Tuesday 24 September 2013

Down but not out

Maybe its that time of year, but over the past couple of days my energy has been low. I am writing this post for any mothers of autistic children out there, searching for help, reading all about 'warrior mums' and thinking - I can't do that. We all have moments where the weight of our challenges exceeds what we think we can bear. This applies to everyone, even those leading a relatively 'normal' life. Quite tears of hopelessness are shed by us all. Looking round my house at the broken curtain rails, the small smears on the walls EVERYWHERE, the light hitting the small hand prints on the windows, the broken glass in the clock, the torn books and strewn CD's, the builders dust settled everywhere (we have finally had the hall ceiling re-plastered) the broken bits and bobs mingled with the strewn toys, my body feels like lead as I carry yet again the duvet upstairs, negotiating round the hoover wires and pipes. Once put away, they are instantly strewn again leaving a hopelessness around the mess. There really is only so many times a day you can put something away, so many times you can challenge a behaviour. Mopping up the endless rounds of wee, this morning I don't think any of it went in the toilet, scrubbing out another soiled pair of pants ... endless, endless rounds of fruitless activity. Its very easy to get disheartened and slip to that place where the Doctor says, 'I think your a little depressed, lets give you something to help.'

Sometimes you just have to pull yourself together as you slide, and nothing does it better for me than laughter. Let me share the two things that put the bounce back in me. Sunday morning, when I open the front door, a massive orb spider had woven a web across our porch. The dew from the morning mist and the light from the sun shone on the web making it clear to see. The spider really looked like he was trying to catch us - nothing quite like aiming high! It made me and Tom laugh, which is quite something because I am not good with spiders normally to say the least. The second thing that tickled my fancy was in the back garden. I never really got on top of the garden this summer, which is why a plant I hadn't planted was growing in an empty container. It had a bit of soil in the bottom from the last plant, but I never got around to doing anything with it. However, something had self seeded there, and its leaves looked familiar so it never got pulled up with the normal round of weeding. Well, Sunday I figured out what it was and how it came to be there. Its a tomato plant. The pot is the one Ed did a pooh in over the summer, at the time he was eating loads of cheery tomatoes. So yes, its a pooh plant - you have to admit that's funny. That's all it took to cheer me up, I love it when nature holds her hand out to you. You know, your born you die, and all that matters is that you never gave up and did your best in-between. So take a deep breath, invoke feelings of I can do this, and put your best foot forward with whatever problems your life offers up to you, and try to see them as lesson. Before you know it, you'll have graduated on to something better. X


pineal gland - have you heard of it? well you should

You know Friday night I had the best night sleep I can remember. When I woke, I was so comfortable that I was entirely unaware of my body, as I lay there I felt like just a thought in bed. I suppose if you want to get all zen on me, that's all we really are. Ed had actually slept in his own bed and when I woke him in the morning, for the first time in weeks he still had his PJs on. He had a great day at school, and when I dropped him off at the childminders, arrived to find she was still not back from her school run (Ed finishes early on Fridays) As I pulled up, I heard him un-buckle his seat belt ready to charge out, but she wasn't there. Now this could have gone two ways, I turned round to him and said, "Oh Ed, she isn't here yet. Get in your seat and we will have a little drive." Well blow me down if he didn't without a murmur jump in his seat and then put his own seat belt on! This from the boy who has had to literally be tied in his seat to keep from getting out.

Before I fell asleep that night, I just so happened, for no particular reason, to read a couple of emails from that day, I opened up one which had the fantastic title of "The mighty Pineal Gland." I was still buzzing in my head about how amazing iodine is, and all the bits and bobs it supports, with the pineal gland being one of them, so of course I had to read it. When I woke up, I thought ' I need to read up on my pineal gland!' and this is what I found, I hope that when you finish reading it you go get yourself a bottle of iodine and make all your family take it, because this little raisin sized gland, stuck in the middle of your head is probably has a role in the amount of people with mental health issues and all those problems resulting in a lack of sleep, not to mention a role in breast and prostrate cancer with a helping of Alzheimer on the side for luck. Let alone its implication in autism. Again, lots of big words which I will do my best to spell properly and medical sentences which I hope read OK. Forgive me for any glaring mistakes and do your own research on this.

Your pineal gland is about the size of a raisin and shaped like a pine cone - hence its name. It is located at the very centre of your brain, but is exempt from the blood/brain barrier. Blood flows through your pineal gland at the same rate as it flows through your kidneys, which is more than any other gland. So whatever is in your blood will be in your pineal gland. It is in part of the brain called 'diencephalon'. The main structures of the diencephalon include the hypothalamus, thalamus, epithelium (including the pineal gland) and sub thalamus. The diencepahon relays sensory information between brain regions and controls many autonomic functions of the peripheral nervous system.  It also connects the structures of the endocrine system with the nervous system and works in conjunction with the limbic system. Part of the diencephalon is also included in the limbic system which helps manage our emotions such as fear, anger, emotions, sexual behaviours, memories and the strength of an emotional response to an event.

The pineal gland helps in the regulations of the Endocrine system (all glands and their hormones) and is
responsible for secretion of the hormone melatonin. Melatonin is a sub hormone of Seratonin which is your happy hormone. Melatonin maintains the bodies sleep-wake cycle, regulates the onset of puberty in females and the helps protect the body from cell damage by free radicles. Breast cancer and prostate cancer patients alongside those with Alzheimer show lower than normal levels of melationin. Scientists at Tulane University School of medicine in New Orleans grew some human breast cancer cells in laboratory and added melatonine to the culture. They found the cancer grew one-fourth to one-half as fast as the non-treated cells. The fewer oestrogen receptors the cancer cells had, the more melatonin was needed to retard their growth. Dr Hill concluded that "Melatonin my be a naturally occurring anti-cancer compound. The more a breast cancer is Oestrogen receptor positive, the more dramatic the response." Alzheimer patients also show an unusually high level of calcification in the pineal gland, this calcification is caused in part by Fluoride. In 1997 a british scientist Jennifer Luke discovered that fluoride accumulates in the pineal gland at strikingly high levels that have a major impact on its function. Without going into the fluoride debate, there are 2 types of fluoride, one is natural and the other is a waste product of nuclear industry. Guess which one they put in water. On an interesting side note, and one I put in because it shows that the people we trust our health to are not acting in our best interest, President Obama in his first week of office (second term), passed a law increasing the acceptable level of radioactivity in Americas drinking water. In a win for the nuclear industry, Obama gave approval for dramatically raising permissible radioactive levels in drinking water and soil, following 'radiological incidents'. PEER executive director Jeff Rush stated, 'This is a public health policy that only Dr Strange-love could embrace.' In soil, the new PAGS (protective action guides)  long term public exposure to radiation increase the long standing 1 in 10,000 cancer rate to 1 in 23 persons exposed over a 30 years period!

The pineal gland is super sensitive to light. Lucas RJ et al published a paper in 'Science' where an experiment was carried out on mice which had been genetically bred to have no photo receptors in their eyes. Their pineal gland responded normally to light stimulus, which left the scientist at a loss to explain the results. In humans, when light hits your eye, it travels via a nerve to the gland. When its dark, it sends a signal to begin secreting melatonin which makes your system go into sleep mode. Here are my thoughts - there seems to be a modern day boom in problems associated with sleep, young girls starting their periods earlier and earlier, endocrine (hormone) problems, and mental health problems. When the pineal gland plays such an important role in all of them, and is known to have calcified by the time we are 20, where are the studies to help reverse this or are we just expected to swallow all the pills from big Pharm. and soldier on. I am a big fan of Judge Judy, she has a saying that if it doesn't sound right then it probably isn't true. Most of what I am told by people 'in the know' about autism (cancer and all those other thing going wrong with us) doesn't sound right, that's what set me on my path to find out for myself, and that's why I am sharing what I found - because most people are far more trusting than I. If iodine can help your pineal gland, let alone the other things it does, then you should take it. The iodine patch I put on Ed in the morning has completely disappeared 6 hours latter, this would indicate his bodies hunger for it, my patch lasts just over 24 hours and the rest of the family slightly less.

On a final note, which I put in because I found it curious, your pineal gland is your 'third eye' according to the mind, body spirit lot. They have long understood that it needs clearing, and have yoga positions, sounds and sunlight protocols to do just that. Your third eye controls your spinal chakras which interestingly are also places where a lot of other 'glands' are located. Now before you brush this off as rubbish, consider this, one of the 4 types of cells that make up the pineal gland are Pinealocytes. These cells in non-mammalian vertebras have a strong resemblance to the photo receptors in the eye (rods and cone to you and me). In the mature mammalian cells, they express a known photoreceptor protein known to have implications in the visual cascade. Some evolutionary experts think they share a common evolutionary ancestry with retinal cells. In birds, the pineal gland has a magnetic quality not yet quite understood, but it is this little gland (they think) that is responsible for birds being able to navigate their way round the world, and for pigeons to home.

My family asked me where I get my iodine from, and the truth is I bought it off the internet ages ago, I bought Nascent iodine from LL magnetic clay, if you tap it in google I am sure that you will find somewhere you can trust to get it from.


Thursday 19 September 2013

Iodine, why havent we heard more?

We have had a mixed bag from Ed this week, glimmers of normal-ness followed by his kind of normal-ness. For the past two weeks, at some ungodly hour, I am woken by a sack of potatoes jumping on me and then crawling in between Richard and I. The pooh bucket alas is not quite full, so my hopes of its demise are dashed. The good news is, although its very selfish to say, is that he does it a school now or with Lisa, the angel who minds him for a couple of hours on a Friday, and that he only filled his pants once with me so far, although we have had the brown crayon out more than a few times. Sorry guys, back on that old waggon. I have been thinking really hard about it, am I not giving him enough kefir, is it too much fruit, not enough protein, was it because he licked a pig? WHAT! Yes, he licked a pig just before it all started again, so it might be that. But, you know having researched todays post, I think it might now be a bit of the above, but more likely the fact that I am being much more attentive in giving him daily iodine. I get post from all sort of people and read all kinds of stuff in my quest to reverse Eds autism, and one kinda throw away line at the bottom of one of these posts made me sit up and take notice about a condition caused by Iodine deficiency.

"Pregnant women with hypothyroxinemia in the early stages of gestation, have nearly a 4 fold increased risk of having a child with autism" according to a study done recently in Holland with 4,000 Dutch mothers and their infants.

My sister has asked me to back up my ideas and findings, I hope you all found it helpful in my milk article, so this week I set out to back up Iodine. I thought it would be relatively simply, but its taken ages because this particular subject seems to touch on everything that is wrong with us today, hence my question why haven't we heard more about it. I wish I had a penny for every time the daily mail heralds some new medical wonder drug (mainly statins - which you should stay away from) but not a word about Iodine. And here's why, Iodine is not patentable. That means there is no money to be made from it. Before I list all the wonderful things that Iodine does in out bodies, whilst drilling down in the subject I came across a really disturbing article, and I think its so important that I am going to stick it in here now (and hopefully come back to vaccines latter)

At the 2009 4th International Public Conference on Vaccinations held at Reston Virginia on October 2nd, Dr Diane Harper who lead the research in the development of the human papilloma virus vaccines Gardasil and Cervarix announced "About 8 in every 10 women who have been sexually active will have HPV at some stage in their lives. Normally there are no symptoms and in 98% of cases clears itself. Those cases where it doesn't and isn't treated can lead to pre-cancerous cells which may develop into cervical cancer." She basically said, they aren't necessary, they don't work, they weren't tested properly and are dangerous. She said she had to come clean because she couldn't sleep at night. She did this on the platform her bosses had hoped she would sing the praises of their new products. So does anyone remember that in the news because I don't, maybe its because the vaccine industry makes over $34 billion dollars in profit a year. If you know anyone with a daughter of injectable age, get their mothers to do their own bit of research and come to their own conclusions about whether to do this or not. So far, officially 44 girls have died from it, and a further 15,037 have reported (via all the hurdles) adverse side effects.

Anyway, lets stop corporate bashing and big up Iodine.

Iodine fell out of favour in 1969 in America when a study done in 1948, known as the Wolff-Chaikoff study, was published for a reason I didn't find, causing a media scare. This study which was unsubstantiated and unreplicated, claimed that hypothyroidism could occur as a result of excessive iodine. At this time, iodine was a supplement put in bread. After the scare, iodine was replaced by Bromine in bread production in the USA. Bromine is one of the 12 most harmful toxins and carcinogens on the planet. It forces iodine out of your body by a system of "competitive inhibition" as does fluoridated and chlorinated water. They are know as toxic halogens. There are 5 halogen elements, Fluorine, chlorine, bromine (or bromide) iodine and astatine. Bromine is found in pesticides and insecticides, bread and baked goods in the USA, some medication and some energy drinks including 'Mountain Dew'. Chlorine is used as a disinfectant. Fluorine as fluoride is added to drinking water and toothpaste to protect teeth from decay, which is controversial as there are arguments that it does more harm than good. Fluoride has a long well know history as a poison, it was used by AG Farben in the German death camps experiments to perfect extermination gases on human prisoners in WW2. Harold Hodges had the idea of putting fluoride in water in 1946 when he became head of newly created International Association for Dental Research, which up until them had been part of the Atomic Energy Commission. In his article 'We love it for what it is not' Thomas Lee NMD puts it really nicely, "We love Iodine for NOT being a poisonous halogen."

The thyroid used the iodide form of iodine which occurs in sea life and is found is soils located on ancient seabeds. Due to modern farming methods most soils are depleted of their mineral content and are also depleted of iodine. According to the WHO, 72% of the worlds population are iodine deficient, and 96% of Americans are according to a recent study by Dr Abraham. "Iodine deficiency is one of the top two causes of mental retardation. Associated with this is a 690% increase in cretinism, mental retardation and ADHD in the last decade." There doesn't seem to be anywhere or any function in your body that doesn't need or use iodine. The easiest way to list them is to list them, so here we go.

1 Iodine helps synthesize thyroid hormones and prevents both hypo and hyperthyroidism.

2 Iodine sufficiency helps reverse the above conditions

3 Iodine helps support apoptosis (programmed cell death of unhealthy cells) ie cancer cells.

4 Iodine activates hormone receptors, according to Dr Daniel Denny from Canada, there are active thyroid hormone sites in all mitochondria (the working bit in every cell) According to Dr Brownstein the primary reason for mitochondrial failure is iodine deficiency.

5 Iodine protects ATP function and enhances ATP production (this basically is your vital life force)

6 Iodine prevents fibrocystic breast disease.

7 Iodine decreases insulin needs in diabetics.

8 Iodine supports protein synthesis and activates enzymatic activity

9 Iodine destroys pathogens, molds, fungi, parasites and malaria. It is the most powerful anti-biotic we have (but as its not patentable there is no money in it for big pharma) As early as 1905 the effectiveness of treating TB was mentioned in the NY Times.

10 Iodine supports immune function. It plays a role in the physiology of inflammatory response. Iodine increases the movement of granulocites into areas of inflammation ( granulocytes are a type of white blood cell which help fight bacterial infections)

11 Iodine eliminates toxic halogens from the body. With the first dose there is a 78% increase in bromine discharge, and a 50% increase in chlorine discharge. It also helps chelate (remove) mercury, lead, fluoride and cadmium. This is a mega deal, at the moment Fukushima is still leaking radioactive waste into the air and sea. Don't think it doesn't affect us here in the UK, its being carried round the world in air and water. Radioactive I-131 is the most critical health issue facing us all. Healthy iodine (I-127) can help provide significant protection to and push out I-131 from the thyroid. Your thyroid will literally suck up any iodine available, whether it be radioactive or not. Unlike Chernobyl, Fukushima still has not been sealed. Large quantities of contaminated radioactive water is seeping into the Pacific Ocean. 150,000 tons of radioactive waste is in the open. According to an article by the BBC 1.9.2013, Tepco originally said the radiation emitted by leaking water was around 100 millisieverts an hour. However, they were using equipment which had a maximum reading of 100 (seriously, how dumb are they!). New recordings on more sensitive equipment show it to 1,800 millisieverts an hour. However, this Wednesday, the countries nuclear regulation authority said that radiation reading near the water storage tanks have increased to a new high 20% rise on previous readings. A person standing close to the contaminated area would in several hours receive a fatal radiation dose. It has had its 4th major leak since it all happened March 2011 - over 2 years ago! Iodine can also reverse damage done to the pineal gland by fluoride, which is said to 'calcify' it, the pineal gland is important for producing serotonin and melatonin, serotonin is a neurotransmitter. It plays an important part in learning, mood, and sleep to name a few. Melatonin is a hormone which helps you sleep (all things lacking in general in an autistic child)

12 Iodine regulates estrogen production int eh ovaries. Both the ovaries testes and adrenal glands all produce estrogen. Estrogen dominance is associated with miscarriage and infertility.

13 Iodine is anti-mucoytic (reduces mucus and catarrh) in both the intestines and sinus's. It help cleanse and detox the lymph system

14 Iodine can help make you smarter, According to Dr Jorge-Flechas iodine prevents lead from lodging in the body, and helps push out fluoride which helps the lead accumulate (why do we put fluoride in our toothpaste and water?) Bleichrodt in 1994 did a meta analysis and found iodine sufficiency increased IQ by 13.5 points. Iodine deficiency is the main cause of decreased intellect. Research ah shown that parasites in the gut eat up serotonin, 95% of which is produced in the gut. When the parasites are destroyed by iodine there is more serotonin available for mental functions.

15 Iodine can help prevent heart disease. The thyroid regulates hear rate. Dr Broda Barnes (father of the pro-iodine awareness movement) did research with 1000 people, and showed that high use of iodine resulted in extremely significant reversal and prevention of heart disease, out performing on many levels the framingham study.

16 A study published by the international journal of radiation biology, vol 86 No12 December 2010 stated that radiation from cordless phones, cell phones and smart meters can induce hypothyroidism, iodine can prevent that.

17 Iodine supports pregnancy as the foetus undergoes more apoptosis than at any other developmental stage. As previously stated, apoptosis is programed cell death. According to the Department of Embryology and Teratology, Sackler school of medicine, Tel Aviv University Israel, 'Programmed cell death plays an important role in the process of gamate maturation as well as in embryo development, contributing to the appropriate formations of various organs and structures. Teratogen induced excessive death of embryonic cell death (not programed cell death) is undoubtedly one of the most important events proceeding the occurrence of structural abnormalities regardless of their nature.'

18 High doses of iodine may be used to reverse certain disease, at 6 grams daily, iodine has been used to cure syphilis, skin lesion and chronic lung disease. In micrograms levels it can prevent and cure cretinism and goitre, at milligramme levels it helps prevent and cure cancer, fibrocysitc breast disease and Alzheimer.

19 Iodine in high doses may be used to wounds, bed sores, inflammation and traumatic pains, and even restore hair growth if topically applied. It can also eliminate toenail fungus (Nick!)

20 Helps diminish scar tissue

I hope that I haven't overburdened you, but in trying to clarify the info about the 4 fold increase in the risk of having an autistic child if you were iodine deficient, I kind of hit a gold mine of info.

Back to the study of the dutch mother. The lead investigator Gustavo Roman MD said in an article published on line August 13 in the annals of neurology, of a study done by the Methodist Neurological Institute in Texas in conjunction with colleagues from Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands,

"It is increasingly apparent to us that autism is caused by environmental factor in most cases, not by genetics. That gives me hope that prevention is possible." "The increase in Autism could be at least partly the result of an iodine starved diet, and or exposure to toxins which interfere with normal thyroid function."

WOW!!!

Back to Ed and his runny bum. I give him a dose of iodine before he goes to school, on his wrist topically, it stains his skin orange. By the time he comes home it has been completely absorbed which is a sign he is deficient. So he gets another dose. Maybe the onset of the pooh bucket is one to be celebrated, that its a sign he is detoxing. He certainly seems happier, and this week he said 'pooh' clear as a bell in the correct context (I showed him his pants and asked him what it was!) and today apparently has been saying 'more'. He seems to have more interest in interacting, and before he went to bed, played in an appropriate way with his gruffalo. A glimmer of hope hits me, and I am trying to figure out how I missed this in my initial mega trawl of info. Did I miss it, or is it not widely known?
I had been trying to treat his various problems with all sorts of things and all I really needed to do was give him iodine? You know, I have gone back over a list of things used to chelate on various sites, and I don't see iodine. Thank you Dr Sirus. The iodine I use is Nascent iodine from LL Magnetic clay. It is in an atomic rather than molecular form, with an incomplete number of electrons which means it can hold an electro-magnetic charge. It is recognised by the body as the same produced in the thyroid, so is   easily absorbed and used by the body.

I apologise now for any spelling and grammar mistakes, I have used a lot of words unfamiliar to me, and have pages written down from my research. If I have made any inadvertent mistakes that someone more cleverer than me can see, then again, sorry. As I have said before, don't take my word for all this, do your own investigating. What is important is the truth, and not the 'line' from some big multi million pound business who is interested in poisoning us for profit.

Tuesday 10 September 2013

all things milk

Well, we made it through the last days of the summer holidays, sorry for not posting for a while but I was in need of a couple of days of therapeutic 'watching paint dry' or 'wall staring'. Hidden within my darling child is an 'on-switch'.  I have no idea what triggers this. In the on position many things are randomly thrown around and out the house, things are bitten, broken and pulled down. One of the main casualties was our kitchen clock which now has broken glass, the TVs also came in for a pounding luckily my husband caught him trying to pull the kitchen telly off the wall. Night time changed to, from going to bed happily (admittedly bouncing for a while) to general screaming and coming down stairs, screaming and trying to destroy whatever was in front of him. Richard said to me, 'We really need to find out whats going on' - no kidding! Let me translate for you, 'Find out whats going on and sort it.'
Well, I think that basically he was bored, other than hoovering and pushing him in the hammock swing, there is little else he does with me. Once I told him he was going back to school, he actually stopped mid-tantrum and looked happy. This isn't from my choice but his, so on my to do list I now have search out things to do with autistic children, will post once I have some info.

In the meantime, lets get down to whats wrong and right with milk. If you have a child with autism and you are trying to address it, chances are that nutrition will be top of your list. Top of that list, chance are are cut out dairy (casein) and gluten, other wise known as the CGF diet (casein, gluten free). I did toy with the idea but as I have said in earlier post, I really wanted to know what had happened to these past staples of life, we have all heard the sayings bread is the staff of life and the land of milk and honey. Our ancestors had no problem with them so what had we done that had changed this. Well, grab hold of your seat Dorothy because Kansas is going bye bye. What I found rather shocked me, I instantly changed my buying and eating habits and hope that you will do the same.

All milk isn't created equal. They (scientist) think that about 20,000 years ago cows underwent a genetic mutation. This lead to two types of milk, you may have already heard of A1 and A2 milk. The genetic mutation, or whatever it was gave rise to A1 milk. I always bought organic milk, but now I specifically by milk from Guernsey cows or failing that Jersey cows. These cows produce A2 milk as opposed to the black and white Holstein cow which produces A1 milk. I am guessing that most farms use Holstein cows because they are economically more viable, but more isn't always better. A1 type milk or to be precise Beta Casein A1 milk has the peptide BCM7 which has been linked to heart disease, type I diabetes, and recently mental health conditions including autism. As a note of interest, Human, Goat, Sheep and buffalo milk are all A2.

Professor Robert Cade and Dr Zhongie Sun from the University of Florida, Paul Shattock from the Autism Research Unit at University of Sunderland and Dr Kalle Reichelt from the Pediatrics Research Institute at the University of Oslo, Norway, have all published papers suggesting that many of our symptoms of poor mental health are related to the way we metabolise our food. Specifically, that many of the symptoms of autism and schizophrenia show similarities to the know symptoms caused by opioids which can be formed by the digestion of certain foods particularly gluten and casein. Many autistic children have been found to have high levels of BCM7 in blood and urine tests. However, its only recently that it has been found to happen only from A1 Beta Casein (Holstein) and not A2 Beta Casein (Guernsey, Jersey).

The Guernsey cow doesn't digest and break down Beta carotene, this is what gives the milk its lovely creamy yellow colour, it also has a better Omega 3 balance, being 1 part Omega 3 to 2 parts Omega 6. All other milk is 1 part Omega 3 to 6 parts Omega 6. Yes, this lovely milk has that essential fatty acid Omega 3 which is found in oily fish, and Flax seed oils etc. Guernsey milk has been tested for Beta Casein A2 at between 80-90%, Jersey milk 40% and Holstein milk 15%.

Lets move on to the modern scourge of homogenised milk, something which they generally don't do to Guernsey milk. Milk is homogenised basically for longer shelf life. Homogenised milk is where the fat particles are broken down so that they are evenly placed through the milk. If you didn't like the cream on top of your milk and like homogenised milk because of this, listen up. Natural cows milk has fat particles so big that they can't go through the intestinal mucosa, and are therefore naturally eliminated by the body. The fat particles of homogenised milk are so small that they can travel through your intestinal mucosa and from there pass directly into your blood stream. This is an added stress to your body which stores these undigested fat particles in your arteries, joints and heart. According to Dr Oster and Dr Donald Ross of Fairfield University Delaware,
"Homogenising allows the enzyme xanthine oxide to pass intact into the bloodstream. There is attacks the plasmologen tissue of the artery walls and parts of the heart muscle. This makes the body, trying to heal itself, put down a protective layer of cholesterol. The end result is scar tissue and calcified plaques with a build of of cholesterol and other fatty deposits." According to these experts, homogenised milk is the main culprit for heart attacks - not natural milk (or cream for you cream lovers!)

Lets move on to pasteurised milk as opposed to raw milk. This is such a big topic with such a wealth of information that its hard to know where to start. We have all been brought up to believe that milk straight from the cow is hazardous and full of harmful bacteria, and that pasteurising it makes it safe for us. We first started pasteurising milk after the industrial revolution when cows came in from the field to the city and were fed on the by-products of beer and other such things as opposed to grass and hay. This caused the cows, very much like our factory farmed cows fed corn and soy, to have upset tummies. This in turn led to un-healthy milk, which killed some and made many more ill. Since then, milk has generally been pasteurised. The idea is that pateurisation kills off any harmful bacteria in the milk, but it also kills of all the pro biotic ( good bacteria). It also destroys all the helpful enzymes in milk including the enzyme Lactase which breaks down the lactose in milk. (On a side note, if you are intolerant of milk ie lactose intolerant, you are actually pasteurised milk intolerant, try some raw milk). Pasteurising also destroys the Vit C, Vit B12, Vit A, Vit D, Lactobacilli, enzymes, and minerals, which is why even if you drink lots of pasteurised milk, you can still suffer from Osteoporosis. After pasteurisation, any bad bacteria which gets in the milk is free to flourish as opposed to the compounds in raw milk which actually destroy pathogens. Tests have been done where both pasturised and raw milk was left out, the pasturised milk went bad and was rampant with pathogens, the raw milk was still OK. Raw milk is also milk raised on grass and hay, which makes an enormous difference to the cows digestion. Near where my Mum and Dad live is a lovely little farm producing raw milk. This holiday, we had a walk round the farm, even in the yard where the cows come in for milking, the air smelt of nothing but meadows and hay. It was a far cry from the stink of a 'traditonal farm' feeding corn and soy. The life span of a cow fed on grass is about 12 years as opposed to 3.5 in a feed lot. So lets talk bad bacteria. In 2003, the Journal of Dairy Science noted that 80% of dairy cows carry the bacteria 0157. They conducted a small experiment which showed that when they switched the cows to grass from grain for only 5 days, 0157 declined 1,000 fold. In 2006 in the New York times, Michael Pollans wrote in response to an outbreak of food poisoning,
"The lethal strain of E.Coli know as 0157:H7  responsible for this latest outbreak of food poisoning was unknown before 1982. It is believed to have evolved in the guts of feedlot cattle. These animals stand around all day in their manure, eating a diet of grain that happens to turn a cows rumen into an ideal habitat for E.Coli 0157:H7. The bug can't survive long in cattle living on grass."

When I first research raw milk I was delighted to find a wonderful farm about 30 minutes from my Mum and Dad. They milk their cows 3 times a week as opposed to our corn raised, hormone injected, anti-biotic up to the eyeball factory cows of twice a day. The first time I drank it, I must admit that I did so with a little trepidation, but that first taste put paid to all of that. It is so delicious, it doesn't taste at all like the milk I had had before. I knocked back a pint in no time, and I hate drinking milk! I remember giving the first glass to my 90 year old Dad who was raised on raw milk.
"Does it taste how you remember it Dad?"
"No."
"Oh! Whats different?"
"The milk I had as a child was warm, straight out of the cow!"

People take note, even if you don't take the step of going raw, swap your breed of milk, and buy one that isn't homogenise, and in doing so, you'll find that you are supporting small farmers, doing what they have been doing for hundreds of years, as opposed to putting more money in big agriculture, and their spin off by-products and industries. As a post-script, if you filter this down and change your type of butter too, and find it difficult to source Guernsey butter, most New Zealand cows are grass fed and a mix of Guernsey/Jersey cows, ie Anchore butter.
Hope this was interesting x