A Washington State University research professor, Charles Benbrook, and his team on Monday released a study finding that organic whole milk has more omega-3 fatty acids, beneficial for the heart, than conventional milk. The study is the first large-scale nationwide study of the fatty acids in organic and conventional milk. Scientists looked at 220 organic milk samples from the Organic Valley cooperative and 164 conventional milk samples.
At issue is the ratio between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids found in organic versus conventional milk. Omega-3 is the fatty acid most needed for heart health, and overall health, with omega-6 (and omega-9) being less beneficial.
In the modern American diet, the use of soybean and corn oil in fried and processed foods, and the amounts we eat of these types of food, have dramatically increased the intake of omega-6 and -9, and decreased the intake of omega-3.
Conventional milk had an average omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio of 5.8, and organic milk had a ratio of 2.3. Organic milk had 25% less omega-6 fatty acids and 62% more omega-3 fatty acids than conventional milk. The organic milk also had high concentrations of the individual types of omega-3 fatty acids, too, the authors wrote.
The study “provides consumers with some pretty powerful evidence that choosing full-fat dairy products is going to help bring about a greater degree of balance” between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, said Benbrook, lead author of the study at the Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources at Washington State University.
Increasing full-fat organic dairy products alone won’t make you heart-healthy, the authors point out. That and eating less food containing vegetable oil may, however, by dramatically improving the diet’s omega-6 to omega-3 ratio.
A crucial difference — and one that was noted by Benbrook — is that cows on organic farms are grass-fed and pastured (their natural method of feeding) and are rBGH and antibiotic-free. Cows on conventional dairy farms are fed grain (containing pesticides), are pastured less and receive pharmaceuticals as part of their regular diet, even when healthy.
So a glass of ordinary milk is a cup of dead mucous, water, proteins and pus, contaminated by drugs, hormones and genetically modified material. Just yummy.
A way as another so that consumers do not shun cow’s milk by buying bio?
This is an article in French please use a translator
10 minutes to convince them of the dangers of dairy products
https://bodyspiritzen.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/10-minutes-pour-convaincre-des-dangers-des-produits-laitiers/
Excellent photo thank you Planet Waves 😉
This is progress of sorts. We will be making much more when we move away from ‘organic’ and start having debates about ‘ecological’. It is interesting how often the vegetarian debate is hijacked by animal welfare issues (which ARE important but secondary to the bigger picture). We all know that the explosion of science and technology since the agrarian, and then industrial, revolution, has all been at the service of managing population and resources that support a view of contemporary civilisation – which is a “dependency construct”.
Ecological thinking is far more important than an organic label or category for discussion. In an ecosystem balance is everything, synergy, the connection of everything to everything else. We shoud not fixate. And we need to be aware that milk from cows is highly problematic to the human digestive system in the context of our current carb-overdosed, chemical jungle within the food and medicine *industries”.
If you really wish to address omega 3 fatty acid issues then you do not consume ‘whole’ milk if you are tuned into your own body. The best way is (if you cannot keep a chicken or two of your own) to purchase organic eggs and/or take a flax oil supplement at one teaspoon per day. The digestive payload of cow’s milk (symptoms of lactose intolerance or not) is huge. Milk is for weaning and production stops once the creature gets past the initial dependency on mother’s nutrients stage. Nature teaches us a lesson here! So milk for omega 3 is plain CRAZY!
The digestive system is something we understand only very dimly. We need to understand it better. Virtually every lie we now encounter: butter is bad, salt is bad, cholesterol is bad, saturated fat is bad, meat proteins are bad, vegetable oils are good (NO, they are CHEAP), milk is good, fibre is good, statins are good, mega doses of calcium are good for bones (research the osteopenia myth that was created around 1990 to sell products you do not need, just as with statins, and that jeopardise health) are big pharma lies.
Let me recommend http://www.gutsense.org for the most revolutionary view of colon health currently available on the Web.
What is fascinating is that our whole project here is about raising awareness – and these changes we need to make in both understanding and habits involve the development of ‘bodily awareness’. For example, can you tell (feel) when a *craving* is healthy and a gentle communication from the body and when it is pathological? The difference is subtle and huge at the same time.
re-calibrate your sensors is the order of the day. “Research has shown this and that” approaches, even when providing valid content, are a symptom of a nanny state, wherein the advice changes every two minutes, and we are so confused that we do not understand whether to capitulate or resist. We need to find our bodily centre again, be thorough in research, ground our findings, communicate with others.
Such personal grounding and knowledge is the only thing which will make us sound of body as well as mind..
Good post! Why it should come as a surprise to anyone that whole, organic foods are beneficial and processed foods are not, is beyond me, but of course that boils down to endless brainwashing. I suspect most people don’t think of milk as a processed food. Personally, I just listen to my body, which is my best dietary guide. It knows what it needs, and lets me know loud and clear.
Diva Carla – thanks for the very comprehensive Weston Price report, too. There’s all the proof that my body knows best when it begs for butter. 😀
Something I thought of after reading both reports: Where I live it’s extremely hard to find fresh milk of any kind, let alone organic. The norm here is UHT, which is nasty. After finding a brand that tasted vaguely like milk and drinking it for several years because there was no alternative, I developed lactose intolerance. I wasn’t even even a big milk drinker. I took it in my one cup of coffee (which I now take black), and had the occasional bowl of cereal. Now I’m wondering whether my body will tolerate organic milk. I know where I should be able to buy some, and will test my theory…
I cringe every time I see “fat free” on a dairy product. I do make one exception, for cappuccino, which I think is better with skim milk (better foam). But that is definitely not for nutritional purposes.
BTW are there any schooled in homeopathy who would like to comment on Lac Defloratum, the potentization of skim milk? From what I’ve read, it’s interesting that it has similarity to Aurum Metallicum, both being about work with little in the way of rewards.
Actually I’ll switch my preferred hot beverage to an Americano with heavy cream.
The omega 6/3 fatty acid composition of milk is among its minor benefits. The nutritional benefits of raw whole organic grassfed milk and cultured milk foods are astounding. For those who can tolerate milk in their diet, it’s an efficient way to get a range of fats, fat-soluble nutrients, and cholesterol for a multitude of cell functions, immune function, hormone and neurotransmitter production, and health maintenance. It doesn’t take much raw whole milk or cultured raw butter to provide the essential nutrients. Here more from the Weston A Price Foundation http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/skinny-on-fats. The milk feels alive when I drink it.