In part 1 of this little series on milk and dairy, we discussed how pasteurization further degrades cow’s milk and makes it even less suitable for human consumption.

Today, we’re going to look at 2 more aspects – homogenization and the use of hormones and antibiotics.

How Homogenization Affects Milk

Milk is a liquid not too different from an oil and water mixture.  Just as oil separates from water, milk contains fat globules which are dispersed throughout.

If raw milk were left to stand, however, the fat would rise and form a cream layer. As they say, “the cream always rises to the top!”

Homogenization is a mechanical treatment of the fat globules in milk brought about by passing milk under high pressure through a tiny orifice, which results in a decrease in size and an increase in number and surface area, of the fat globules.

The net result, from a practical view, is a much reduced tendency for creaming of fat globules. This is of great importance to food manufacturers who want their milk sitting on the shelves for as long as possible in order to be purchased.

Can you imagine how much milk would go to waste if we left raw milk sitting on the shelves? Manufacturers know that in as little as 1 hour of sitting, raw milk will no longer be appealing to consumers, and thus it will not be purchased.

It’s all about the benjamins when it comes to food unfortunately.

Here’s a pic (from the University of Guelph) that depicts what happens to fat globules during homogenization:

Once again, the three factors that contribute to the enhanced stability of homogenized milk are:

• a decrease in the size of the fat globules,
• an increase in the number of fat globules, and
• an increase in surface area of the fat globules

Although this results in a more “stable” milk, it also creates a milk that is less suitable for humans.

Because homogenization unnaturally increases the surface area of the fat globules, each fat molecule is more exposed to air, in which oxidation occurs and increases the susceptibility to spoilage.

But it gets worse…

When fat globules are forcibly broken up by mechanical means, it allows an enzyme associated with milk fat, known as xanthine oxidase, to become free and penetrate the human intestinal wall.

Once xanthine oxidase gets through the intestinal wall and into the bloodstream, it is capable of creating scar damage to the heart and arteries, which in turn may stimulate the body to release cholesterol into the blood in an attempt to lay a protective fatty material on the scarred areas.

This can lead to arteriosclerosis and related cardiovascular conditions!

The Unnatural “Beefing Up” of Dairy Cows – Hormones and Antibiotics

Fifty years ago an average cow produced 2,000 pounds of milk per year. Today the top producers produce about 50,000 pounds! How is this accomplished? Drugs, antibiotics, growth hormones, forced feeding plans and specialized breeding – that’s how.

The most recent unnatural addition to dairy cows is bovine growth hormone or BGH. This genetically engineered drug is supposed to stimulate milk production without “supposedly” affecting the quality of the milk itself!

Rrright….(in the voice of Dr. Evil from Austin Powers)

Many countries have banned BGH because of safety concerns. Any substance added to a dairy cow’s body comes out in the milk. I don’t know how you feel, but I don’t want genetically engineered hormones coming into my body!

BGH causes a dramatic increase (50 to 70 %) in mastitis (udder infections) in the dairy cows’ udders, because of the constant production of milk. This in turn requires antibiotic therapy to cure the mastitis, and then the residues of the antibiotics appear in the milk we drink.

Over 50 % of all the antibiotics produced in North America are mixed directly into animal feed. Ideally, antibiotics should be used in farming only when necessary to treat infections.

However, due to the unhealthy conditions of factory-farmed animals, and the poor, dirty conditions they are raised under, they are fed a constant supply of antibiotics from birth until death.

We then, are unknowingly consuming far more antibiotics than we intend to, by drinking commercial milk. This fact may be part of the reasons that more and more people are becoming resistant to prescribed antibiotics.

Milk alone contains traces of up to 80 different antibiotics! Since lactating mammals excrete toxins through the milk, this would include antibiotics, pesticides, chemicals, and growth hormones.

I don’t know about you but I refuse to bring cow’s milk and other dairy products into my kitchen.

And as I’ll show you in the 3rd part of this series tomorrow, the nutrient composition of cow’s milk is just one more reason that humans shouldn’t be consuming it.

Stay tuned for that post tomorrow.