Milk Products

The quick answer:  In this post we address four topics—organic milk, powdered milk, probiotics, and cheese.  Use cheese to make healthy foods that don’t taste that great, tasty.

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So Proud of You

Last night I told the beautiful wife, “I’m really proud of our [blog] readers; their comments on milk have been outstanding.  They really get it.”  The beautiful wife rejoined:  “You should tell them.”  So I just did.  Thank you.

What to drink?

Diet reform works best when good food drives out bad food—reform is hard if you just take things away.  In the last post, Healthy Change #45 suggested drinking milk sparingly, if at all, until less processed milk is again available.  If enough people reduce their milk intake, I believe traditional milk will become available to people who don’t own a cow and a pasture.

A reader from Hawaii said he milks his own cows and shares raw milk with his neighbors.  Sounds like a good life.  On the other hand, a reader who works in a government office warned there are frequent incidents of salmonella, E. coli, etc. from raw milk.  So we need to be vigilant.  But I wish some scholar would compile a list of confirmed illnesses due to raw milk products and compare that to the list of people becoming ill from modern processed milk.  That would be a revelation!

On the subject of drinks what does the average American drink?  Here’s a list, ranked by quantity:

1. Water
2. Sugar drinks (including diet drinks)
3. Coffee
4. Beer
5. Milk
6. Juices
7. Tea
8. Liquor

Now, if you follow the Healthy Changes of this blog, your list is much simpler:

1)   Water, lots of water, per Healthy Change #6,

2)   Pure fruit juice (nothing added except water to dilute),

3)   A tie, depending on your taste, between milk (the least-processed available) and herbal tea. 

Now that's a food reformation!  Did you notice we omitted sugary drinks, of which Healthy Change #1 allows one 12 oz. serving per week, or diet drinks (also weekly, per Healthy Change #31)?  A consequence of drinking just one soft drink per week is you lose the taste and may rarely consume them.    

Organic milk?

I promised a comment on organic milk.  You can get it in most stores at about twice the cost of regular milk—is it worth it?  You’ll remember from the last post we had a few issues with modern milk, including:

1. The practice of pasteurization and homogenization, which change the nature of milk.
2. Milking cows deep into the next pregnancy, which results in elevated levels of chemically potent bovine hormones.
3. Lack of natural pasture feeding (especially the spring grass, so rich in omega-3 essential fats and vitamins).

For milk to be certified organic, it must be produced free of “synthetic chemicals, hormones, or antibiotics.”   Unfortunately, organic milk doesn’t solve the above problems.  Lets look at them again:

1. Organic milk is still pasteurized and homogenized.  Worse, it’s typically “ultra-pasteurized”, which employs higher temperatures (200 degrees F, for at least 15 seconds) to achieve a longer shelf life.  Is this good for the consumer?  The pasteurization problem may have gotten worse.
2. The organic regulations don’t restrict milking during the cow's next pregnancy, so this problem isn’t solved.
3. Pasture feeding was not originally required for “organic” milk; there was simply a vague reference to pasture access.  In 2010 the USDA regulation was strengthened to require pasture feeding for the full length of the local grazing season, at least 120 days, with 30% of diet to be pasture grass (during the season).  So “organic” cows should get some pasture grass, though this rule seems hard to enforce.

The milk in our refrigerator today is “Horizon Organic”.  Good name—the logo has a leaping, happy cow with a bell around its neck.  Got to love that.  Using the dairy plant code on the carton, I found it was processed at the White Wave-Morningstar plant in Industry, CA.  (Anyone can check the source of their milk by going here and entering the code imprinted on the carton.  There should be two codes: one is the batch code, the other the dairy plant code.)

Checking Wikipedia, I learned that White Wave is owned by Dean Foods, the largest milk producer in the U.S., second only to Nestle globally.  A mega-corporation!  More informed now, I’m trying to think of a reason why I should pay twice the price for ultra-pasteurized organic milk!  From what I can see, the USDA organic rule made it possible to double the price of milk in exchange for minor quality improvements. 

This seems a bad example of how the close ties between mega-corporations and the USDA turn reform into a corporate bonanza.  The quest for traditional milk is still before us but I doubt it will come from a mega-corporation.

Powdered Milk

Powdered milk is a bigger issue than most realize because reduced fat milks (like skim or 2%) usually have powdered milk added to improve the consistency—the USDA doesn’t require this to be reported as an ingredient.  Powdered milk, or dry milk solids, is also added to processed foods.  So we should ask about the healthiness of powdered milk.  Milk is dried to a powder by pumping it through tiny orifices at pressure, into a column of heated air.  During the drying, cholesterol in the milk is oxidized (a possible cause of arterial plaque), milk proteins are denatured, and nitrates (possible carcinogens) are formed. 

Some warn of the dangers from powdered milk but I don’t find hard proof it isn’t safe to eat.  What’s surprising is the lack of sound research on long-term safety.  Like many food innovations, we use it based on short-term testing.  A generation ago, people saved money by using powdered milk in the kitchen, even mixing it with regular milk.  My parents did this when times were tough and I have done it also.  Not any more.  Until the subject is better researched, I’ll avoid powdered milk, though I do keep some around for emergency use.  It's better than starving.

Probiotics

Probiotics refers to the addition of live but healthful microorganisms to certain foods.  The name is interesting because it contrasts with antibiotics—pro referring to the use of beneficial bacteria.  Microbes commonly used include Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium (the latter must be good, it was originally found in the gut of breast-fed babies).  In antiquity, bacteria were used to preserve milk products—think of yogurt.  Some say the Biblical reference to “milk and honey” spoke to a recipe for yogurt—a way to preserve milk before refrigeration. 

In the last post, a reader living in Outer Mongolia noted that yogurt was a common food, eaten either wet or dried, and thought to be good for the teeth.  In folk medicine yogurt is used to treat stomach upsets, eczema in children, and urinary-tract or vaginal infections.  It may also be beneficial for irritable bowel syndrome.

There is occasional excitement for probiotic foods, perhaps by food companies looking for new products.  Unfortunately the benefits of a specific food are difficult to prove so foods are promoted without hard proof.  It may sound like I’m not a big fan of probiotics, which leads to a story:

A friend was diagnosed with bladder cancer.  His treatment consisted of quarterly visits to the urologist who inserted a scope up his urinary tract to check the bladder for new growths.  If new growths were found—about 50% of the time—a return visit was made to use a different scope to excise the growth.  There’s nothing fun about any of this.  He didn’t complain but I wondered how he could avoid counting the days until the next visit.

When a friend has an illness, though I’m not a doctor, I try to do a little research on the subject.  In this case I read about a Japanese fermented-milk drink called Yakult.  I had never heard of it but the maker claims it’s the world’s leading probiotic drink.  Anyway, there is some evidence that Yakult is helpful for bladder cancer, though this isn’t supported by rigorous science.  It’s a folk remedy.  I told my friend about this and he took immediate action—for nearly two years he has consumed a Yakult each day.  Result?  No new tumors growing in his bladder.  Even better, the doctor said exams could cut back to every six months.  Now this is just an anecdotal story, please don’t make more of it than that, but I’ve wondered if the doctor now suggests Yakult to other patients.

Cheese

Cheese is made from milk curdled with rennet, which comes from the stomach of the same species, be it cow, sheep, goat, or buffalo.  Aging, bacteria, and traditional flavors complete the process.  Cheese is mainly fat and protein—little lactose remains due to bacterial action—and can have a long shelf life, especially if rind covered.  Milk for cheeses that cure longer than 60 days is usually not pasteurized, nor homogenized.

In recent years the variety of cheeses in grocery stores has increased so much it’s hard to find the one you want.  (Why don’t they arrange them alphabetically?)   Cheese consumption has soared as milk intake has declined, so what about the healthfulness of cheese?  The Center for Science in the Public Interest claims cheese is our #1 source of saturated fat and recommends eating just 2 oz. per week.  We probably eat a little more, but it seems a reasonable guideline.  We do need more research on the merits of saturated fat.  It’s gotten such a bad name in the last generation that no one would think to give it to a baby, would they?  Yet mother’s breast milk is rich in fat and most of it is saturated.  Actually, if you eat meat sparingly, you won’t eat very much saturated fat (unless you like to gnaw on a cube of butter).

The bigger issue is what is on the plate with your cheese.  Most of the increased cheese intake is tied to the rise of pizza chains.  Pizza as made in Italy (thin crust, lots of tomato sauce and vegetables) can be a healthy meal.  Pizza in the US has become a form of fast food—I don’t see many that look healthy. 

Here’s a cheese rule:  Forget about pizza—the proper use of cheese is to make vegetables tasty.  I looked through Page and Doreneburg’s The Flavor Bible, which suggests the best flavors for cooking every kind of dish.  The vegetables that are good for us but seldom served, like cauliflower, squash, roots, and tubers, are all made delectable with a cheese sauce, whether it be Romano, Parmesan, Gruyere, Roquefort, or your basic cheddar.

Please comment on your use of cheese to improve the family diet.  (Sorry I wrote so much; this could have been two posts.)

Comments

[Anna]

I try to limit how much cheese we use in our meals (I've been craving a cheesy soup, for example, but when i read the recipes I just cringe to think about 6 CUPS of cheese in a single batch of broccoli cheese soup, yikes!). We do, admittedly, eat too much pizza and should work on that one.

One way we use cheese to eat more healthfully is in salads. Now I know that you can go too heavy on 'toppings' on a salad to a point where it's no longer healthy. But a small amount of feta on a salad really spices it up and makes eating those vegetables much more appealing to me than a plain boring salad. Yum, feta!

[Stacy]

Cheese is my kryptonite. This summer my family went on a complete animal product-free diet but ultimately it was missing cheese that brought us back to dairy (that, and cream for coffee). I don't need cheese to make vegetables more appealing as I really like those veggies that you mentioned. For me it's a way to make carbs tastier - bread, pasta, etc. and it's a dangerous combination. I wish I didn't love macaroni and cheese as much as I do. We could definitely do with less.

[Carina]

My kids will eat almost anything if I put cheese on it--and I don't mean seven slices of processed American cheese. I have a microplane and a block of parmigano reggiano. A couple swipes and there's cheese on salad, steamed veggies, or a healthy soup (like lentil.) It's not a lot of cheese, more like a flavor than a heavy coating. Even though a block of real parmigano seems expensive (at around $15 from Costco) it lasts for months and I can make so many meals out of it, that it turns out to be very cost effective. I save the rinds by freezing them and adding them later to soups and stews for incredible depth of flavor. I don't really like cups and cups of generic cheese, it dulls the taste of food. You'll use less of a good quality sharp cheddar but have more flavor.

Cheese makes a great snack to pair with apples, pears or pretzels. It's filling, tasty, and usually tidy. Fontina, Edam, Emmenthaler, and Gruyere are easy to slice and go for an afternoon snack at work with apples.

A few tips on buying cheese:
*Make sure that if your cheese is wrapped in plastic that the plastic is tight around the cheese--properly handled packaged cheese will not be "puffy" or loose. Pay special attention to the holes in swiss cheese, the package should be sucked in there.
*Buy the best cheese you can afford because you'll use less of it.
*I've noticed a lot more cheese monger type areas in stores. I love it. I can finally get real Emmenthaler cheese instead of "Swiss" cheese. Make friends with the guy who runs the section, they have samples to try and good ideas.
*Don't try to re-wrap cheese in plastic wrap. It doesn't keep well. Cheese needs to breathe. Wrap in waxed paper or parchment, then foil.

[Natalie]

When you do the research about the dangers of caseins, you will never again put a dairy product into your mouth, especially cheese. The caseins in dairy have been proven to be as reliable in causing cancer tumor growth as tobacco products. See T. Colin Campbell's research among others. I used to love cheese and dairy, and giving it up was a bit hard, but I'm glad we did it. And really, there's no need for it in your diet at all...it's food for baby cows, not people.

[Carla]

I use soy milk, partly because I can't tolerate cows' milk and partly because a friend told me that the 47 mg of isoflavins in the Soy Dream brand will help lower my cholesterol. Do you know whether or not isoflavins improve cholesterol levels?

[Laura]

When we can't get raw milk, we use Straus Family Creamery dairy products. They are organic, not ultrapasteurized, and not homogenized. It isn't available everywhere, but I feel it is a much better option than Horizon.
As for powdered milk, beware that a lot of "healthier" brands of dairy products actually have it in them- even in yogurt, sour cream, and others. Read your labels if you don't want to be ingesting powdered milk. I really had to search for a good yogurt without it. Straus being the one I chose in the end.
As far as cheese goes, we use mostly raw cheddar and occasionally some parmigano reggiano and feta. We probably use less cheese than most people. Cheese can add great flavor to many things. It is especially great in salads. I used some goat cheese crumbled on my salad to give it a little extra and it was delicious.

[Carina]

Now that I think about it, my parents used to make their own yogurt: controlling the sugar and additives that are in commercial yogurts. No need for a fancy yogurt maker: They'd put milk in a stainless steel bowl, add some plain active yogurt, stir, cover with plastic wrap, and let it sit on top of the hot water heater. It would be yogurt by morning.

I've always wanted to try making my own kefir.

[Lori]

Hi Skip,

I used to be a part of the Park Slope food coop in Brooklyn, NY and some members told me about this website to compare different brands of milk:

http://www.cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/index.html

I switched from a company like Horizon for organic milk to a company called Natural by Nature. When you click on a specific company you can see the detail of the company practices. I found it to be very informative.

Keep up the great posts!

- Lori

[Tricia]

My comment relates more to your previous post, but thought I'd share:

I've been mostly vegan for the past two years after reading The China Study and eliminating some pain and health issues through cutting out meat and dairy. Experimenting now and then proved to me that it was mostly the dairy causing all kinds of problems. That led me to study modern commercial dairy practices since I knew that milk has long been a traditionally healthy food. I was curious about raw, grass fed milk, but it was too expensive where we lived, so I stuck with my almond milk/coconut milk mix and some minimally pasteurized, unhomogonized pastured milk for my kids from a local market. Interestingly, I have never tolerated dairy products very well, including organic dairy, but this milk from the local market didn't give me any issues when I tried some now and then. That's what really led me to look into pasteurization and homogenization as well as grain fed versus grass fed dairy.

Long story short, we moved and I found a farm near us now that sells raw, clean grass fed milk, so we gave it a try. It has been wonderful. I had lost my appetite for dairy, but this is really something else. My son had developed allergies and perpetual sinus congestion this past year and within days of drinking raw milk, he completely cleared up. He is doing great. I had been having issues with fatigue, digestion and unusual acne on my vegan, whole foods diet, but raw milk, and homemade kefir have made dramatic improvements for me. I do not have any issues with raw milk. It feels wonderful and sustaining, miracle of all miracles.

In regards to the comment made about T Collin Campbell, I really have to wonder, when it comes to The China Study, and the harmful effects of casein (milk protein), if we're not getting the whole picture with milk. First, I did not read about any controls on the type of milk studied- was it pasteurized? homogenized? pastured?. Second, when you isolate the milk protein the way they did for their animal studies, and dose it in large amounts, you're bound to have problems. But when the milk protein is digested with all of the other nutrients in milk, I believe there must be a symbiotic effect that makes it healthful in moderate amounts. Commercial dairy is not a healthful food (as I have proven over and over with my own body), but so far, raw grass fed dairy has been a blessing for our family.

[Jenay]

Can I be the voice of dissent here? I hate to be contrary, but I am of the opinion that unlimited access to safe, pasteurized milk is one of the blessings and marvels of being born in our era. I think we're looking our proverbial gift-horse in the mouth when we make a fuss over a few less nutrients in pasteurized milk. All the so-called dangers of processed milk seem to me to be unproved and mostly opinion. I think all the mothers of babies who have died from contaminated milk over the centuries would have been more than willing to trade places with us. Thirty years ago, my baby brother died from a bacteria passed from an under-processed food product, and my mother nearly died too. Personally, I am going to count my blessings, keep my babies alive, and buy pasteurized milk. Oh, and as to the argument that we are the only creatures that drink milk past infancy, might I point out that there are A LOT of things animals do that we should never emulate, and visa versa. Come on. Now I'm getting mean, so I'll stop. Let me add that I do love this blog and I usually agree with it right down the line.

[Melissa]

I love feta in my scrambled eggs (with spinach and tomato), and I also love a little dinner made with spagetti noodles, feta, kale sauteed in garlic and a little olive oil. I also microplane a brick of good Parm Reg over most anything that needs a boost. I learned several years ago from Cook's Illustrated to store my cheese wrapped in foil. I see another reader says the same thing. I am lucky enough to live near Tony Caputo's imported deli in Salt Lake...and if you have access to the cheeses they sell in your own area do yourself a favor and buy some Prima Donna. Out of the hundreds of cheeses they sell it's hands down my favorite. I love a little slice of serrano ham or prosciutto, a slice of Prima Donna, some dried figs and some fresh OJ for breakfast. One deserves a breakfast like that after a week of oatmeal and yogurt!

Skip, I recently learned how to make my own yogurt with a probiotic starter, but the recipe also calls for powdered milk. I learned this in a food storage class offered at church that taught other things to do w/ powdered milk. The plain yogurt is actually very good and I can substitute it for sour cream if needed. I can also put the yogurt over cheesecloth and let it drain for a day or two and I'm left with homemade cream cheese. Would you advise against making this since it has powdered milk? I thought I was being provident, now I feel foolish.

[Melissa]

p.s. I just learned this, but if you roast cauliflower (tossed in olive oil, salted and peppered) at 450 for 30-40 minutes until it's golden brown you might love it. Roasting it doesn't release the sulfuric flavors cauliflower usually offers when boiled or steamed. Roasting it makes it nutty and robust...and not stinky. It's the only way I can handle it. Thought other readers might like adding a veggie they don't normally care for. And no cheese needed! :)

[LC]

Thanks for the recipe Melissa, that sounds great!
I've been reading a lot about diet lately and my conclusion so far is this: the more I learn about the modern meat and dairy industries the less I want to eat their products.
I really like what Tricia said. I know of others that have seen great benefits from raw grass fed cow milk or goat milk. I'd like to go without meat and dairy altogether, honestly, but I would have to work up to that in time.
Until then I feel best about putting my dollars toward raw milk and meat from grass fed cows, which I'm fortunate to be able to access in my area.
Amen to your comment Skip about the need for studies on long term overprocessed milk consumption!! They could very well be a contributing factor to the plague of chronic diseases of late?

[julie]

We drink soymilk in our household, but I often cook with powdered milk when a recipe calls for it. I had never heard of powered milk not being good for one to consume. Now I will have to do some research on it. Love reading your blog, btw!

[skip hellewell]

Anna, Stacy, and Carina: Thanks for your cheese comments. I just got back from a trip to Marin County where I visited several artisan cheese makers. These people are trying to do the right thing; I'll write a post about it shortly.

Jenay, we agree there are worse things than today's pasteurized milk. But we also argue that there are better things, and why not try for better?

Natalie and Tricia, casein, the main milk protein, can be a concern. My reading of T. Colin Campbell is that casein becomes a cancer risk in his animal studies and human review, when it exceeds 5% of total calories. This actually fits nicely with eating a sparing amount of meat and meat products. In our protein post the Healthy Change suggested that 2/3 of your protein be from plant sources and 1/3 from animal sources (sounds "sparing" to me). My reading of Campbell is the evidence suggests this should be okay. If you want to review the protein post go to: http://wordofwisdomliving.squarespace.com/home/protein-101.html Best to you

[skip hellewell]

Melissa, you asked about powdered milk use. We try to minimize it for the reasons noted in the post. But please don't stress over occasional use. Usually it's the dose, the amount, that makes the poison.

[Heather]

My winter project is making cheese. It is not as hard as I thought. Let me back up....I started researching raw milk for children in my family that are having issues. I also want to be more self reliant and KNOW what is in my food ( thanks Skip). Cheese cost $9 a block of cheese here, stop it!. I thought there has to be a better way....so we are trying it. Did you know that ricotta-means twice cooked AND so in a gallon and a half of milk I can get one batch of hard cheese (like cheddar or swiss ( will let you know in 3 mos or so how it all works out) and ALSO one nice size batch of soft like cottage,cream cheese or ricotta, etc!!!!!!

We consider cheese a fat and concentrated dairy. It is used sparely as an option over butter, cottage cheese as a salad dressing, a slice of cheese as a snack/ meal replacement on the go and I served a little tonight with broccoli. We also use home made yogurt ( Middle Eastern/Greek) as a dip for veggie plates or crackers.
My mom always counseled that milk was bad for eczema and acne, but cheese was good for skin and teeth....

as a post script:I have to tell you that reading the last post made me want to bury my head in the sand. I start having gut feeling about this or that and then Skip goes and researches it and BAM I know too much.

[skip hellewell]

Heather, making cheese, what fun. Depending on where you live, you might be interested in visiting the artisan cheese makers in Marin and Sonoma County, north of San Francisco. See this newspaper article for info on how to visit: http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2011/03/17/milky-whey-following-the-sonoma-marin-cheese-trail/

I visited a couple recently and wished I had allowed time to see more of them. Cowgirls Creamery was great. Good luck with your cheese.

[meredith]

A very thoughtful post and, as always, I've enjoyed the reader comments too!

Melissa - the powdered milk is to thicken the yogurt and change the texture. You can easily leave it out and/or use unflavored gelatin. I believe you need to mix in the gelatin before boiling the milk. A reader commented about making their own yogurt and I do this also. One of the main advantages of this easy task is that the powdered milk and gelatin is left out. So, without the additives, yogurt cheese is an easy next step and it becomes such a flexible thing to have in the kitchen. A quick tip, it's relatively easy to find a used yogurt maker at Goodwill / Deseret Industries. I didn't realize this when I bought a new one, but it's paid for itself many times over. Of course, you can make yogurt without one too.

My husband and I have gone back and forth about diary consumption in our house. He is against raw dairy and I'm ok with it. We both have thought out our views. However, we buy organic pasteurized grass fed milk from Whole Foods (whole foods brand). It's a compromise, but it's balanced by trying to not drink too much of it and use it for cooking and yogurt, etc.

Limiting cheese will now be our next step. I currently use it too much. My 2 year old does love "stinky cheese" (feta) and has started to embrace early salad eating because I eat it a lot in a simple green salad with walnuts and fruit. So, she'll eat the toppings (with a little green in there if I'm lucky) because of the small addition of cheese. We also use parm on top of brothy soups. The rest does need to be limited. Sadly, I think our homemade pizza night tradition on Sundays may need to be revisited.

[Debbie Johsnon]

I just want to second your comment about drinking sodas...that is...if you quit drinking them you won't want them anymore. Almost two years ago I quit drinking sodas. I was on the road for work every day and literally stopped at Sonic every morning for a Route 44 Diet Coke (easy ice). I was hooked. Sometimes in the afternoon I would get another one. I craved Diet Coke!!! Once I made the decision to quit I lost my craving within a couple weeks. I still miss the fizz, but that's it. On occassion my husband and I will buy Squirt (full sugar type) and enjoy that...but once it's gone I don't crave it. I feel so much better,health-wise without the poison I was getting from sodas. I didn't even get headaches from a lack of caffiene!! Anyone can quit if they make the decision. I now drink tons of water...yea for water!!!