David:

>
> This seems all well and good but aren't the proteins that constitute human
> tissue and bovine tissue just as different (as the milk) on the molecular
> scale? In fact, aren't the proteins that constitute human tissue also
> different from the glutinous ones found in grains and the sulfurous ones
> found in chicken eggs, and those in nuts, etc.?

The point is that humans are adapted to proteins that are only in
"original" foods, i.e., in foods that have been consumed during the
last few million years. Since animal milk appeared only recently (9000
years ago), the proteins are not metabolized correctly (proteins are
not the only issue; lactose malabsorption is another one). Conversely,
eggs and nuts have been part of the human diet for a much longer
period of time.

> And if so, we seem to be
> left with two possibilities about the suitability of dairy: (1) Either
> eating cow flesh (or any other animal flesh for that matter) or any
> protein-containing
> "food" is inadvisable because of the foreign nature of the inherent protein
> or (2) although there may be reasons that dairy products (whether from cow
> or goat or whatever) are poor choices for the human system, the fact that
> they contain foreign proteins is not one of them. Of course, if there's any
> truth to the first possibility, then the anopsological claim that non-human
> flesh (but not non-human milk) is an appropriate human food has some
> obvious problems.
>

Burger's idea is the following: the body is adapted to a certain
number of proteins. Suppose a molecule X is different, but close
enough to an "original" protein. Then, X will pass through the
intestinal barrier, go through some transformations, but, at some
stage, becomes unusable: thus, it will accumulate in our cells and,
after a few years, cause auto-immune diseases (because our immune
system will attack "healthy" cells which contain abnormal molecules).
X can be an "original" molecule denatured by cooking, a protein coming
from cow's milk or a protein coming from the flesh of a mammal.

[Remark: every food contains proteins, even vegetables and fruits; so,
banning animal flesh on the basis that it contains proteins is not
logical, unless one doesn't eat at all]


Best wishes,

Jean-Louis