Full-Fat Dairy is OK to Consume ?

Does Full-Fat Dairy Promote Heart Disease? Research Says No

July 30, 2018

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

·   Saturated fats do not clog your arteries or promote heart disease. On the contrary, these fats are important for optimal health, and actually combat many of today’s chronic diseases, including heart disease

·   Analysis of the blood fats in more than 2,900 adults revealed the mortality rate during a 22-year period was identical regardless of levels — a finding that exonerates whole milk as a health wrecker

·   People with higher levels of heptadecanoic acid — a component of butterfat — had a 42 percent lower risk of stroke, the analysis found

·   A 2014 systematic review concluded current evidence does not support cardiovascular guidelines that discourage saturated fat consumption

·   Research has also shown eating high-fat cheese raises your high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, which is thought to be protective against metabolic diseases and heart disease

By Dr. Mercola

Whole milk, cheese and butter have long been demonized as unhealthy, their saturated fat content incorrectly identified as a driver of obesity, heart disease and related health problems. We now know eating fat does not make you fat. Science has also demolished the idea that saturated fats clog your arteries and promote heart disease. On the contrary, these fats are important for optimal health, and actually combat many of today's chronic diseases, including heart disease.

While the low-fat myth still lives, the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans^1,2 does recognize that reducing TOTAL fat intake has no bearing on obesity or heart disease risk. Instead, the guidelines rightfully warn that sugar and refined grains are the primary culprits. Unfortunately, the guidelines fall far short by still suggesting a 10 percent limit on saturated fats specially, and the low-fat dairy recommendation remains. This, despite the fact that mounting research supports consumption of full-fat dairy products over low-fat ones.

 Full-Fat Dairy Consumption Has No Influence on Mortality Rates

In a recent article in The Atlantic,³ senior editor Dr. James Hamblin discusses "the vindication" of full-fat dairy, and the research that's tossing low-fat recommendations by the wayside. One of the most recent studies,⁴ which analyzed the blood fats in more than 2,900 adults, found the mortality rate during a 22-year period was identical regardless of their levels. "The implication is that it didn't matter if people drank whole or skim or 2-percent milk …" Hamblin writes.

At the end of the day, consumption of dairy fats — either high or low — does not appear to influence your risk of death. Corresponding author Marcia de Oliveira Otto, assistant professor of epidemiology, human genetics and environmental science at the University of Texas School of Public Health, told Hamblin, "I think the big news here is that even though there is this conventional wisdom that whole-fat dairy is bad for heart disease, we didn't find that. And it's not only us. A number of recent studies have found the same thing."

For example, a systematic review and meta-analysis⁵ published in 2014, which looked at 32 observational studies with well over half a million participants, came to the conclusion that "Current evidence does not clearly support cardiovascular guidelines that encourage high consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids and low consumption of total saturated fats."

Otto did note, however, that whole milk is likely a healthier choice for the fact that low-fat products contain added sugars, and excessive sugar consumption, as you probably know, raises your risk of virtually all chronic disease.

Also, while dairy consumption overall had no impact on mortality, Otto's team found certain saturated dairy fats did have specific health benefits. For example, those with higher levels of heptadecanoic acid — a component of butterfat — had a 42 percent lower risk of stroke. Other studies have found heptadecanoic acid may also help reverse prediabetes,⁶ and full-fat dairy such as whole milk has been linked to a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Raw Versus Pasteurized Milk

No discussion about dairy would be complete without mentioning there's a big difference between pasteurized dairy products and raw ones. Milk can only be consumed in its raw, unpasteurized state if the milk comes from organically-raised, grass fed cows. Animals raised in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are not only routinely fed antibiotics and other drugs, making their milk unsuitable for raw consumption, their living conditions promote disease that necessitates pasteurization to kill of pathogens.

From a nutritional perspective, the differences in diet also play a significant role. Raw, grass fed cow's milk contains a number of health-promoting components that you simply cannot get from pasteurized CAFO milk.

The grain- and sugar-based diets of CAFO cows alter their digestive health and the nutritional composition of the milk. According to a 2015 study⁷ in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, children who drink raw milk have lower rates of viral and respiratory tract infections, including regular colds. According to the authors:

"Early life consumption of raw cow's milk reduced the risk of manifest respiratory infections and fever by about 30 percent … [T]he public health impact of minimally processed but 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."

As evidenced in other studies, they confirmed that raw milk boosts immune function and lowers inflammation, as revealed by reductions in C-reactive protein levels among raw milk drinkers. Raw milk also contains:

Healthy bacteria (probiotics) that nourish your gut microbiome	Beneficial raw fats, amino acids, and proteins in a highly  bioavailable form, all 100% digestible
More than 60 digestive enzymes, growth factors and immunoglobulins (antibodies). These enzymes are destroyed during pasteurization, making pasteurized milk harder to digest	Vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K in highly bioavailable forms.  Also has a balanced blend of minerals (calcium, magnesium,  phosphorus and iron) the absorption of which is enhanced by live lactobacilli
Phosphatase, an enzyme that aids and assists in the absorption of calcium in your bones, and lipase enzyme, which helps to hydrolyze and absorb fats	Healthy unoxidized cholesterol
High amounts of omega-3 fats while being low in inflammatory omega-6	Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which has a number of  health-promoting  benefits, including anti-cancer activity

Is Raw Milk Dangerous?

While the authors suggest that raw milk may have health hazards that need to be overcome, such fears are vastly overblown, and their views are probably just reflecting the official propaganda against raw milk, which appears to be more about protecting the CAFO dairy industry than protecting consumers against truly dangerous products.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) insist that raw milk will increase your risk of death and disease, but Europe — where raw milk consumption is far more common — is not experiencing this issue, and foodborne illness statistics offer no support for such fears whatsoever. In fact, research⁸ by Dr. Ted Beals shows you're 35,000 times more likely to get sick from any other food than raw milk.

Both the FDA and USDA warn that raw milk can carry disease-causing bacteria, — completely ignoring and overlooking the fact that these bacteria are the result of industrial farming practices that lead to diseased animals. Healthy animals raised on pasture simply will not harbor dangerous amounts of pathogenic bacteria. The only way their raw milk warning would make sense is if it specified that you should never drink unpasteurized CAFO milk, as that could indeed be disastrous.

Grass fed milk, on the other hand, rarely ever poses a health risk when consumed raw, provided the producer is following good, sanitary practices, and organic dairy farms are required to follow stricter protocols in this regard. An investigation by Mark McAfee, CEO of Organic Pastures Dairy — which included a FOIA request to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for data on deaths claimed to be related to raw milk — revealed:⁹

·        There have been no reported deaths from raw milk in California

·        The two deaths the CDC lists as being related to raw milk were actually due to illegal Mexican bathtub cheese, and not raw milk produced in the U.S.

·        The last people to die from milk died from contaminated pasteurized milk

·        According to a Cornell study performed on CDC data, 1,100 illnesses were linked to raw milk between 1973 and 2009. Meanwhile, 422,000 illnesses were caused by pasteurized milk. While no one died from raw milk, there were at least 50 deaths from pasteurized milk or pasteurized cheese

Research Exonerates High-Fat Cheese

As with whole dairy, research into the health effects of cheese have come to exonerating conclusions as well. As reported by Joanna Maricato, an analyst at New Nutrition Business, in 2015:¹⁰

"In the past, studies focused on analyzing individual nutrients and their effects on the body. Now, there is a growing tendency to look at foods and food groups as a whole … As a consequence, amazing results are appearing from studies on dairy and particularly cheese, proving that the combination of nutrients in cheese has many promising health benefits that were never considered in the past."

For example, research published in 2016 found eating high-fat cheese helps improve your health by raising your high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.¹¹ Higher HDL levels are thought to be protective against metabolic diseases and heart disease. Nearly 140 adults were enrolled in the 12-week study to investigate the biological effects of full-fat cheese.

Divided into three groups, the first two were told to eat either 80 grams of high-fat or reduced fat cheese each day. The third group ate 90 grams of bread and jam each day, with no cheese. None of the groups saw any significant changes in their low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, but the high-fat cheese group increased their HDLs.

Another study¹² published that same year showed that cheese consumption helps prevent fatty liver and improves triglyceride and cholesterol levels — parameters used to gauge your cardiovascular disease risk. Studies have also found that full-fat cheese can be useful for weight management.¹³ In one, they found it helps ramp up your metabolism, thereby reducing your obesity risk.¹⁴

Roquefort cheese in particular has been linked to cardiovascular health and improved longevity, courtesy of its anti-inflammatory properties.^15,16 Cheese — especially when made from the milk of grass-pastured animals — is also an excellent source of several nutrients that are important for health, including:

·        High-quality protein and amino acids

·        High-quality saturated fats and omega-3 fats

·        Vitamins and minerals, including calcium, zinc, phosphorus, vitamins A, D, B2 (riboflavin) and B12

·        Vitamin K2 (highest amounts can be found in Gouda, Brie, Edam. Other cheeses with lesser, but significant, levels of K2: Cheddar, Colby, hard goat cheese, Swiss and Gruyere)

·        CLA, a powerful cancer-fighter and metabolism booster

Butter and Fermented Raw Dairy Are Superior Choices

While raw, whole milk provides plenty of valuable health benefits, it is still high in natural sugars, and could easily throw you out of ketosis if you're on a cyclical ketogenic diet. You can still reap the benefits of raw dairy, though, by including cheese, butter and fermented products such as kefir or yogurt made from raw, grass fed milk.

Personally, I go through anywhere from half to a full pound of raw butter every week, typically on sweet potatoes that I consume after my strength training sessions. Studies have linked butter consumption to a number of health benefits, including a lower risk of heart disease, cancer, arthritis, osteoporosis, asthma and obesity. It also promotes thyroid health and good digestion, and supports fertility and growth and development in children.

Raw, organic yogurt and kefir have the added benefits of being lower in sugar and providing you with high amounts of probiotics, both of which are side effects of the fermentation process. Store bought yogurt and kefir really cannot compare though. For starters, they're typically chockfull of added sugars, which nourish disease-causing bacteria in your gut. And, since they are pasteurized, commercial yogurt and kefir contain only the probiotics added back in afterward. These facts apply to both organic and nonorganic brands.

Many may also contain artificial sweeteners, colors, flavors and additives, none of which will do your gut and overall health any favors. The good news is yogurt and kefir are both easy to make at home, provided you have access to raw milk. For guidance and instructions, see "How to Make Fresh Homemade Yogurt." If for whatever reason you still prefer to buy ready-made products, the Cornucopia Institute's Yogurt Report¹⁷ can guide you toward the healthiest commercial alternatives.

Chemicals Foods HARM Our Children Pediatricians FINALLY Admit !!

Chemicals in food may harm children, pediatricians' group says - FINALLY !

 7-23-2018  By Roni Caryn Rabin, New York Times

A major pediatricians’ group is urging families to limit the use of plastic food containers, cut down on processed meat during pregnancy and consume more whole fruits and vegetables rather than processed food. Such measures would lower children’s exposures to chemicals in food and food packaging that are tied to health problems such as obesity, the group says.

The American Academy of Pediatrics issued the guidelines in a statement and scientific technical report Monday. The group joins other medical and advocacy groups that have expressed concern about the growing body of scientific evidence indicating that certain chemicals that enter foods may interfere with the body’s natural hormones in ways that may affect long-term growth and development.  The pediatricians’ group, which represents some 67,000 children’s doctors in the country, is also calling for more rigorous testing and regulation of thousands of chemicals used as food additives or indirectly added to foods when they are used in manufacturing or leach from packaging and plastics. Among the chemicals that raised particular concern are nitrates and nitrites, which are used as preservatives, primarily in meat products; phthalates, which are used to make plastic packaging; and bisphenols, used in the lining of metal cans for canned food products. Also of concern to the pediatricians are perfluoroalkyl chemicals, or PFCs, used in grease-proof paper and packaging, and perchlorates, an anti-static agent used in plastic packaging.

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“The good news is there are safe and simple steps people can take right now to limit exposures, and they don’t have to break the bank,” said Dr. Leonardo Trasande, the lead author of the statement and chief of the division of environmental pediatrics at New York University’s School of Medicine.

“Avoiding canned food is a great way to reduce your bisphenol exposure in general, and avoiding packaged and processed food is a good way to avoid phthalates exposures,” Trasande said. He also suggested wrapping foods in wax paper in lieu of plastic wrap.

Jonathan Corley, a spokesman for the American Chemistry Council, a trade association, said: “Chemicals are critical to protecting the quality and integrity of food, help in the safe transportation and storage of food.” He said that many of the chemicals referred to in the AAP statement did not act as endocrine disrupters “in typical uses and at typical exposure levels,” but did not provide scientific references to support that contention.

In a separate development Monday, scientists at the Univ. of California, San Francisco, who used a novel method for scanning blood said they had found dozens of chemicals called environmental organic acids, or EOAs, in pregnant women.

EOAs, which include bisphenol-A, have chemical structures similar to hormones, meaning they may disrupt the endocrine system of the fetus and interfere with development. Researchers involved in the study, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, said some of the chemicals had never before been documented in the blood of pregnant women, including two chemicals that are linked to genetic defects, fetal damage and cancer.

Among the other chemicals detected in the pregnant women were an estrogenic compound used in food-related plastic products, plastic pipes and water bottles, as well as a compound banned for use as a diet drug by the Food and Drug Administration decades ago because of the risks but still used in cosmetics, pesticides and as a coloring agent in industrial processes, said Aolin Wang, one of the study’s authors.

Infants and children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of chemicals in food in part because they eat more food per pound of body weight than adults. Perhaps more significantly, children’s metabolic systems and key organ systems are still developing and maturing, so hormone disruptions can potentially cause lasting changes.

“Because hormones act at low concentrations in our blood, it is not surprising that even low-level exposures to endocrine disrupters can contribute to disease,” said Laura N. Vandenberg, an assistant professor in the department of environmental health sciences at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst’s School of Public Health, who spoke on behalf of the Endocrine Society.

Many of the chemicals described in the pediatrics report have been shown to interfere with normal hormone function “by mimicking or blocking the actions of hormones that are responsible for brain development, development of the sex organs and normal metabolic functions,” she said.

Child obesity in the United States has more than tripled since the 1970s, with nearly one in five children ages 6-19 considered obese; the prevalence of developmental disorders in children increased from the 1990s to the mid-2000s; and rates of diagnoses of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes among children and teenagers are also on the rise, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The AAP statement was particularly critical of a regulatory process by which the FDA designates food additives “generally recognized as safe,” citing a 2010 Government Accountability Office review of the program that determined “the FDA is not able to ensure the safety of existing or new additives through this approval mechanism.”

An FDA spokeswoman, Megan McSeveney, said the agency does not comment on specific statements or studies, but said that food safety “is at the core of the agency’s mission to protect and promote public health for our nation’s consumers.”

She said FDA regulations define “safety” for substances in food to mean “there is reasonable scientific certainty that the substance is not harmful when used as intended,” and that applies to food additives, color additives and substances that are generally recognized as safe as well as substances that are used in producing, packing, preparing or processing food that “are expected to become components of food.”

“If new information (such as published studies and adverse event reports) suggests that a substance already in use may be unsafe (whether it is an additive or otherwise exempt), or if consumption levels have changed in ways that could affect safety, the FDA can conduct further studies to review whether the use can still be considered safe,” McSeveney said in an email. The pediatrics group suggests that doctors recommend families take the following steps in order to reduce chemical exposures to children:

— Prioritize the consumption of fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables whenever possible.

— Avoid processed meats, especially during pregnancy.

— Avoid microwaving food or beverages — including infant formula and pumped breast milk — in plastic containers, and do not put plastic food containers in the dishwasher.

— Use alternatives to plastic, like glass or stainless steel, whenever possible.

— Check the recycling code on the bottom of products and avoid plastics with recycling codes 3, 6 and 7, which may contain phthalates, styrene and bisphenols, unless they are labeled “biobased” or “greenware,” indicating they are made from corn and do not contain bisphenols.

— Wash hands before handling food and drinks, and wash all fruits and vegetables that are not peeled.