Until about 10,000 years ago, human beings spent much of their time hunting, gathering, or fishing. Obtaining food was the dominant preoccupation of their lives. As human populations increased and naturally occurring food sources dwindled, people began to domesticate plants and animals to ensure a steady supply of food.¹ Those populations that were successful in learning how to produce food reliably thrived, leading to the advent of civilization as we know it.

Early humans nursed their young, just as all mammals do. Nursing provided optimal nutrition for babies to survive and thrive. Breastmilk is a form of raw milk, serving as a complete food source that is perfectly designed to sustain life.

As humans began to see the tremendous advantages of domesticating plants and animals, it was a natural step for them to realize that the milk from their animals could also be a food source. Scientists have ample evidence that humans began drinking raw milk from animals at least 10,000 years ago. Furthermore, there is much evidence that obtaining milk from animals may have been one of the primary reasons for the domestication of animals in the first place.²

In the Fertile Crescent region of western Asia, humans managed and milked goats, cattle and sheep around 10,000 years ago. The evidence for the early use of animal milk is found in ancient clay pottery vessels, dental remains of Neolithic humans, and bone analysis of animal remains in these areas.^2-4 These agriculture-based civilizations were so successful that they spread across the Mediterranean region, Europe, Asia and the Middle East over the next few thousand years.⁵ Humanity continued to domesticate additional species of animals; throughout history, many species have been utilized for their milk, including camels, cows, goats, sheep, donkeys, horses, water buffalo, reindeer, and other mammals.

Why Milk from Other Mammals?

Imagine the reality for humans living prior to the advent of civilization. You can picture them living in crude shelters, wearing animal skins and using a few tools. It was not like a 14-day survival challenge where they could call for a medic and be rescued. Eating and surviving were lifelong challenges.

You can hear the crying of babies and children who were hungry. Those cries are universal and have not changed over the millennia. The natural instinct to provide for the next generation was a compelling mandate that drove instinctual and natural innovation. People observed animals in the wild nursing their young just as they nursed their own young. By capturing goats and aurochs (ancestral cow breeds), people were able to collect their milk in pottery vessels.

These humans would have learned quickly that milk from other animals was a complete, nutritious food. Even though humans had not yet developed something called the lactase-persistence gene, they likely could have readily digested milk from other animals since raw milk facilitates the production of lactase enzyme in the intestinal tract.⁷ Being purposely designed to sustain life like no other food, this raw milk provided a steady source of readily available nutrition for ancient humans.

Without refrigeration, any milk that wasn’t consumed quickly would naturally ferment into cheese curd and whey. The milk storage vessels likely contained bacteria cultures from previous milkings, and hence the culturing process was naturally reinforced with these bacteria. The resultant curds could be stored and consumed over time. Curd contained a complete set of microbiome-friendly nutrients and would have been easy to digest due to its biodiversity. The humans could now bring along with them a portable supply of steady food. As long as they had sunshine, water, grass or shrubbery, and a mammal, they had food.

Those who consumed milk had a competitive advantage over those who did not have a steady source of readily available food. This steady supply of food allowed for settlements and communities to develop. People no longer had to spend most of their time acquiring food and could instead use their brain power to drive the development of sophisticated structures and towns. Domesticated animals became high-value assets. As civilization advanced, those who owned milking mammals became wealthy and became the source of food for communities.

Milk Throughout the Ages

It is likely that milk was consumed in both fresh and fermented forms from the early days when humans first began milking animals. Ancient baby bottles provide evidence that milk from animals was used to feed human infants at least 8,000 years ago.⁸ Around the same time, clay vessels for straining curds and whey were also in use.⁹

Dairying practices spread along with civilization throughout large areas of Asia and Europe. Milk was a revered food in many civilizations. People used milk in religious ceremonies in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, Ireland, Scotland, Greece and Rome.¹⁰ Primary religious source texts reveal that milk was an esteemed part of life. The Buddha was fed milk and rice to break his ascetic fast, and the Biblical “land of milk and honey” was the promise of a better life. Milk was central to the Vedic religion. Hindus consider milk a gift from the gods, and rivers of milk also flow in the Muslim paradise.

By the time of the Roman Empire, humans had been drinking milk from animals for thousands of years. The Romans drank milk and used it to make a variety of cheeses. Cheese provided Roman soldiers with easily transportable nourishment with a long shelf life. The wealthy even used milk for bathing, as it was considered to be great for the skin.

In the 1600s, early settlers in America relied heavily on milk from cows and goats for nutrition. Settlers in both the Jamestown and Plymouth colonies benefited from the tremendous advantages of milking animals. Resupply missions brought hundreds of additional livestock to these colonies. Milking animals were important in helping European colonists survive and thrive in America.

Lactase and Genetic Adaptations for Milk

The domestication of mammals and consumption of their raw milk provided a source of biodiverse colonies of bacteria for the human gut. When people began drinking raw milk at least 10,000 years ago, these biodiverse bacteria began the genomic adaptation for lactase production and lactase-persistence genes. Lactase is the enzyme responsible for breaking down lactose into digestible form.

Archaeological evidence shows that humans were consuming raw milk for thousands of years before the widespread appearance of the lactase-persistence gene.⁷ This has led many researchers to the probably erroneous conclusion that Neolithic humans must have been fermenting or culturing milk to reduce or remove its lactose content. This error is due to a loss of fundamental knowledge about raw milk.

In reality, “lactose intolerance” is primarily pasteurization intolerance. Unlike pasteurized milk, raw milk facilitates the production of lactase in the human gut, so it is not likely that there were widespread issues with lactose intolerance in Neolithic populations. In all likelihood, these early populations would have been able to consume milk in its fresh form straight from the mammals, as well as in the lactofermented curds and whey, which would form quickly without refrigeration.

The competitive advantage provided by raw milk is not to be understated. Raw milk allowed humans to thrive in conditions where survival would have otherwise been difficult. It allowed them to migrate and proliferate from region to region with a steady supply of food. Those populations that consumed milk further adapted by developing lactase-persistence genes. Scientists now believe that the lactase-persistence genes were spread through natural selection.¹² This means that the reproductive capacity and survivability of ancient raw milk drinkers was substantially increased compared to non-milk-drinking populations. Moreover, the lactase-persistence genes would have facilitated the easy digestion of milk in many forms, including boiled or cooked milk. There is current evidence of lactase-persistence genes in people from regions of Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.¹³ However even those without the lactase-persistence gene can generally digest raw milk because of the raw milk bacteria that create lactase for the human gut.

Pasteurization: A Technological Solution to a Manmade Problem

By the mid-1800s in America, some raw milk production had shifted away from farms and into highly populated cities. Big cities did not have pastures or clean water, and the cows in city dairies were kept in filthy conditions with poor nutrition and poor animal health. Many of these cows were fed byproducts from alcohol distilleries, leading to illness in the cows.¹⁴ Raw milk, which had been safely consumed by humans for nearly 10,000 years, became associated with the diseases of filth and poverty, such as tuberculosis, typhoid, diphtheria, and scarlet fever.

In the late 1800s, raw milk was accused of causing these diseases, and two solutions were proposed. Pasteurization was one of the solutions on the theory that heat treatment would eliminate pathogenic bacteria in the milk coming from these filthy conditions. The other solution was to produce the milk in hygienic conditions with healthy animals.

Many physicians realized that raw milk was a superior source of nutrition for infants and children, so the American Association of Medical Milk Commissions (AAMMC) was established in the late 1800s to ensure a safe supply of hygienic raw milk.¹⁴ The AAMMC was in operation for nearly a century, certifying medical raw milk for use in hospitals and for feeding infants and children.

Pasteurization was ushered in to address filthy and poisonous conditions and unhealthy cows in cities. It answered the question of how to commercialize dirty milk, rather than focusing time and energy on producing clean milk from healthy cows. Over time, the pasteurization movement gained traction and became the standard for ensuring “safe” milk, even though pasteurization is known to degrade and damage many of the nutrients in milk.

Raw Milk and Immunity

Unlike pasteurized milk, raw milk consumption provided immune system advantages to people. Cows and other mammals that lived in close quarters with humans mutually shared much of the same biome. The immune systems of both animals and humans develop antibodies to adjust to their environments. As with the case in human breastmilk and especially colostrum, the milk and colostrum from cows and other milking animals contain antibodies. Such antibodies are damaged or destroyed by pasteurization.

There is evidence that in some instances contact with domesticated animals actually provided immunological protection to humans. For instance, in the 1700s some people believed that milkmaids who had been in contact with cowpox (a relatively mild illness) were protected from smallpox. The fact that milkmaids had beautiful skin was offered as proof that they had not suffered from smallpox, but a better explanation is that the milkmaids had a daily source of superb nutrition and healthy bacteria, which conferred natural immunity and good health—including smooth, healthy skin.

Raw Milk’s Role in 2020

It is important to recognize that the human gut loves milk. We are mammals. Our human gut is lacto-loving. For 10,000 years, raw milk has provided a source of nourishment, gut health, and immune-boosting to mankind. When 125 years of commercial milk pasteurization are compared to the long history of highly successful raw milk consumption, they do not even register as a blip. Pasteurized milk makes up only one percent of the 10,000 years of documented human milk consumption.

The advent of pasteurization ushered in a negative shift in mankind’s relationship with milk as a life-giving food. Raw milk—an innate part of our healthy immune history—is now largely missing in our sterile, sugar-laden, preservative-laced, antibiotic-abusing modern diets, and medical culture. Now we are in a time of widespread industrial food, poor nutrition, immune depression, comorbidities, and compromised health. For most modern Americans, the competitive advantage of raw milk consumption has never been a reality, and raw milk’s immune-building properties and microbiome-friendly traits have been largely forgotten. Instead, we live in the age of biome-destructive pharmaceuticals and antibiotics. Although life-saving in certain applications, these drugs also depress and damage the immune system and gut microbiome. Antibiotic resistance is now responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people every year in the U.S. alone.¹⁵ Furthermore, pasteurized milk is now recognized as difficult to digest and a top food allergen.

Fortunately safe raw milk has been rediscovered by those who study history and know the role of raw milk as a nourishing whole food that contributes to a strong, healthy immune system and healthy gut microbiome. That competitive advantage from thousands of years ago is being rekindled in people who consume raw milk, fermented raw milk such as kefir and yogurt, and raw milk cheeses.

Raw milk that is carefully and intentionally produced for direct human consumption is wholly different from milk being produced for pasteurization. Organizations such as the Raw Milk Institute and the British Columbia Herdshare Association mentor farmers in the production of low-risk raw milk, relying on many of the natural methods that humans successfully used for thousands of years while also implementing modern technologies. Raw milk farmers carefully manage the cleanliness and hygiene of the farm from grass to the glass, with much care to ensure that the animals are healthy and the milk is clean. This type of raw milk is tested often and held to rigorous standards to ensure that it is being produced in a way that discourages pathogen growth.

So the next time that someone says, “milk is for cows and not for humans,” share with them the intricate link between civilization and raw milk, and the competitive advantage that raw milk provided to humanity for 10,000 years. Many of these misinformed humans are in dire need of gut microbiome rescue like never before. Reach out to them with love, compassion and humanity. They need our support, nourishment and education.

This article first appeared in the Fall 2020 issue of Wise Traditions in Food, Farming, and the Healing Arts, the quarterly journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation.

About the Authors

Mark McAfee is co-founder of Organic Pastures, the world’s largest organic raw milk dairy. Mark founded the Raw Milk Institute (RAWMI) in 2011 to assist farmers in producing very low risk raw milk through farmer training, raw milk Risk Analysis & Management Plans (“RAMP”), test standards for raw milk and ongoing testing.

Sarah Smith is a director and board secretary for the Raw Milk Institute (RAWMI). Sarah is also a homeopathic practitioner, homesteader, food and health writer (NourishedandNurturedLife.com) and homeschooling mother of two.

REFERENCES

1. Weitzel EM, Codding BF. Population growth as a driver of initial domestication in Eastern North America. R Soc Open Sci. 2016;3(8):160319.
2. Helmer D, Vigne JD. Was milk a “secondary product” in the Old World Neolithisation process? Its role in the domestication of cattle, sheep and goats. Anthropozoologica. 2007;42(2):9-40.
3. Charlton S, Ramsøe A, Collins M, et al. New insights into Neolithic milk consumption through proteomic analysis of dental calculus. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. 2019;11:6183–6196.
4. Spiteri CD, Gillis RE, Roffet-Salque R, et al. Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016;113(48):13594-13599.
5. Zeder M. Domestication and early agriculture in the Mediterranean Basin: Origins, diffusion, and impact. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008;105(33):11597-11604.
6. Kindersley D. The Visual Dictionary of Ancient Civilizations. Stoddart, 1994.
7. Burger J, Kirchner M, Bramanti B, Haak M, Thomas MG. Absence of the lactase-persistence-associated allele in early Neolithic Europeans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007;104(10):3736-3741.
8. Dunne J, Rebay-Salisbury K, Salisbury RB, et al. Milk of ruminants in ceramic baby bottles from prehistoric child graves. Nature. 2019;574(7777):246-248.
9. Salque M, Bogucki P, Pyzel J, et al. Earliest evidence for cheese making in the sixth millennium BC in northern Europe. Nature. 2013;493(7433):522–525.
10. McCormick F. Cows, milk and religion: the use of dairy produce in early societies. Anthropozoologica. 2012;47(2):101-113.
11. Goddess Hathor Suckling Amenhotep II. Egypt Museum website. https://egypt-museum.com/post/181897574541/hathor-suckling-amenhotep-ii#gsc.tab=0. Accessed 7/15/2020.
12. Itan Y, Powell A, Beaumont MA, Burger J, Thomas MG. The origins of lactase persistence in Europe. PLoS Comput Biol. 2009;5(8):e1000491.
13. Ranciaro A, Campbell MC, Hirbo JB, et al. Genetic origins of lactase persistence and the spread of pastoralism in Africa. Am J Hum Genet. 2014;94(4):496-510.
14. Heckman JR. Securing fresh food from fertile soil, challenges to the organic and raw milk movements. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. 2019;34(5):472-485.
15. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “More people in the United States dying from antibiotic-resistant infections than previously estimated.” https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2019/p1113-antibiotic-resistant.html. Accessed 7/15/2020.

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Wise Traditions podcasts now available for download on Apple iTunes and other podcast platforms

Our new Wise Traditions podcast is a wonderful tool to reach friends and family and even chapter members who desperately need the valuable information provided by the Weston A Price Foundation. We are already getting thousands of listeners and downloads, but there are still many people who have no idea about the healing benefits of traditional diets.

One recent episode features an interview with Charlotte Smith of Champoeg Creamery.  She is a mother of four children who suffered various health problems but found healing with raw milk.  Charlotte now has her own micro-dairy and has started helping other farmers do the same. This is another great interview offering lots of content in a common sense manner.  It’s a perfect time to get the word out about the podcast and introduce folks to the concept that food is our medicine.

Subscribe

Here are a few great opportunities to help your loved ones access this valuable information:

1. If you’re a blogger, you can write about the Wise Traditions podcast and let your readers know about the easy access to life-saving information.
2. Use FB, Twitter, Instagram, or any other social media to share how the content provided has helped you overcome chronic illness or led to a higher quality of life for you or loved ones. Come up with your own content or simply re-tweet or share what WAPF has posted.
3. Send out a link to the Wise Traditions podcast to your email list or even your member list. Nothing beats the personal touch.

Here is some suggested wording for an email or blog post:

The Weston A. Price Foundation just launched their Wise Traditions podcast, which will make it easier than ever to share about healing through nutrition.  Every 30-minute episode of the podcast (available on itunes at the link) includes insights from all sorts of wellness experts like Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, Dr. Tom Cowan, Sally Fallon Morrell, and Joel Salatin. Or, go to iTunes and search for “Wise Traditions” under “podcasts.” If you’ve got an Android, look here for the WT podcast on Android, or search for “Wise Traditions” on Stitcher. Or simply go to the Weston A Price website to listen or download episodes. You’re going to love it!

Do you have an idea for a guest? Please share in the comments below or contact us at info@westonaprice.com

To learn more about raw milk and other nutrient dense foods, visit westonaprice.org

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Half a dozen studies out of Europe over the last 10 years all point in the same direction: raw milk provides powerful protection against asthma, allergies, and eczema. Now we have evidence that raw milk protects against respiratory infections as well.

A study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology followed a cohort of almost 1,000 infants (the PASTURE cohort) from rural areas of Austria, Finland, France, Germany and Switzerland for the first year of life. Consumption of different types of cow’s milk and the occurrence of rhinitis, respiratory tract infections, otitis (ear infections) and fever were assessed by weekly health diaries.

When contrasted with ultra-heat treated milk, raw milk consumption was inversely associated with occurrence of rhinitis, respiratory tract infections, otitis and fever; boiled farm milk showed similar but weaker associations; and industrially processed pasteurized milk was inversely associated with fever. Early life consumption of raw cow’s milk reduced the risk of respiratory infections and fever by about 30 percent.

Of course, the researchers were obliged to warn against the “dangers” of raw milk, but in fact concluded, “If the health hazards of raw milk could be overcome, the public health impact of minimally processed pathogen-free milk might be enormous, given the high prevalence of respiratory infections in the first year of life and the associated direct and indirect costs” (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2014.08.044).

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Mark McAfee of Organic Pastures Dairy joined a local Canadian radio show recently to discuss the benefits of raw milk. The lively discussion includes history of raw milk regulations and differences between raw and pasteurized milk. The host asks Mark about the health benefits of raw milk for human consumption and Mark gives his expert background on the multitude of human health benefits.

This host gives an opportunity to raw milk advocate Mark McAfee to fully explore the issue.

The Campaign for Real Milk is a project of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a nutrition education non-profit based in Washington, D.C. To learn more about raw milk and other nutrient dense foods, attend one of the upcoming Wise Traditions conferences.

The post Raw Milk in the News appeared first on Real Milk.

“Goat milk soap is especially good for people with sensitive skin,” explains one marketing director for an artisanal soap company. “The pH level in goat milk is the closest to that in humans. Our formulations of essential oils, oatmeal and other ingredients keep people coming back.”

Raw milk soap sales skyrocket in the summer, when farmers can promote their products at farmers markets and fairs. However, goats are seasonal breeders and are most productive during the summer months – meaning those summer months are extra busy between milking, manufacturing and sales. Learn more about how these dairy farmers balance it all in the recent West Virginia Gazette article, Not ba-a-a-d: W.Va. goat’s milk used for soaps.

The Campaign for Real Milk is a project of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a nutrition education non-profit based in Washington, D.C. To learn more about raw milk and other nutrient dense foods, attend one of the upcoming Wise Traditions conferences.

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Although camel milk is not as popular with American raw milk drinkers as cow or goat, it is starting to become available in the US – in both pasteurized and unpasteurized forms. Of those who have tried it, some strongly believe the anti-inflammatory properties of camel milk (especially unpasteurized) helps improve brain function and can help with autism. See our previous blog which details one family’s testimony, How Raw Camel Milk Helped Her Daughters.

One special type of camel milk, colostrum, is especially packed with nutrients. Colostrum is the first milk that comes out of the female camel when her baby is born, so it is extra nutritious in order to get the new baby healthy and strong as quickly as possible.

“It’s the ultimate superfood,” explains one camel milk vendor, who sells colostrum for a whopping $40 per 16oz bottle – yet sells out within a matter of hours.

The Campaign for Real Milk is a project of the nutrition education non-profit, The Weston A. Price Foundation. Donate to help fund research into the benefits of nutrient dense foods.  westonaprice.org/lab

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The author of the article, Dr. Aseem Malhotra, an interventional cardiology specialist in London, writes: “The mantra that saturated fat must be removed to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease has dominated dietary advice and guidelines for almost four decades. Yet scientific evidence shows that this advice has, paradoxically, increased our cardiovascular risks. Saturated fat has been demonised ever since Ancel Keys’s landmark ‘seven countries’ study in 1970. This concluded that a correlation existed between the incidence of coronary heart disease and total cholesterol concentrations…But correlation is not causation.”

Dr. Joseph Mercola, an osteopathic physician, examines Dr. Malhotra’s article and explores the theory that it is sugar and trans fats, not saturated fats, that pose the most dangerous health risks. Saturated fats from animals and vegetables, on the other hand, provide health benefits that are imperative for the proper function of our cell membranes, hearts, lungs, livers, immune systems, hormones and more. These healthy fats are found in avocados, coconuts, raw nuts, grass-fed meats, organic eggs and of course, raw dairy and butter made from raw milk.

This new research supports what many raw milk drinkers have known for years – that whole milk is a healthy, natural food that truly “does a body good.”

Read more about Dr. Malhotra’s article and Dr. Mercola’s interpretation here:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/11/04/saturated-fat-intake.aspx?e_cid=20131104Z1_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20131104Z1

The Campaign for Real Milk is a project of the nutrition education non-profit, The Weston A. Price Foundation. Donate to help fund research into the benefits of nutrient dense foods.  http://www.westonaprice.org/lab

The post Research Implies that Saturated Fat is Not the Cause of Heart Disease appeared first on Real Milk.

Lauren, whose name has been changed due to the controversy surrounding raw milk, is the mother of two girls. The older daughter has severe allergies to an array of food, seasonal and chemical irritants. The younger daughter had autism spectrum disorder (her diagnosis was cleared following her consumption of raw camel milk).

Lauren originally learned about raw camel milk in her research of natural remedies for treating autism spectrum disorder. She found a camel farmer in her area and went to meet with him to discuss the product and check out the farm to ensure it had safe handling practices. She brought home a small amount and began giving it to her younger daughter medicinally, in small doses. Within weeks, Lauren began to notice that her daughter had begun talking more, making more direct eye contact, and socializing with other children.
Shortly thereafter, Lauren’s older daughter experienced a severe outbreak of hives. Remembering that camel milk was also mentioned as a natural remedy for allergies, Lauren gave her older daughter a glass to drink – and the hives cleared up within 20 minutes.

Now, Lauren keeps raw camel milk in her freezer to have on hand when one of her daughters requires it. She credits the raw milk with helping to heal her children’s autism and allergies and, although worried about the possible legal ramifications of buying the milk says that, first and foremost, her job is to be a good mom and care for her daughters – and this is what helped them.

The Campaign for Real Milk is a project of the nutrition education non-profit, The Weston A. Price Foundation.

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Doug Miller-Fleig feeds son Soren, 10 months, some raw cheese at their home in San Francisco. Photo by Doug Miller-Fleig, 2012.

August 3. 2010, Bar, Montenegro: My daughter (2 years, 9 months) gets her daily dose of fresh raw (unpasteurized, non-homogenized) goat milk while the family was visiting my native Montenegro. The sale of raw milk is fully legal there (though the public is told to always boil it) and we got it moments after milking. One of my mother’s neighbors has four goats and another has a cow.–Luiza Zlatovic, Vancouver. Photo by Luiza Zlatovic Photography, British Columbia, Canada, 2010.

Daughter Ariella sitting on her “cow hide” chair, with her raw milk “mustache”–more like a beard! Photo by Suzanne Gross

A daring girl from Mrs. Wall’s first grade, Strong School, Beloit, Wisconsin, on a school visit to Dougan Dairy, May, 1954 –but Ron Dougan never erred in his aim! From The Round Barn, (www.roundbarnstories.com), a family dairy farm in Wisconsin operating between 1900-1970. Photo submitted by Megan Ryan.

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Jump to:

• Exposure to farming in early life and development of asthma and allergy: a cross-sectional survey. Lancet 2001.
• Which aspects of the farming lifestyle explain the inverse association with childhood allergy? J Allergy Clin Immunol 2006.
• Inverse association of farm milk consumption with asthma and allergy in rural and suburban populations across Europe. Clinical Exp Allergy 2007.
• Comment: Perkin MR. Unpasteurized milk: health or hazard? Clinical and Experimental Allergy 2007
• The protective effect of farm milk consumption on childhood asthma and atopy: the GABRIELA study. Journal of Allergy Clin Immunol 2011

Riedler J and others. Exposure to farming in early life and development of asthma and allergy: a cross-sectional survey. Lancet 2001 Oct 6;358(9288):1129-33.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:
A farming environment protects against development of asthma, hay fever, and atopic sensitisation in children. We aimed to establish whether increased exposure to microbial compounds has to occur early in life to affect maturation of the immune system and thereby reduces risk for development of allergic diseases.

METHODS:
We did a cross-sectional survey in rural areas of Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. 2618 (75%) of 3504 parents of 6-13-year-old children completed a standardised questionnaire on asthma, hay fever, and atopic eczema. Children from farming families, and a random sample of non-farmers’ children, who gave consent for blood samples to be obtained for measurements of specific serum IgE antibodies to common allergens were invited to participate (n=901).

FINDINGS:
Exposure of children younger than 1 year, compared with those aged 1-5 years, to stables and consumption of farm milk was associated with lower frequencies of asthma (1% [3/218] vs 11% [15/138]), hay fever (3% [7] vs 13% [18]), and atopic sensitisation (12% [27] vs 29% [40]). Protection against development of asthma was independent from effect on atopic sensitisation. Continual long-term exposure to stables until age 5 years was associated with the lowest frequencies of asthma (0.8% [1/122]), hay fever (0.8% [1]), and atopic sensitisation (8.2% [10]).

INTERPRETATION:
Long-term and early-life exposure to stables and farm milk induces a strong protective effect against development of asthma, hay fever, and atopic sensitisation.

Perkin MR and DP Strachan DP. Which aspects of the farming lifestyle explain the inverse association with childhood allergy? J Allergy Clin Immunol 2006 Jun;117(6):1374-81.

BACKGROUND:
Farmers’ children have a reduced prevalence of allergic disorders. The specific protective environmental factors responsible are not yet identified.

OBJECTIVE:
We sought to determine whether farmers’ children in the rural county of Shropshire, England, have a reduced risk of atopy and, if so, to identify the factors responsible.

METHODS:
The Study of Asthma and Allergy in Shropshire was a 2-stage cross-sectional study. In stage 1 a questionnaire to elicit allergic status, diet, and farming exposure was completed by the parents of 4767 children. In stage 2 a stratified subsample of 879 children underwent skin prick testing and measurement of domestic endotoxin.

RESULTS:
Compared with rural nonfarming children, farmers’ children had significantly less current asthma symptoms (adjusted odds ratio (OR), 0.67; 95% CI, 0.49-0.91; P = .01) and current seasonal allergic rhinitis (adjusted OR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.33-0.77; P = .002) but not current eczema symptoms (adjusted OR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.68-1.21; P = .53) or atopy (adjusted OR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.40-1.16; P = .15). In contrast, current unpasteurized milk consumption was associated with significantly less current eczema symptoms (adjusted OR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.40-0.87; P = .008) and a greater reduction in atopy (adjusted OR, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.10-0.53; P = .001). The effect was seen in all children, independent of farming status. Unpasteurized milk consumption was associated with a 59% reduction in total IgE levels (P < .001) and higher production of whole blood stimulated IFN-gamma (P = .02).

CONCLUSION:
Unpasteurized milk consumption was the exposure mediating the protective effect on skin prick test positivity. The effect was independent of farming status and present with consumption of infrequent amounts of unpasteurized milk.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS:
Unpasteurized milk might be a modifiable influence on allergic sensitization in children.

Waser M, Michels KB, Bieli C et al. Inverse association of farm milk consumption with asthma and allergy in rural and suburban populations across Europe. Clinical Exp Allergy 2007; 37:661–70.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:
Dietary interventions as a means for atopy prevention attract great interest. Some studies in rural environments claimed an inverse association between consumption of farm-produced dairy products and the prevalence of allergic diseases, but current evidence is controversial.

OBJECTIVE:
To investigate whether consumption of farm-produced products is associated with a lower prevalence of asthma and allergy when compared with shop-purchased products.

METHODS:
Cross sectional multi-centre study (PARSIFAL) including 14,893 children aged 5-13 years from five European countries (2823 from farm families and 4606 attending Steiner Schools as well as 5440 farm reference and 2024 Steiner reference children). A detailed questionnaire including a dietary component was completed and allergen-specific IgE was measured in serum.

RESULTS:
Farm milk consumption ever in life showed a statistically significant inverse association with asthma: covariate adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.74 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.61-0.88], rhinoconjunctivitis: aOR 0.56 (0.43-0.73) and sensitization to pollen and the food mix fx5 (cut-off level of >or=3.5 kU/L): aOR 0.67 (0.47-0.96) and aOR 0.42 (0.19-0.92), respectively, and sensitization to horse dander: aOR 0.50 (95% CI 0.28-0.87). The associations were observed in all four subpopulations and independent of farm-related co-exposures. Other farm-produced products were not independently related to any allergy-related health outcome.

CONCLUSION:
Our results indicate that consumption of farm milk may offer protection against asthma and allergy. A deepened understanding of the relevant protective components of farm milk and a better insight into the biological mechanisms underlying this association are warranted as a basis for the development of a safe product for prevention.

Comment: Perkin MR. Unpasteurized milk: health or hazard? Clinical and Experimental Allergy 2007 May; 35(5) 627-630

The literature identifying that farming children have a reduced prevalence of allergic disorders compared with other rural children is now substantial. It is clear that a diversity of putative protective factors are involved: exposure to barns and stables, early contact with farm animals and working on a farm during pregnancy. The paper by Waser et al. [2] adds to the small but growing body of evidence that consumption of unpasteurized milk is another factor mediating a protective effect on allergic disorders.

Loss G and others. The protective effect of farm milk consumption on childhood asthma and atopy: the GABRIELA study. Journal of Allergy Clin Immunol 2011 October 128(4):766-773.e4

Source
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland. georg.loss@unibas.ch

Abstract

BACKGROUND:
Farm milk consumption has been identified as an exposure that might contribute to the protective effect of farm life on childhood asthma and allergies. The mechanism of action and the role of particular constituents of farm milk, however, are not yet clear.

OBJECTIVE:
We sought to investigate the farm milk effect and determine responsible milk constituents.

METHODS:
In rural regions of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, a comprehensive questionnaire about farm milk consumption and other farm-related exposures was completed by parents of 8334 school-aged children, and 7606 of them provided serum samples to assess specific IgE levels. In 800 cow’s milk samples collected at the participants’ homes, viable bacterial counts, whey protein levels, and total fat content were analyzed. Asthma, atopy, and hay fever were associated to reported milk consumption and for the first time to objectively measured milk constituents by using multiple regression analyses.

RESULTS:
Reported raw milk consumption was inversely associated to asthma (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.59; 95% CI, 0.46-0.74), atopy (aOR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.61-0.90), and hay fever (aOR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.37-0.69) independent of other farm exposures. Boiled farm milk did not show a protective effect. Total viable bacterial counts and total fat content of milk were not significantly related to asthma or atopy. Increased levels of the whey proteins BSA (aOR for highest vs lowest levels and asthma, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.30-0.97), α-lactalbumin (aOR for interquartile range and asthma, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.52-0.97), and β-lactoglobulin (aOR for interquartile range and asthma, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.39-0.97), however, were inversely associated with asthma but not with atopy.

CONCLUSIONS:
The findings suggest that the protective effect of raw milk consumption on asthma might be associated with the whey protein fraction of milk.

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