| "body"> | | | | from "leaky gut," a condition that can be brought on by |
| I bought some organic milk from our local co-op over | | | | drinking processed commercial milk), the body |
| three weeks ago and opened it just before we went | | | | perceives them as foreign proteins and mounts an |
| on a 40-day juice fast. I thought I'd give this milk to our | | | | immune response. That means a chronically |
| cat (knowing it would spoil soon and we'd have to get | | | | overstressed immune system and much less energy |
| a smaller container for the cat.) It has been three | | | | available for growth and repair. |
| weeks now and the milk has not spoiled. How can this | | | | During the heating process, some compounds of the |
| be? | | | | milk impart a very strong cabbagy flavor that is most |
| I know of NO milk that can stay fresh that long. Do | | | | noticeable immediately after heating. These |
| they irradiate milk now? It says on the label "Ultra | | | | compounds dissipate during storage, but approximately |
| Pasteurized." | | | | one month into storage, UHT milk begins to deteriorate |
| I asked around and found another woman, Crys, who | | | | and is described in the industry as "stale." In these later |
| had a similar experience. She related, "For some | | | | stages of storage, a bitter taste develops, then it |
| reason, I was out of milk or something. (This was a | | | | undergoes "age gelation," a process in which the milk |
| while ago. I can't remember why. Usually I always have | | | | becomes more viscous and eventually loses fluidity. |
| milk since I milk my own goat every day.) Anyway, I | | | | (Gross!) |
| just must have something to put in my morning coffee. | | | | So, it seems the optimum time to drink UHT milk with |
| Locally, I could get Horizon organic Half & Half, so I | | | | any degree of enjoyment, if that's even possible, is |
| bought a pint, opened it, used a little and then left it on | | | | limited to the interval between the dissipation of the |
| my kitchen table and forgot about it for a week and a | | | | cabbage flavor and the onset of staleness, bitterness |
| half. (I'm not known for my housekeeping.) So, when it | | | | and gelatinous conditions. In the U.S., these off-flavors |
| finally came time to neaten things up, I cautiously | | | | seem to go unnoticed, which makes me wonder |
| approached the almost full half & half expecting | | | | whether some kind of flavorings or other chemicals |
| the worst. Well, there was nothing wrong with it. Didn't | | | | are being added to UHT milk? I did note that my cat |
| smell bad. Wasn't curdled. Ah, isn't modern technology | | | | did not particularly want to drink this milk. I thought that |
| grand!" | | | | maybe she wasn't used to organic milk, but maybe |
| Well, maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. Crys emailed me a | | | | she got a whiff of that cabbagy smell? |
| paper written by the Weston A. Price Foundation | | | | Do you purchase milk that was packaged in plastic |
| which is quite reputable when it comes to exposing | | | | milk jugs? Well, one study took samples of this milk |
| products that putrefy our environment and could | | | | and found that all the samples contained measurable |
| damage our physical beings: | | | | levels of endocrine disrupting substances that leaked |
| Here are a few things that surprised me: | | | | from the plastic of the containers, or plastic lining the |
| The official U.S. government definition of an | | | | containers. Even when kept cold, plastic will leach |
| ultra-pasteurized dairy product stipulates "such product | | | | some chemicals into the liquid it contains; filling |
| shall have been thermally processed at or above | | | | plastic-lined containers with superheated milk or |
| 280° F for at least 2 seconds, either before or | | | | subjecting liquid-filled containers to high heat is a recipe |
| after packaging, so as to produce a product which has | | | | for hormonal disaster. |
| an extended shelf life under refrigerated conditions." | | | | (What does this mean? Increased infertility, |
| Confusingly, ultra-pasteurized milk is oftentimes | | | | hypothyroidism, hyperestrogenism, and a bunch of |
| referred to as or labeled as UHT, for "ultra-high | | | | other diseases. Sounds awfully dangerous to me.) |
| temperature." It is the high-temperature processing that | | | | Why does the industry feel they need to ultra |
| gives the milk an extended shelf life (ESL). | | | | pasteurize? They say it's because many organisms |
| 280 Degrees? That's way more than boiling. We do | | | | have become heat resistant and now survive the |
| we need this? And did you know that UHT milk | | | | pasteurization process. The Johne's, or |
| remains stable at room temperature for up to six | | | | paratuberculosis bacterium, is a good example. Johne's |
| months? Its extended shelf life with refrigeration in | | | | disease is endemic in today's confinement dairies and |
| standard packaging, such as plastic bottles, is up to 50 | | | | has been linked to Crohn's disease in humans. Many |
| days! | | | | samples of pasteurized milk now test positive for |
| Wow. What does this mean to us and our digestion | | | | Johne's bacteria, Bacillus cereus, botulism spores and |
| process of the milk when so many of us are already | | | | protozoan parasites. |
| lactose intolerant? | | | | What's worse is that State and Federal protocols are |
| According to Lee Dexter, microbiologist and owner of | | | | trying to make this type of pasteurization a standard in |
| White Egret Farm goat dairy in Austin, Texas, | | | | the industry. Such a move would redefine |
| ultra-pasteurization is an extremely harmful process to | | | | ultra-pasteurization as "pasteurization" so that the |
| inflict on the fragile components of milk. Dexter | | | | words "ultra-pasteurization" or UHT might then not |
| explains that milk proteins are complex, | | | | have to appear on the label. |
| three-dimensional molecules, like tinker toys. They are | | | | Try making home-made yogurt out of this stuff. |
| broken down and digested when special enzymes fit | | | | Apparently it doesn't even set; it curdles making a |
| into the parts that stick out. Rapid heat treatments like | | | | cottage-cheese texture. |
| pasteurization, and especially ultra-pasteurization, | | | | Since ultra-pasteurized or UHT milk will not adequately |
| actually flatten the molecules so the enzymes cannot | | | | support microbial life, it is unlikely that it will adequately |
| do their work. If such proteins pass into the | | | | support human life either. |
| bloodstream (a frequent occurrence in those suffering | | | | |