There's casein and then there's casein. The difference between the casein in the milk of "old fashioned" breeds of cattle such as Jerseys and that of modern high-production breeds such as the Holstein is exactly the presence of those opioids. The whole story is laid out in a book called The Devil in the Milk by Keith Woodford. I'm going to quote from the review by Thomas Cowan, MD, who also wrote the forward to the second edition:
"As you may or may not know, all proteins are long chains of amino acids that have many “branches” coming off different parts of the main chain. Beta casein is a 229 chain of amino acids with a proline at number 67 – at least the proline is there in “old- fashioned” cows. These cows with proline at number 67 are called A2 cows and are the older breeds of cows (e.g. Jerseys, Asian and African cows). Some five thousand years ago, a mutation occurred in this proline amino acid, converting it to histidine. Cows that have this mutated beta casein are called A1 cows, and include breeds like Holstein.
"The side chain that comes off this amino acid is called BCM 7. BCM 7 is a small protein (called a peptide) that is a very powerful opiate and has some undesirable effects on animals and humans. What’s important here is that proline has a strong bond to BCM 7 which helps keep it from getting into the milk, so that essentially no BCM 7 is found in the urine, blood or GI tract of old-fashioned A2 cows. On the other hand, histidine, the mutated protein, only weakly holds on to BCM 7, so it is liberated in the GI tract of animals and humans who drink A1 cow milk, and it is found in significant quantity in the blood and urine of these animals.
"This opiate BCM 7 has been shown in the research outlined in the book to cause neurological impairment in animals and people exposed to it, especially autistic and schizophrenic changes. BCM 7 interferes with the immune response, and injecting BCM 7 in animal models has been shown to provoke Type 1 diabetes. Dr. Woodford presents research showing a direct correlation between a population’s exposure to A1 cow’s milk and incidence of auto-immune disease, heart disease (BCM 7 has a pro-inflammatory effect on the blood vessels), type 1 diabetes, autism, and schizophrenia. What really caught my eye is that BCM 7 selectively binds to the epithelial cells in the mucus membranes (i.e. the nose) and stimulates mucus secretion.
"For reasons which are unclear historically, once this mutation occurred many thousand years ago, the A1 beta casein gene spread rapidly in many countries in the western world. Some have speculated that the reason for this wide spread of A1 cows is that the calves drinking A1 cows milk and exposed to the opiate BCM7 are more docile than their traditional brethren (in effect, they were stoned). This is only speculation, of course. But what is true is that basically all American dairy cows have this mutated beta-casein and are predominantly A1 cows."
That's from Cowan's website, specifically http://fourfoldhealing.com/2009/03/10/march-2009-newsletter/.
-----Original Message-----
From: Ron Hoggan <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tue, Dec 8, 2009 12:37 am
Subject: Re: Latest On Dietary Acid/Base Balance Being Crucial
Hi Ken,
There are some very good reasons that both athletes and those pathetically lacking in fitness should avoid casein. First, milk is a food designed by nature or evolution, depending on your paradigm, to feed infants. Second, casein contains eight opioid sequences such as have been shown to down-regulate facets of the human immune system and alter blood flow patterns in the brain. Third, several peptides from casein resist digestion and have sequence homology with some self tissues and when macromolecular leakage into the bloodstream occurs, a process called molecular mimicry is triggered to incite autoimmunity.
If the researchers recommending these proteins are not familiar with or not persuaded by this research, then they will likely recommend such nutritional strategies. However, I have dealt with two body builders who insisted on the value of their casein/whey powders but who both admitted to feeling better and performing better after excluding these proteins from their regimens.
Best Wishes,
Ron Hoggan
Ken O'Neill wrote:
> Interesting thread. While off topic of that thread, I'd like to pose a
> question that vexes me.
>
> Cordain eschews casein in the diet, as do organizations supporting persons
> with certain inflammatory conditions. As far as I can tell, they share in
> common an orientation looking at a spectrum ranging from pathological
> degenerative conditions on the one hand, and the other extreme of some vague
> notion of normative health - as absence of disease or some construct of the
> life of noble savage hunter/scavengers.
>
> Other researchers strongly advocate casein, even advocating dietary ratios
> of 80% whey isolate to 20% casein (the inverse of naturally occurring
> proportions found in milk). Whey, like soy isolate, absorbs rapidly; casein,
> on the other hand, is slow in breaking down and absorption. For peak
> performance, high intensity sports (not aerobic events such as marathons),
> post-workout recovery includes protein synthesis - and nutrient timing
> approaches work to maintain positive nitrogen balance for 24 hours or longer
> post-workout.
>
> In principle, Paleo type diets go a long way in satisfying nutritional
> requirements pursuant to maintaining an anabolic physiological condition.In
> fact, diets advocating nutritional approaches similar to Paleo but without
> the Paleo construct go well back in Physical Culture. Prior to Atkins, both
> Vince "the Iron Guru" Gironda and developer of the first commercial protein
> product, Irwin Johnson (later known as Rheo H Blair) advocated a casein/egg
> protein powder used mixed with unpasteurized dairy cream or unpasteurized
> 1/2 and 1/2 (in Southern California of the 60s, Alta Dena raw milk was
> available throughout the State) - producing bigger muscles and low bodyfat.
> Mauro di Pasquali, MD, developed the Anabolic Diet in the early 90s to
> optimize training outcomes without steroids.
>
> I'd sure appreciate comments and insight concerning the casein debate. Could
> it be that increasingly physically trained and fitness results in
> physiological/metabolic conditions more in line with genetic potentialities
> established long ago. Could it be the normal degenerating person, downwardly
> spiraling from sedentary to sedate, exhibits an inferior metabolism
> rendering casein problematic by symptom? In other words, is casein the
> problem or is it our pathetic lacks of fitness? Why does it benefit athletes
> and not the average man on the street?
>
> best regards,
>
> Ken O'Neill
> Wimberley, TX
>
>
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