulted online: http://ve.scielo.org/scielo.php?pid=S0004-06492017000300007&=sci_arttext

Consulted online: https://www.cun.es/chequeos-salud/vida-sana/nutricion/alimentos-ricos-calcio