This appears to be quite important for those who 
have some degree of intolerance to milk and for 
those concerned to prevent type 1 diabetes.

Here's the URL:
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/perspective/stories/2007/2050183.htm#transcript

Keith
==========================
Is this just another beat-up about milk?

NO. This is a serious book about serious issues.

But it's also a book of hope and opportunity.

It is a story about how there are two types of milk:
A1 and A2.

Just as Food Standards Australia/ New Zealand 
says on its website: milk is a safe component of 
the diet for most people.

But what about the rest of us.

My book sets out how there is a problem with a 
protein in what we call A1 milk. This protein is 
linked to various disease conditions, including 
Type 1 diabetes, that's the early on set form; 
heart disease, and also many of the symptoms 
of autism. And also milk intolerance.

What I have done is bring together evidence from 
more than 100 scientific papers, and in language 
that non scientists can understand.

I have also set out how the dairy industry, in 
particular across the Tasman where I live, has 
not disclosed everything they know.

A long time ago all cows milk was A2. Just as 
human milk is of the A2 type.

But then a natural mutation occurred in some 
European cattle. They started producing a slightly 
different protein called A1 beta-casein. When 
digested, this can form a fragment called 
beta-casomorphin7.

I call this fragment the 'milk devil'. There's 
absolutely no doubt that it is a strong narcotic.

Fortunately, for most of us the milk devil is excreted 
out the back end. But for some people, including 
young babies and anyone with a permeable stomach 
or intestine, it can get through into the blood. And 
then it can cause mayhem.

There is lots of evidence.

To start with, countries with high intake of A1 beta casein 
are the same countries with high levels of Type 1 diabetes,
 That includes Australia, New Zealand, USA, and Britain. 
But Iceland, where the cows are mainly A2, has much 
lower diabetes. And so does the Island of Guernsey, where 
the cattle are nearly all A2. The Masai people of Kenya 
have no Type 1 diabetes despite drinking huge quantities 
of milk. But it is all A2. And in southern Europe, where 
intake of A1 beta-casein is quite moderate the incidence 
of Type 1 diabetes is much lower than in northern Europe, 
except of course, for the low A1 consuming countries 
such as Iceland and the Island of Guersney.

And it is the same story for heart disease.

Statistically, the relationships are incredibly strong. The 
probabilty of it being by chance is remote.

There is also evidence from animals.

Here in Australia, Professor Julie Campbell from 
Queensland University led a team of scientists that 
fed A1 to some rabbits and A2 to other rabbits. The 
rabbits fed A1 developed arterial plaque. But the 
rabbits fed A2 did not. She concluded that A1 beta-casein 
causes heart disease.

And when Bob Elliott at Auckland University fed A1 
beta-casein to rodents he found that about half become 
diabetic whereas those fed A2 did not.

There are still some pieces of the jigsaw that need 
more research. But the big picture seems very clear. 
And the known biochemistry and pharmacology of 
beta-casomorphin7 helps explain what we are seeing.

So what is the solution? One solution is to breed the 
A1 gene out of our cows. But it will take about 10 
years to get a national herd that is pure A2. In 
New Zealand we already have all our breeding bulls 
typed as to whether they are A1 or A2. In Australia 
the industry remains in denial.

But you can buy A2 milk in the supermarket. It is 
available in more than 1000 supermarkets and stores 
across Australia. Just look around, you'll find it.

Keith Woodford
Professor of Farm Management and Agribusiness
Lincoln University, New Zealand

Publication title: Devil in the Milk
 Author: Keith Woodford
 Publisher: craig potton publishing
ISBN 978 1 877333 70