How to obtain the nutritional benefits of milk
without the undesirable effects.
By William Shaw Ph.D.
B-Unique®, a milk substitute, is now available for people who cannot tolerate casein, one of the main
proteins in cow’s milk or lactose, the major sugar in cow’s milk but want the nutritional value of a drink
with a protein, fat, and calcium content similar to whole milk.
One of the main components of milk is a protein called casein. Like all proteins, casein is made up of a
unique sequence of 20 different amino acids. The sequence of amino acids is determined by the genetic
code in the DNA of the cow. Cow’s milk became a major source of calcium, protein, carbohydrates and
fats once they were domesticated by humans in the Middle East. Humans became the only mammals to
continue to drink milk after they were weaned from their mother’s milk.
The major sugar in milk is lactose. At first, humans could not
tolerate milk because their bodies stopped producing the
enzyme lactase that digests lactose after the age of weaning.
After a significant period of time, human populations who
consumed milk as a common food source evolved to
produce lactase after weaning. However, some ethnicities
still have a hard time digesting milk. The majority of adult
Asian, African-American, Jewish, Mexican-American, and
Native American adults are lactose intolerant. Native
populations in other regions where the cow was not
domesticated also commonly possessed lactase deficiency.
Lactase deficiency is so common that many people who are
milk-intolerant mistakenly believe that lactase deficiency is
the only cause of milk intolerance.
A major event regarding milk tolerance occurred several
thousand years ago. Dairy cows carrying the A2 variety of
beta-casein mutated into the A1 version European dairy
herds. A change in gene encoding occurred (beta-casein
protein was switched from proline (pro) in A2 casein to
histidine (his) in A1 or B casein - Figure 1). This mutation
resulted in common digestive enzymes releasing a powerful peptide with opiate activity called
casomorphin from casein A1 or B (Figure 1). These peptides fit on the opiate receptors in the brain
which can impact behavior and functioning.
Casein B is found in Jersey cows and is considered a subtype of casein A1. The cause for concern with
milk containing A1 or B beta-casein is the digestive enzymes releasing the powerful peptide
casomorphin as discussed above. This peptide has opiate activity and also alters serotonin metabolism
and the amount of this peptide in urine correlates with the severity of autism based on the Childhood
Autism Rating Scale (CARS).
Figure 2. Relationship between amount of
casomorphin in urine with severity of autism
(Peptides 56 (2014) 68–71).
Casomorphin is not generated from casein A2
when this casein is acted on by common digestive
enzymes (Figure 1). B-Unique® resolves the
potential harmful effects of casomorphin derived
from casein A1 and B by removing the casein and
replacing it with pea protein so that the product has
comparable protein to whole milk. Children with
autism spectrum disorder taking B-Unique had
much lower amounts of casomorphin (also called
caseomorphin) in the urine after being on B-Unique for eight months. The median % decrease in
casomorphin in the
group of children with
autism (n=18) was
80%.
Figure 3. The
caseomorphin value of
the Y-axis is given as ng
caseomorphin per mg
creatinine X 10-2.
Harmful effects of milk containing caseins A1 and B
Additionally, in 1993 Bob Elliott, a professor of child health research at the University of Aukland
proposed A1 milk as a factor in disease. Elliott believed that consumption of A1 milk could account for
the unusually high incidence of type-1 diabetes among Samoan children growing up in New Zealand. He
and a colleague, Corran McLachlan, later compared the per capita consumption of A1 milk to the
prevalence of diabetes and heart disease in 20 countries and came up with strong correlations, shown in
bullet points below.
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In rabbits fed different caseins in the presence of 0.5% dietary cholesterol, the thickness of the
aortic arch lesions was higher (P<0.05) in 5, 10 and 20% casein A1 fed animals compared with
their A2 counterparts, while other parameters were not significantly different. The researchers
concluded that beta-casein A1 is atherogenic compared with beta-casein A2. Rabbits fed betacasein A1 had a higher percent surface area of aorta covered by fatty streaks than those fed
beta-casein A2 (p<0.05) and the thickness of the fatty streak lesions in the aortic arch was
significantly higher (p<0.05).
The incidence of Type 1 diabetes is lower in Iceland than in the other 4 Nordic Countries. Earlier
studies have shown that the cow milk proteins A1 and B beta-casein, suggested to be
diabetogenic, are in lower amount in Icelandic cow milk than in milk from the other 4 Nordic
Countries, and the per capita consumption of these proteins correlates with the incidence of
Type 1 diabetes. It was observed that consumption of A1 "like" variants (A1A1 and A1A2)
significantly increased (p < 0.01) the levels of Myeloperoxidase, MCP-1, IL-4, total IgE, IgG, IgG1,
IgG2a and leukocyte infiltration in the intestine. TLR-2 and TLR-4 mRNA expression was also upregulated (p < 0.01) on administration of A1 "like" variants.
Compare B-unique to a popular potato based drink and other drinks used as a milk substitute.
A popular potato based milk substitute has no fat, no cholesterol, and no protein. It is, in fact, nothing
but carbohydrates and sugar with some added vitamins and calcium. The high sugar and carbohydrate
content make it problematic for some special needs children with gastrointestinal Candida overgrowth
although it does have the benefit of being gluten- and casein-free. The high carbohydrate content of the
potato product also dulls the appetite for other more nutritious foods. B-Unique® has the equivalent
protein, calcium, fat, and cholesterol of whole milk but no gluten or casein. In addition, B-Unique® is
superior to almond milk that has high amounts of oxalates and soy milk that contains oxalates, plant
estrogens, and proteins that can be converted to opiate peptides called soymorphins. Soymorphins have
been shown to depress the appetite and to depress intestinal motility. Having an adequate amount of
fat is also essential for the growth of children’s bodies and brains. B-Unique provides the balanced
nutrition without the common problematic issues that milk can cause.
References
Lactose intolerance. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactose_intolerance
The Devil in the Milk. Dr. Mercola’s newsletter.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/07/09/the-devil-in-the-milk.aspx
Laugesen M, Elliott R. Ischaemic heart disease, Type 1 diabetes, and cow milk A1 beta-casein. N Z Med J.
2003 Jan 24; 116(1168):U295.
Sokolova, Oleg, et al Autistic children display elevated urine levels of bovinecasomorphin-7
immunoreactivity. Peptides 56 (2014) 68–71.
Tailford KA, Berry CL, Thomas AC, Campbell JH. A casein variant in cow's milk is atherogenic.
Atherosclerosis. 2003 Sep; 170(1):13-9.
Birgisdottir BE, Hill JP, Harris DP, Thorsdottir I. Variation in consumption of cow milk proteins and lower
incidence of Type 1 diabetes in Iceland vs the other 4 Nordic countries. Diabetes Nutr Metab. 2002 Aug;
15(4):240-5.
Haq MR, Kapila R, Sharma R, Saliganti V, Kapila S. Comparative evaluation of cow β-casein variants
(A1/A2) consumption on Th2-mediated inflammatory response in mouse gut. Eur J Nutr. 2013 Oct 29.
[Epub ahead of print]
Kentaro Kaneko, Masashi Iwasaki, Masaaki Yoshikawa, and Kousaku Ohinata Orally administered
soymorphins, soy-derived opioid peptides, suppress feeding and intestinal transit via gut µ1-receptor
coupled to 5-HT1A, D2,and GABA-B systems. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 299: G799–G805,
2010.
Dra. Elizabeth Ibarra Coronado, Ing. Bioquímica Cecilia Fernández Aguirre. NEUROALIMENTACION
COMO APOYO AL DESEMPEÑO FISIOLOGICO Y EN LAS HABILIDADES COGNITIVAS EN PERSONAS CON
TRISOMÍA 21, TRASTORNOS DEL ESPECTRO AUTISTA Y TRASTORNO POR DÉFICIT DE ATENCIÓN.ANÁLISIS
BIOQUÍMICO Y METABÓLICO.(Neuroalimentation as help to the physiological performance and cognitive
abilities in people with trisomy 21, autistic spectrum disorders, and attention deficit disorder.) A
preliminary report of the study group. 16 Diciembre, 2013