20
Mar
2014
Myths and minutiae of milk (Image:Eye Tiffany Shop ubiquitous/rex features)
In her new book, milk, food historian deborah valenze gives an exhaustive and
sometimes intriguing account of all things milky Roman myth has it that the
milky way was created after a peculiar domestic dispute.As the goddess
Tiffany Rings UK
Sale juno slept, her husband jupiter snuck up and planted his
illegitimate son hercules at her breast.With just a few droplets of his
wife's"Elixir of immortality", his otherwise mortal son could be granted
divinity and eternal life. Yet hercules startled juno awake and, as she pulled
away, her breast milk sprinkled the heavens and earth.Those droplets grew into
lilies below, and formed the stars of the milky way above. This is just one of
the many myths about the divine power of the white stuff that historian deborah
valenze explores in milk.In occasionally tedious detail, she also tours the
religious, social, economic, medical and scientific forces that have elevated
milk to its staple status throughout much of the modern world.From early
religious celebrations of milk in mongolian and indian culture to the modern
debates over raw milk and the use of recombinant bovine growth hormone in
industrial dairy farms to increase production, milk is certainly comprehensive
in scope. Valenze shows that despite our modern day unease with adults consuming
human breast milk, it was often recommended in the past as a curative for a
range of ailments.And while the medical establishment is firmly behind the
supremacy of breastfeeding for infants today, for the past 300 years medical
opinion varied widely. As for cow's milk, we learn that, despite the fact that
goats were more abundant and cheaper to keep, the greater versatility of cows
and their products helped their milk rise to prominence.Valenze shows how in the
1700s some physicians recommended a cow's milk diet to treat conditions from
melancholy to infertility.Fresh milk was also one of many remedies for
dyspepsia(Though not, she notes, the preferred choice of charles darwin, who
suffered with the condition). After the late 1800s, widespread use of
pasteurisation led to a new era of milk safety, but valenze makes the case that
it wasn't only louis pasteur who understood the antimicrobial benefits of
heat.Indeed, german agricultural chemist franz ritter von soxhlet devised a
working pasteurisation system in the same era, but as valenze notes in a rare
moment of levity: "He remains obscure in the annals of history, probably because
his surname could not possibly be turned into a technical-Sounding noun. " Milk
contains plenty of fascinating facts and anecdotes, and raises intriguing
questions about the gap between milk's high cost of production and low retail
price, and whether lactose intolerance is a biological norm.Unfortunately, the
results of such clearly exhaustive research are soured somewhat as these
questions about present-Day issues are left unanswered. Well it may be true that
the a1-A2 debate isn't publicly getting a lot of Traction, but scientific
research is certainly verifying the health risks associated with a1 milk because
of the dangerous peptide bcm7 it produces in the human digestive process.A1 milk
has now even been identified as a risk factor in sudden infant death syndrome if
it is drunk by a breast-Feeding mother.And in australia where pure a2 milk is
widely available, why are sales taking off despite a big price premium?Because
it works.A lot of people diagnosed as suffering lactose intolerance can drink
the stuff without a problem, and parents of autistic children report remarkable
benefits from switching them to a2.Before dismissing all this as"Nonsense", I
would recommend reading Prof Keith Woodford's book"Devil in the milk"Which
explains the science on this topic, and why the dairy industry and even food
safety officials do not want this debate to get"Traction". I have read
woodford's book.Thats why i am dismissing it as nonsense.Much of the 'science'
in the book is so bad it is laugh out loud funny.Its obvious in many places that
woodford doesn't understand basic biochemistry and that he couldn't even be
bothered double-Checking some of his opinions against the literature.Its also
clear from his book, and from having personally met and talked with him, that
woodford is a conspiracy theorist.There is no conspiracy by the dairy industry
or food safety people to suppress this stuff.It simply doesn't stand up to
scrutiny. There is a difference between dismissing a scientific hypothesis
as"Nonsense"And actually showing what is wrong with it, which no one has yet
done with regard to the a1-A2 milk hypothesis despite the huge resources
available to dairying interests.In fact they have hardly even attempted to
respond to prof woodford's book, which they undoubtedly would have done if they
could challenge it scientifically.They have preferred to remain silent.A major
research trial designed to test the a1-A2 hypothesis(The so-Called fad trial)Is
sometimes cited tulia.co.uk as proving there is no
real difference between a1 and a2, but that trial was later revealed as being
fatally flawed.That was eight years ago, and he has since moved firmly into the
a2 camp.While the evidence for the a2 case increases, no one has produced good
evidence-Based argument to controvert it.
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- http://maternitydresses.ndmscorp.net/2014/03/19/cocktail-dresses-uk-and-organza-complete-with-a-black-satin-belt-and-embroidered-flowers/
- http://www.moje-rodina.cz/blog/maternitydresses/nike-free-run-2-more-flexibility-to-pinch-hit-for-his-starting
- http://maternitydresses.beeplog.de/blog.pl?blogid=699044
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