Text 654, 44 rader
Skriven 2009-10-21 00:39:09 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
     Kommentar till en text av Roy Witt (1:387/22)
Ärende: Raw milk
================
Hello Roy,

On Saturday October 17 2009 18:53, you wrote to me:

 RW>>> From those people who swear by it, the claim is that grass fed
 RW>>> cattle give healthier milk than milk that came from grain fed cows.

 MvdV>> A claim that can not be substantiated by verifiable facts.

 RW> A cow is a ruminant and with the complicated digestive system they
 RW> have, it wasn't designed to digest grain.

Cows were not designed, they were bred and selected to give a lot of milk on
whatever food is abundantly and cheaply available.

 RW> Feeding cows too much grain can drop, or acidify, the pH of the rumen
 RW> and so affect digestion and milk composition.

I follow...

 RW> The PH level of a cow's digestive system, if it eats grass is around
 RW> 6.2-6.8, or neutral.

Ok...

 RW> How much grain is too much? Probably whatever quantity it takes to
 RW> drop the pH of the rumen below 6.0, when cellulose-digesting bacteria
 RW> can no longer do their job. Which of course changes the composition of
 RW> the milk.

Sure it affects the taste and the composition of the milk. But the claim was
that graas fed cows produce *healthier* milk. That can not be established by
merely tatsing it, but requires double blind testing over many years with
sufficiently large population.

It does not apply to Dutch cows BTW. Dutch cows are seldom fed grain. They are
fed dried grass when in the stable in winter. Garin is too expensive. Matter of
climate.


Cheers, Michiel

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