How’s it Affecting You & Your Family
Pasteurization
Pasteurization is accomplished by utilization of one of two methods available: (1) the holding process, e.g., heating a foodstuff for 30 minutes at a temperature of 60? C to 65? C (140? F to 149? F), or (2) the high temperature, short time (HTST) method. HTST requires heat of 95? C to 100? C (203? F to 212? F) for a short time. Boiling, as will be recalled, is 100? C or 212? F. It is well established amongst biochemist that enzymes (proteins) are structurally altered or destroyed in the presence of this level of heat.
The heat effects upon enzymes is profound. The first method of pasteurization-holding for 30 minutes-will destroy most, if not all, enzymes. Using the second method (the most popular), HTST, it is certainly unlikely that any enzymes at all survive. Both human milk and cow milk are 87.5% water. Thus, the protein-like enzymes indigenous to milk, bathed with water, will become denatured no matter which method of pasteurization is utilized. In fact, all amino acids in milk will be negatively affected by heat processing.
Milk Enzymes
Heating milk to 60? C (140? F) results in the calcium being precipitated as Calcium Phosphate. Heat precipitation alters the absorption, assimilation and utilization of the calcium complement to an undesired state biochemically. Not only des heat processing of milk diminish calcium bioavailability, the concurrent loss of acid and alkaline phosphatase enzymes further impedes physiological benefits to the cellular chemistry.
Many authorities state that milk and milk products are the best source of calcium but the bioavailability of the calcium is rarely considered. A calcium ion associated with a live enzyme has very high bioavailability whereas calcium phosphate, an inert substance, has very low bioavailability. Analogously, a deer is the best source of venison, but not after it’s been run over by a truck and lies on the side of the road for two weeks. There’s a difference.
Destroying Enzymes
Destruction of pathogenic bacteria is the prime objective of thermal processing of milk but many enzymes are coincidentally inactivated. Some milk enzymes are very thermos-stable and survive normal HTST pasteurization conditions; higher processing temperatures produce injurious changes in the physiochemical (bioavailability) properties of milk proteins.
The thermo-stable enzymes that escape HTST temperature of 95? C to 100? C are certain to be destroyed at the higher temperatures of ultra-pasteurization, which is required to sustain shelf life from weeks to months as seen in ultra-pasteurized products.
Lactase
One enzyme of import that is inactivated or destroyed by HTST is lactase, which is needed for the cleavage of lactose to glucose and galactose. Without lactase activity, galactose cannot be provided in its biologically active form. Galactose is required for development and maintenance of the myelin sheath (a fat-like substance forming an insulation around certain nerve tracts) and participates, without affecting insulin secretion, in carbohydrate metabolism.
When one considers the infant who is not being breastfed but instead fed formula, which is derived of dehydrated milk post-pasteurization, one has to consider how well brain development is going to be affected. Another possible link to our escalating ADHD and autism problem in America.
If you begin to read the label and look for the term pasteurized you will see that many of our favorite American foods have been pasteurized. Milks certainly but think beyond milk. Yogurts, cheeses, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese and ice cream. Orange juice, apple cider, and any juice in a bottle even in the refrigerator section. Simply orange, Tropicana Pure Premium, etc. Then stop and consider all of the soups and sauces in jars and cans in the center aisles of the grocery store. And then there in the processed flours, and bagged foods like chips and tortilla shells, etc.
Thinking Past Just Milk: What’s it Doing to You
All of this food has been exposed to very high heat and has no “troublesome” enzyme activity. In other words, it has been sterilized to increase the shelf life by reducing spoilage. It might seem like a good idea but when you get right down to what nourishing food really is you will find that raw and alive foods, although they may spoil, provide the most complete complements of vitamins and minerals and amino acids, and all at the highest levels of bio-availability. I am suspicious of anything that is called food but won’t spoil. Take Wonder bread, Wise potato chips, half & half, margarine, etc.
Allergy and Inflammation: When proteins such as enzymes are denatured your body no longer recognizes these proteins as something natural and safe. As these denatured proteins find their way into your blood stream your immune system mounts an immunological defense and begins to release histamine and other cytokines that drive inflammation. It is no wonder, with all of the processed/pasteurized food that Americans eat, that we have out of control allergy and inflammation mediated diseases such as arthritis, fibromyalgia and cardio-vascular disease. All of this stuff should really be called “edible food like substance.” Tastes good but not really good for you.
My advice is to definitely breastfeed your babies and be sure to nourish yourself with raw fruits and veggies and raw nuts, seeds and raw cold-pressed oils. If your state allows certified raw milk then get some. Minimize your exposure to cooked foods and understand that if a raw food is exposed to a heat above 95? C it has been denatured and if boiled (sterilized) it has little nutritional value due to greatly reduced bioavailability. Raw is real and alive. Cooked is dead and not alive. Big difference.