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Organic Milk Significantly Unhealthier Than Regular Milk
A widely accepted view is that organic food is healthier than nonorganic equivalents. Or that at least it is not worse. However, when it comes to dairy milk it's quite a different story. A new book 'Organic Milk Myth' reveals the shocking truth that organic milk is significantly worse for health than regular nonorganic pasteurized milk. This is fully backed up by the latest research.
A widely accepted view is that organic food is healthier than nonorganic equivalents. Or that at least it is not worse. However, when it comes to dairy milk it’s quite a different story. A new book ‘Organic Milk Myth’ reveals the shocking truth that organic milk is significantly worse for health than regular nonorganic pasteurized milk. This is fully backed up by the latest research.
The idea that organic milk is actually much worse for health will sound bizarre to most people, particularly those who pay extra for what they think is a better product. Individuals and families are willing to pay a premium price for organic milk, but only if they think it is healthier. But when you realize that organic milk is quite a lot worse compared to regular milk, it no longer makes sense to pay extra.
But how is it possible that organic pasteurized milk sold in supermarkets is actually worse for health than the equivalent nonorganic variety? One may argue that organic milk may not be much better than regular milk. But it’s quite another matter to say that organic milk is actually much worse for you than regular milk.
Yet all the latest evidence is showing precisely this. Furthermore, UHT milk (Long Life milk) is shown to be even worse for health than organic milk. Astoundingly, about 80% of organic milk sold in the world today is UHT milk.
In some countries, such as Spain, Belgium, and France over 95% of all milk sales are UHT. In other countries, sales of UHT are growing fast, ranging from 15% to 95%. The milk industry likes this because the longer shelf life of UHT makes the supply chain from cow to consumer more economical. This also has government support - there is a worldwide trend to switch up to 90% of all milk over to UHT by 2020 in the belief that this is better for the environment (less refrigeration means lower global warming emissions).
Research carried out by Rusty Bishop, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, shows that even in countries such as Canada and the USA (where UHT sales are considerably less than half of all milk sales) “over 80% of organic milk is sold as organic UHT milk.”
UHT milk (both organic and nonorganic) is significantly worse for health for a variety of reasons. It is known, for example, that UHT is much higher in damaged whey proteins compared to regular milk - this in turn is a major cause of brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease. There is no shortage of evidence to support this.
For example, in a study published by the American Journal of Epidemiology in January 2007, shows a strong link between milk consumption and Parkinson’s Disease. Over 130,000 people were analysed and it was found that the people who consumed the most milk had a frightening 70 percent higher risk of getting the disease.
But why is organic milk worse than regular milk? Isn’t organic milk meant to have less pesticide residues and no antibiotics? Isn’t organic milk meant to be better for the environment and kinder to cows? When the evidence is examined, an astonishing picture emerges. Organic milk has no less pesticides and antibiotics than regular milk. Furthermore, the vast majority of organic cows (in the world generally) are treated no better than nonorganic cows. They are kept in confined spaces in cow sheds most of their lives, and the belief that organic cows are allowed out to pasture most of the time is very much a myth.
When it comes to the environment, the latest research is clearly showing that organic milk is significantly worse for the environment in terms of energy consumption and global warming emissions. This is so because the supply chain for organic milk requires greater energy expenditure (pint for pint) in terms of transportation, warehousing and distribution. Organic milk, which is mostly produced by smaller farms, simply cannot match the economies of scale that apply to regular pasteurized milk.