Post by Claire on Jun 29, 2005 20:02:15 GMT -5
This is a copy of an e-mail I got on the Ohio Weston A. Price List
This is not a new idea that babies need to be exposed to microorganisms to prime the pump, so to speak, on their immune systems. Any public health official should be familiar with the problems created by antibiotics that wipe out the normal gut flora, which need to be re-established - the same principle. I was told many years ago to eat yogurt to correct the imbalance due to urinary tract infection.
The thought also occurs to me, if you are thinking of ideas to blow them away, our eyes and mouth are both perfect places for pathogens to grow - warm, moist, nutrient rich, yet, if we are healthy we resist those pathogens. Why? because our system is full of protective mechanisms. Lee Dexter list them in her presentation, noting in her oral presentation that these same factors are found in tears, saliva, and other body fluids where the protection is needed. Insisting that raw milk is such a favorable environment for pathogens is denying and ignoring the natural ability of the body to fight off the pathogens that are all around us.
As for the microbes in milk, from what Lee presents, it is not the microbes that are so beneficial, but all these other protective factors. Good raw milk has a low microbe count, according to Mark McAfee. But the microbes that survive in the good raw milk are not the pathogens, but the beneficial microbes all around us that benefit the gut and make nice sour milk, sauerkraut, etc. I think it is important to make that distinction.
Here's a summary of those protective factors that I drew from Lee's PowerPoint presentation. You can see they are not microbes:
1. Lactoperoxidase
Uses small amounts of H2O2 and free radicals to seek out and destroy bad bacteria
In all mammalian secretions—breast milk, tears, etc.
Lactoperoxidase levels 10 times higher in goat milk than in breast milk
Other countries are looking into using lactoperoxidase instead to pasteurization to ensure safety of commercial milk
British Journal of Nutrition (2000), 84, Suppl. 1. S19-S25.
Indian Journal Exp Biology Vol. 36, August 1998, pp 808-810.
1991 J Dairy Sci 74:783-787
Life Sciences, Vol 66, No 23, pp 2433-2439, 2000
Other Bio-Active Components
2. Lactoferrin - Steals iron away from pathogens and carries it through the gut wall into the blood stream; stimulates the immune system.
3. Polysaccharides - Encourage the growth of good bacteria in the gut; protect the gut wall
4. Medium-Chain Fatty Acids – Disrupt cell walls of bad bacteria; levels so high in goat milk that the test for the presence of antibiotics had to be changed.
5. Enzymes – Disrupts bacterial cell walls.
6. Antibodies - Bind to foreign microbes and prevent them from migrating outside the gut; initiate immune response. (British Journal of Nutrition (2000) 84. Suppl. 1, S3-S10, S11-S17)
7. White Blood Cells – Produce antibodies against specific bacteria
8. B-lymphocytes – Kill foreign bacteria; call in other parts of the immune system
9. Macrophages – Engulf foreign proteins and bacteria
10. Neutrophils – Kill infected cells; mobilize other parts of the immune system
11. T-lymphocytes – Multiply if bad bacteria are present; produce immune-strengthening compounds.
12. Lysosyme – Kills bacteria by digesting their cell walls.
13. Hormones & Growth Factors – Stimulate maturation of gut cells; prevents "leaky" gut.
14. Mucins – Adhere to bacteria and viruses, preventing those organisms from attaching to the mucosa and causing disease.
15. Oligosaccharides – Protect other components from being destroyed by stomach acids and enzymes; bind to bacteria and prevent them from attaching to the gut lining; other functions just being discovered.
16. B12 Binding Protein – Reduces vitamin B-12 in the colon, which harmful bacteria need for growth
17. Bifidus Factor – Promotes growth of Lactobacillum bifidis, a helpful bacteria in baby’s gut, which helps crowd out dangerous germs
18. Fibronectin – Increases antimicrobial activity of macrophages and helps to repair damaged tissues
This is not a new idea that babies need to be exposed to microorganisms to prime the pump, so to speak, on their immune systems. Any public health official should be familiar with the problems created by antibiotics that wipe out the normal gut flora, which need to be re-established - the same principle. I was told many years ago to eat yogurt to correct the imbalance due to urinary tract infection.
The thought also occurs to me, if you are thinking of ideas to blow them away, our eyes and mouth are both perfect places for pathogens to grow - warm, moist, nutrient rich, yet, if we are healthy we resist those pathogens. Why? because our system is full of protective mechanisms. Lee Dexter list them in her presentation, noting in her oral presentation that these same factors are found in tears, saliva, and other body fluids where the protection is needed. Insisting that raw milk is such a favorable environment for pathogens is denying and ignoring the natural ability of the body to fight off the pathogens that are all around us.
As for the microbes in milk, from what Lee presents, it is not the microbes that are so beneficial, but all these other protective factors. Good raw milk has a low microbe count, according to Mark McAfee. But the microbes that survive in the good raw milk are not the pathogens, but the beneficial microbes all around us that benefit the gut and make nice sour milk, sauerkraut, etc. I think it is important to make that distinction.
Here's a summary of those protective factors that I drew from Lee's PowerPoint presentation. You can see they are not microbes:
1. Lactoperoxidase
Uses small amounts of H2O2 and free radicals to seek out and destroy bad bacteria
In all mammalian secretions—breast milk, tears, etc.
Lactoperoxidase levels 10 times higher in goat milk than in breast milk
Other countries are looking into using lactoperoxidase instead to pasteurization to ensure safety of commercial milk
British Journal of Nutrition (2000), 84, Suppl. 1. S19-S25.
Indian Journal Exp Biology Vol. 36, August 1998, pp 808-810.
1991 J Dairy Sci 74:783-787
Life Sciences, Vol 66, No 23, pp 2433-2439, 2000
Other Bio-Active Components
2. Lactoferrin - Steals iron away from pathogens and carries it through the gut wall into the blood stream; stimulates the immune system.
3. Polysaccharides - Encourage the growth of good bacteria in the gut; protect the gut wall
4. Medium-Chain Fatty Acids – Disrupt cell walls of bad bacteria; levels so high in goat milk that the test for the presence of antibiotics had to be changed.
5. Enzymes – Disrupts bacterial cell walls.
6. Antibodies - Bind to foreign microbes and prevent them from migrating outside the gut; initiate immune response. (British Journal of Nutrition (2000) 84. Suppl. 1, S3-S10, S11-S17)
7. White Blood Cells – Produce antibodies against specific bacteria
8. B-lymphocytes – Kill foreign bacteria; call in other parts of the immune system
9. Macrophages – Engulf foreign proteins and bacteria
10. Neutrophils – Kill infected cells; mobilize other parts of the immune system
11. T-lymphocytes – Multiply if bad bacteria are present; produce immune-strengthening compounds.
12. Lysosyme – Kills bacteria by digesting their cell walls.
13. Hormones & Growth Factors – Stimulate maturation of gut cells; prevents "leaky" gut.
14. Mucins – Adhere to bacteria and viruses, preventing those organisms from attaching to the mucosa and causing disease.
15. Oligosaccharides – Protect other components from being destroyed by stomach acids and enzymes; bind to bacteria and prevent them from attaching to the gut lining; other functions just being discovered.
16. B12 Binding Protein – Reduces vitamin B-12 in the colon, which harmful bacteria need for growth
17. Bifidus Factor – Promotes growth of Lactobacillum bifidis, a helpful bacteria in baby’s gut, which helps crowd out dangerous germs
18. Fibronectin – Increases antimicrobial activity of macrophages and helps to repair damaged tissues