Here’s an interesting article by one of our local Eugene Chapter member bloggers:
It is always exciting to encounter a fresh topic that has escaped attention, yet with a little investigation, demands it. So it is with the story of A1 / A2 milk. I first became aware of the existence of this issue at a potluck dinner with health-conscious fellow diners. As it turns out, this is old news to residents of New Zealand, where a few researchers and entrepreneurs have been promoting the virtues of A2 milk for about a decade. The story is about the role of a milk protein, beta-casein, that can take on two very similar forms, called A1 and A2, depending upon a single simple mutation of one gene. The A1 form of the beta-casein, upon digestion, breaks down into beta-casomorphin-7 (BCM7), a fairly stable and strong opiate which appears to cause health problems in some people some of the time. Meanwhile, the A2 beta casein proteins are digested completely and don’t generate the problematic BCM7.
The evidence suggests that BCM7 can trigger the auto-immune response responsible for Type 1 diabetes, and it is implicated in arterial damage and consequently could be a factor in heart disease. In addition, there is evidence for connections between BCM7 and autism, schizophrenia, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and milk intolerance. read more >>
For the full article and many others please check out squashpractice.wordpress.com. And take a guess about which “potluck dinner with health-conscious fellow diners” he originally learned this little gem. You never know what you’ll learn at our Potlucks!
