More Helpful Fatty Acids Found in Organic Milk

[Lurch]

I guess I may drink organic whole milk from now on.
I used to drink 1% milk but the trouble with that is, it has synthetic Vitamin A added, and Vitamin A toxicity affects quite a few people, including me.
That can cause dry skin, eczema, etc.
They say organic milk comes from cows that are fed more than just grains, but also grass, and that makes the Omega 3 to 6 ratio better.
I suppose I might be OK if I just drank conventional whole milk if I eat wild salmon or sardines 2x a week for Omega 3 fats.
The takeaway here is, conventional whole milk isn't a major source of Omega 6 anyway, but it has more Omega 6 than organic milk, or whole milk from grass fed cows.
I was tested for Omega 3 ratio last year and supposedly, I'm in good shape with that.

People that don't drink milk seem to have bones as strong as people that do drink it, so milk isn't a necessary nutrient, IMHO.

Taken from a NY Times article.

More Helpful Fatty Acids Found in Organic Milk

By Kenneth Chang
Dec. 9, 2013

Whole milk from organic dairies contains far more of some of the fatty acids that contribute to a healthy heart than conventional milk, scientists are reporting.
The finding, published Monday in the journal PLOS One, is the most clear-cut instance of an organic food’s offering a nutritional advantage over its conventional counterpart. Studies looking at organic fruits and vegetables have been less conclusive.
Drinking whole organic milk “will certainly lessen the risk factor for cardiovascular disease,” said the study’s lead author, Charles M. Benbrook, a research professor at Washington State University’s Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources.
“All milk is healthy and good for people,” he continued, “but organic milk is better, because it has a more favorable balance of these fatty acids” — omega-3, typically found in fish and flaxseed, versus omega-6, which is abundant in many fried foods like potato chips.
Under government requirements for organic labeling, dairy cows must spend a certain amount of the time in the pasture, eating grassy plants high in omega-3s; conventional milk comes from cows that are mostly fed corn, which is high in omega-6s. Nonorganic cows that graze in pastures also produce milk with greater amounts of omega-3s.
The research was largely funded by Organic Valley, a farm cooperative that sells organic dairy products. But experts not connected with the study said the findings were credible — though they noted that the role of milk in a healthy diet and the influence of fatty acids in preventing or causing cardiovascular disease are far from settled.
“I think this is a very good piece of work,” said Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, a nutritional neuroscientist at the National Institutes of Health.
The researchers looked at 384 samples of organic and conventional whole milk taken over 18 months around the country. Although the total amount of fat was almost the same, the organic milk contained 62 percent more omega-3 fatty acids and 25 percent fewer omega-6s.
The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 in the organic milk was 2.28, much lower than the 5.77 ratio in conventional milk. (The figures do not apply to nonfat milk, which strips away the fatty acids.)
Nutrition experts broadly agree that omega-3 acids offer numerous health benefits. That was the impetus for the United States Department of Agriculture to urge people to eat more seafood when it revised its dietary guidelines in 2010.
But experts disagree sharply whether omega-6 consumption should be reduced.
In ancient times, people ate roughly equal amounts of the two fatty acids. Today most Americans now eat more than 10 times as much omega-6, which is prevalent in certain vegetable oils and thus also fried foods, as omega-3.
A study shows that drinking whole organic milk is more likely to lessen the risk factor for heart disease than conventional milk.
A study shows that drinking whole organic milk is more likely to lessen the risk factor for heart disease than conventional milk. Credit...Evan Sung for The New York Times
While omega-6 is essential, some health studies suggest that such a wide disparity is associated with many ills, Dr. Benbrook said. A shift to drinking organic whole milk — and raising consumption from the currently recommended three servings a day to 4.5 — would take a big step to lowering the ratio, he said, although adjustments would have to be made elsewhere in the diet to offset the added calories of the milk fat.
Donald R. Davis, another of the study’s authors, said the longstanding assumption that the saturated fats in whole milk raise the risk of cardiovascular disease has been questioned in recent years.
Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health, did not question the underlying data in the study. But he said the conclusions and recommendations were based on the “false assumption” that omega-6 fatty acids are harmful.
Dr. Willett said omega-6s were actually associated with a lower risk of heart disease, and he called the ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s “irrelevant.” People should try to eat more of both, he said.
And he noted that milk was not essential to a healthy diet; adults in many countries drink little or none. “We don’t know all the long-term consequences, so I think the best strategy given current knowledge is to keep intake low to moderate (as in the Mediterranean diet) if it is consumed at all,” Dr. Willet wrote in an email.
But Dr. Hibbeln of the National Institutes of Health, who has conducted research on the effects of fatty acids on heart disease, said animal studies showed that high levels of omega-6s interfered with omega-3s.
At the same time, though, he cautioned that the mix of omega-3s in milk is different from that in fatty fish. The simple ratio, he said, “is not as meaningful as we would like it to be.”
Still, he endorsed the organic milk recommendation. “You’re heading in the right direction,” he said.
Organic Valley uses independent milk-processing companies around the country, allowing the researchers to compare samples of organic milk with conventional milk from the same region.
The company provided $45,000 for an independent laboratory to measure the fatty acids, and it is a corporate sponsor of Dr. Benbrook’s program at Washington State. The university spent $90,000 to analyze the data and prepare the paper for publication.
George Siemon, chief executive of Organic Valley, said he was hoping to gain a better idea of how organic foods differ from conventionally produced ones.
“Organics have lacked a science base,” Mr. Siemon said. “I just wanted to know.”

[Easto]

I like milk. We don't have it in the house very often. We'll buy a half gallon of lowfat about every 3-5 weeks. I usually finish it off in less than a week. I sort of binge on it, I'll be making cereal, having it with a PB sandwich etc. It only lasts several days. Then we don't have it again for another 3-5 weeks.

(sorry, I didn't read your complete post. I just wanted to post my feelings about milk)

[YeOldeStonecat]

There are certain foods that....buying organic is well worth it, makes a difference. And there are certain foods where ...."organic" doesn't make much of an actual difference.
Milk...is one where it does make a difference. Dairy cows for conventional milk are injected with growth hormones and stuffed with antibiotics...that crap makes it into the milk...which makes it into those who consume the milk. NOT GOOD.

Want to kick things up another level for your body? Try raw milk (un pasturized)
https://rawfarmusa.com/blog/if-you-drin ... -your-body

[Lurch]

I like milk. We don't have it in the house very often. We'll buy a half gallon of lowfat about every 3-5 weeks. I usually finish it off in less than a week. I sort of binge on it, I'll be making cereal, having it with a PB sandwich etc. It only lasts several days. Then we don't have it again for another 3-5 weeks.

(sorry, I didn't read your complete post. I just wanted to post my feelings about milk)

One of my favorite snacks when I was a kid was saltine crackers with peanut butter, and a glass of whole milk.
I could eat a whole sleeve package of crackers with PB at one sitting.
If I eat PB now, it comes out of me looking the same way it went in, like PB, lol.

Sometimes I do buy salted organic roasted peanuts.
I get a craving for salted peanuts.

[Lurch]

There are certain foods that....buying organic is well worth it, makes a difference. And there are certain foods where ...."organic" doesn't make much of an actual difference.
Milk...is one where it does make a difference. Dairy cows for conventional milk are injected with growth hormones and stuffed with antibiotics...that crap makes it into the milk...which makes it into those who consume the milk. NOT GOOD.

Want to kick things up another level for your body? Try raw milk (un pasturized)
https://rawfarmusa.com/blog/if-you-drin ... -your-body

I've drank raw milk many times over the years.
I caught Brucella Abortus from raw milk at least once, and since then, I haven't drank it again.
I used to buy it raw from big dairy farms and sometimes from small certified organic farms.
I didn't have any symptoms from it that I know of, it was seen in a Zyto test I had done.

[YeOldeStonecat]

https://www.realmilk.com/cutting-throug ... ucellosis/

[MadDoctor]

I like milk. I sort of binge on it.

I agree. It might not be good for me but I love the stuff!!!!!