Customer Reviews

Devil in the Milk: Illness, Health and the Politics of A1 and A2 Milk

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Those comments were done after my second reading of "Devil in the Milk" of Keith Woodford:

Is a celestial read, despite the title.
If i was given the chance to rename it , it would be: "Shortcut to Milk Wisdom".
Because it makes clear the choices that we have. "I need to buy this, wont buy that anymore", that what i though shortly after.
Is a rarity that a book can do that: change the views of a food group, quick and forever.

The book is thick, took me several days to read. Even took me several days to re-read, to see if i did not missed any fine print (& to better re-fit the parts, knowing the whole).
The book provides a balanced read, a lot of details and covers all the basics to make better choices. Is not a "bible", but is stands on his own. I find the author position careful and even naif at times (when dealing will Fonterra and his mercenaries). But he learned :)

Is not a closed book, as the author provides a number of sites to the interested reader to dig deeper, according to his/her own interests.
Even the huge scientific bibliography is able to keep professionals busy for years.

References are also given at several points of the book, so more inquisitive minds can check the research done.

As seen in the postscript by the author, this is a very actual subject, that took him 3 years to write, yet is still changing.
Quality research is needed, and the author points examples of experiments that needs to be done to make milk science move on.

The diary industry is more interest in burying this subject, to keep milk sells going undisturbed.
So, they want to cut money for A2 research, giving it instead to cholesterol, despite A1 milk in tests done, could produce more damage than cholesterol.

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The author points that if consumers want A2 milk that have to stand up, and shout and push and pull and beg and demand (my words). Or else... nothing changes.

So, i add my little effort to his, and thus my review.
We need A2 milk, better milk labeling, more research for A2 milk, more truth in showing the research done. Clearly we cant trust the diary industry or their mercenaries scientists (my words).
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The book is worth buying, in fact could even be your best buy in years. A book that changes your view of the milk/yogurt/cheese choices, for the better, once and forever.

People that SHOULD NOT read this book:
a) people that buy the cheapest foods/drinks. Those who buy based on taste & those who buy based on $. Those people are helpless, great candidates for McDonalds and transgenic foods (OGM foods). RIP.

b) people that cannot think by themselves & rely on "food pyramids" or "FDA" for advice.
Or Mr & Mrs Conservative, that follow the "system" and like public relations speeches/propaganda.

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People that CAN USE THIS BOOK (put it in practice):

A) People that want the best milk & want to know "why" is the best milk;
B) People that make their own yogurts or their own cheeses (Gottschall SCD users);
C) People that eat cheeses; or casein in sport drinks; or milk powders;
D) People that eat products that have diary as part of its content;
E) People that have digestive problems, leaking gut, ulcers, Crohn, colitis, IBD, allergies, etc;
F) people (or parents that have family with): mental problems (in general); autism; schizophrenia; parkinson, allergies, etc;
G) Couples that are thinking of having babies;
H) Mothers that are breast feeding:
I) Couples with small kids;
J) People that avoid all diary, but have people who they love that eat them. Offer them this book. Break the chain of ignorance.

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The health issues around milk are important as milk is widely consumed. Despite that the diary industry/food authorities makes propaganda saying all milk, heavily processed is beyond suspicious...

Really?
No, is not. A big part of the book is separating the many heavy system lies from shy truths.

The book tells the story of Corran McLachlan, Howard Paterson, the A2 corporation and the author himself, fighting against the diary golias (Fonterra and alikes) that want to keep the dark on this issues.

So, do your part, don't let this important information get lost among FDA or Fonterra propaganda.
Search for A2 products. Eat them in reasonable amounts and avoid the A1 products. Is simple. If you are adventurous ask your milk company what they do with the milk.
Do you know what they will reply?

They said to me: "Is not of your business".

So i choose A2 milk products, the least processed i can find. I don't need big milk companies A1 lousy products.
I would like also to make my own goat yogurt, Gottschall-style, but at the moment cant find full fat goat milk.
Still if the world does not end first, i have hopes one day i have a few goats and can have a quality product.
So, until then i plan to learn more about yogurt making (how to reduce lactose, how to measure lactose, etc).

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The author mentioned some info about pasteurization and heart disease that i think are important and i will try to find more info about that.

Thanks Mr. Keith Woodford, for your many efforts in bringing us the A2 milk truth.
5/5 stars.

An excellent book, nicely written and a pleasure to read. Good science and good explanations of what we've learned about A1 and A2 milk.

A1 is the newer milk in an evolutionary sense, with the mutation responsible arising somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 years ago, at a time when cattle were being taken north into Europe. A2 milk is the original structure. All goat milk, most sheep milk, and some cow milk is A2. In the United States, though, most of the milk produced has a very high proportion of A1 milk.

The danger from A1 milk is in its protein structure. The beta-casein in A1 milk has a structure that allows a short molecule called beta-casomorphin-7, or BCM-7, to split off during digestion. This small protein is the "devil in the milk", and it can cause various problems, ranging from juvenile diabetes, autism, schizophrenia, allergies, to auto-immune diseases such as MS and Parkinson's.

The evidence is quite compelling. The conclusion is that we should not drink A1 cow milk, or eat products made from it. While the percentage of children with immediate effects is small, the consequences are severe for affected individuals. Only 2/10ths of 1% will get juvenile diabetes, only 1 in 150 are autistic, a small percentage have Celiac or Crohn's: but if not drinking milk will prevent all of these, it is hard to see how it is worth taking the risk. (Also, though the author doesn't discuss this, there is good reason to think that many cases of ADD/ADHD are milder reactions to A1 milk than full-blown autism.)

For adults, A1 milk is correlated with much higher rates of heart attack, schizophrenia, diabetes, MS, Parkinsons. So same thing: why take a chance on being one of the affected individuals. In Western society most people have a high degree of degeneration as they age, and there is good reason to thing that A1 milk contributes to this for everyone.

My recommendation after reading this is to only use certified A2 cows milk, or stick to sheep and goat's milk.

The dairy industry doesn't want to hear this, as there is a cost for them to switch to all A2 cows. Nonetheless, it is essential for public health that this conversion be done as quickly as possible.

This book confirms what I have thought about factory farmed milk and why I always felt New Zealand butter and other products from there have been much better.

I grew up on New Zealand Butter and started to fall ill when my parents changed from NZ butter to European butter in the late 1980s

Keith Woodford puts his points across in a historical fashion but this does not detract from the book. It is however not a book you can just delve into It needs to be read from the beginning to appreciate the full insights of his research and the attitude of the big food and government who are in league with each other or rather have a relationship to money and its generation which has no regard to peoples' health.
It has confirmed why I felt goat milk was less mucus producing, and has been a very worthwhile purchase. It has informed my health choice and my ability to choose products that are helpful rather than those which are harmful to my health. I am a doctor and I have always known that you are what you eat and if you eat the wrong stuff you do not live up to your potential.

There are dirty politics involving food, it is not widely known that Philip Morris, the tobacco manufacturer, has upto a third of the world's food supply under its command, through Kraft, Kenco, Nabisco and other such companies.

This has obvious implications in our food supply and I am grateful for his book I would buy it if you are interested in learning how our food is now controlled by some of the richest and most corrupt people in society who do not care about us in the slightest and care more for their profits.

I heartily recommend this book to anyone who is concerned about their health, and their well being and wishes to understand why people are getting worse rather than better in this so called advanced world of ours and why diseases are rampaging through us.

The link between a protein in the milk we drink and a range of serious illnesses from autism to schizophrenia make an important case against milk for any health library. Evidence published in more than 100 scientific papers comes together under one cover in a title considering links between milk consumption and the incidence of Type 1 diabetes and other ailments. A compelling, frightening survey.

Woodford has written a pretty intriguing book with a fair amount of evidence for his hypothesis, however, his style can be somewhat excruciating at times. He has the tone of an out of touch college professor who isn't sure how much his students understand him and so sometimes it seems as if Woodford is repeating himself too much or else he gives way more information than necessary on tangential topics. For instance, several times he quotes the obituaries of different individuals at length in order for us to know that person when such information is not really necessary for the construction of his argument nor for the narrative of the A1/A2 milk controversy in NZ that he attempts to construct. Basically, this book's content is interesting and worth considering but his style is not very compelling.

I am in love with this book.

The author is so deeply knowledgeable about the subject matter, and his writing style is so succinct. For a scientist is it satisfying to read, and I'm sure that non-scientists will also enjoy his tidy and well-explained arguments.

I cannot figure out why this book has not yet caused a huge scandal to erupt in this country. It is so clear that A1 milk is dangerous compared to A2 milk. I was deeply saddened to discover, upon finally asking, that the farmers who supply our raw milk have Holsteins. Now I'm considering driving an extra hour to a farm that has Jerseys (and tastier milk, interestingly). If only we could get A2 certified milk in the US!

This is absolutely a must-read for any milk drinker, and for anyone considering a casein-free diet.

A year ago I run into multiple health problem and I (vivid milk product consumer) decided to go no-milk.
After only 2 month all my symptoms (muscle aches, back stiffness, arthritis) magically vanished. I got curious about this effect and looked more into the milk matter. That's how I came across this book. It is excellent reading all around, not just about casomorphin opioid effect.
Gives very good picture of human metabolism and biochemistry in general. I am not 100% convinced in books conclusions, but so is the author.
It makes very potent assumptions , which cannot be ignored and sure requires more research. But keeping in mind my latest personal experience with milk product, I feel strongly that there is fire in this smoke.

Highly Recommended !!

I didn't realize there was so much epidemiological evidence for A1 milk being part of the cause of heart disease, type 1 diabetes, autism and schizophrenia until I read this book. It is both interesting and sad that corporate interests have hidden the truth about this.

I appreciate the author's suggestion to drink goat's milk or A1 milk (if you know for sure it is) as an alternative to blindly eating/drinking any dairy. However I feel that this book makes a huge discovery and more should be done to prove Woodford's hypothesis. So...what next?

I have some interest in "anti-milk" activism related to the US Dairy interests and this is not the slant of the Kindle download I read. The book is about, basically promoting a healthy and evoltionarily older version of cow's milk.

However, the industry in NZ desire to squelch the negative health information that itself discovered related to most European cow's milk, is quite illustrative about the "Got Milk" US Industry, I imagine.