Milking It for All It’s Worth: Raw Milk Benefits and Allergies -Fact or Fiction?

As a parent, your child’s health and nutrition is of the utmost concern.The increasing prevalence of childhood allergies has researchers searching for answers to protect the youth.The answer to this question may lie in a very unexpected place: raw milk. 

To provide some context and insights into the raw milk topic, here is a short video from Healing Quest on the controversy of raw milk

Healing Quest: Raw Milk Controversy

Farm Effect in Child Development

You may notice if you visited a farm or farm town the children growing up in the area are less likely to develop allergies. This phenomenon, known as the “farm effect”, has shown that children who spend their key developmental years on farms have lower risk of developing asthma, hay fever, and atopic sensitization compared to non-farming children.

This connection is not just about the environment they live in but also closely intertwined in what they consume, specifically the unpasteurized and non-homogenized milk.

The PASTURE Cohort Study

The PASTURE  (Protection Against Allergy: Study in Rural Environments birth cohort study) was conducted in Austria, Finland, France, Germany, and Switzerland with over a thousand expectant mothers. It collected data through health diaries as well as testing for C-reactive protein levels with different types of cow’s milk (raw, boiled farm milk, pasteurized and ultra-heated treated milk). The consumption of raw cow’s milk was inversely associated with the occurrence of infections in infants including rhinitis, respiratory tract infections, otitis, and fever. This is due to the higher gene expression of immunity receptors particularly TLR7 and TLR8.Essentially, raw milk appeared to enhance infants’ immune systems, providing them with additional protection against common infections.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091674912011955?via%3Dihub#fig1 

The GABRIELA Study 

The GABRIELA (Genetic and Environmental Causes of Asthma in the European Community) was another key study for raw milk research. The study sought to investigate the protective effect of farm milk consumption on childhood asthma and allergies. GABRIELA was conducted by a comprehensive questionnaire regarding farm milk consumption and other farm-related exposures and serum samples to assess specific IgE levels - a type of antibody. In addition cow milk samples were collected to analyze bacterial counts, whey protein levels, and total fat content. The study found that raw milk consumption was associated with lower childhood asthma. What’s more interesting is that the whey protein fraction of milk played a key role in these protective effects.

So What Does This All Mean?

The key takeaway from these studies is that raw milk has protective properties against childhood allergies. As a parent, understanding the potential benefits of raw milk could be a game changer for their development. 

These discoveries allow parents to explore holistic paths to children’s wellbeing, Raw milk, once a conventional staple, has transformed into an unconventional yet promising option. It is a testament that the best health methods come from what nature gives us in its purest form.

References:

Healing Quest: Raw Milk Controversy. (2012). YouTube. Retrieved October 22, 2023, from https://youtu.be/8mFzKvec3oE.

Loss, G., Apprich, S., Waser, M., Kneifel, W., Genuneit, J., Büchele, G., Weber, J., Sozanska, B., Danielewicz, H., Horak, E., van Neerven, R. J. J., Heederik, D., Lorenzen, P. C., von Mutius, E., & Braun-Fahrländer, C. (2011). The protective effect of farm milk consumption on childhood asthma and atopy: The gabriela study. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 128(4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2011.07.048

Loss, G., Bitter, S., Wohlgensinger, J., Frei, R., Roduit, C., Genuneit, J., Pekkanen, J., Roponen, M., Hirvonen, M.-R., Dalphin, J.-C., Dalphin, M.-L., Riedler, J., von Mutius, E., Weber, J., Kabesch, M., Michel, S., Braun-Fahrländer, C., & Lauener, R. (2012). Prenatal and early-life exposures alter expression of innate immunity genes: The pasture cohort study. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 130(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2012.05.049

Shearer, Z., & Jones, S. M. (2015). Consumption of unprocessed cow’s milk protects infants from common respiratory infections. Pediatrics, 136(Supplement_3). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2015-2776k

van Neerven, R. J. J., Knol, E. F., Heck, J. M. L., & Savelkoul, H. F. J. (2012). Which factors in raw cow’s milk contribute to protection against allergies? Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 130(4), 853–858. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2012.06.050