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A2 milk
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A2 milk
A2 milk is a variety of cows' milk that predominantly contains the A2 form of β-casein proteins (as opposed to A1 milk, which contains mostly A1 β-casein proteins). Cows' milk like this was brought to market by The a2 Milk Company and is sold mostly in Australia, New Zealand, China, and the United States. It was sold in the United Kingdom between 2012 and 2019. Non-cow milk, including that of humans, sheep, goats, donkeys, yaks, camels, buffalo, and others, also contains mostly A2 β-casein, and so the term "A2 milk" is also used in that context.
The a2 Milk Company and some companies producing goat's milk products claim that milk containing A1 proteins is harmful, but there has been no widely accepted scientific work identifying a link between A1 protein and any adverse effect on health.
A1 and A2 beta-casein are genetic variants of the beta-casein milk protein that differ by one amino acid. A genetic test, developed by the a2 Milk Company, determines whether a cow produces A2 or A1 type protein in its milk.
In the 1980s, medical researchers began to explore whether some peptides (including peptides from casein) that are created during digestion might have negative or positive health effects.
Interest in the distinction between A1 and A2 beta-casein proteins began in the early 1990s via epidemiological research and animal studies initially conducted by scientists in New Zealand, which found correlations between the prevalence of milk with A1 beta-casein proteins in some countries and the prevalence of various chronic diseases. The research generated interest in the media, as well as among the scientific community and entrepreneurs. If it were indeed true that BCM-7 is harming humans, this would be an important public health issue, as well as a commercial opportunity.
Cow milk is about 87 percent water and 13 percent solids, a combination of fat, carbohydrates in the form of lactose, minerals, and protein. About 30 to 35 percent of the casein (equivalent to two teaspoons per quart of milk) is beta-casein, of which there are several varieties, determined by the genes of the cow. The most common of these variants are A1 and A2 proteins, named for the order in which they were identified by scientists. The sole difference is that one of the 209 amino acids that make up the beta-casein proteins, a proline, occurs at position 67 in the chain of amino acids that make up the A2 beta-casein, while in A1 beta-casein, a histidine occurs at that position.
Studies in cells found that digestive enzymes that cut up proteins interact with beta-casein precisely at that location, so that A1 and A2 beta-casein proteins are processed differently. A seven-amino acid peptide, beta-casomorphin-7, can be cut away from the A1-beta-casein protein by those enzymes, but the enzymes cannot cut the A2 protein at that location, so BCM-7 is not formed from A2 proteins.
Studies in humans have not consistently found that BCM-7 is formed in the human digestive system. BCM-7 can also be created during the fermentation of milk or through the process by which cheese is made; those same processes can also destroy BCM-7.
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A2 milk AI simulator
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A2 milk
A2 milk is a variety of cows' milk that predominantly contains the A2 form of β-casein proteins (as opposed to A1 milk, which contains mostly A1 β-casein proteins). Cows' milk like this was brought to market by The a2 Milk Company and is sold mostly in Australia, New Zealand, China, and the United States. It was sold in the United Kingdom between 2012 and 2019. Non-cow milk, including that of humans, sheep, goats, donkeys, yaks, camels, buffalo, and others, also contains mostly A2 β-casein, and so the term "A2 milk" is also used in that context.
The a2 Milk Company and some companies producing goat's milk products claim that milk containing A1 proteins is harmful, but there has been no widely accepted scientific work identifying a link between A1 protein and any adverse effect on health.
A1 and A2 beta-casein are genetic variants of the beta-casein milk protein that differ by one amino acid. A genetic test, developed by the a2 Milk Company, determines whether a cow produces A2 or A1 type protein in its milk.
In the 1980s, medical researchers began to explore whether some peptides (including peptides from casein) that are created during digestion might have negative or positive health effects.
Interest in the distinction between A1 and A2 beta-casein proteins began in the early 1990s via epidemiological research and animal studies initially conducted by scientists in New Zealand, which found correlations between the prevalence of milk with A1 beta-casein proteins in some countries and the prevalence of various chronic diseases. The research generated interest in the media, as well as among the scientific community and entrepreneurs. If it were indeed true that BCM-7 is harming humans, this would be an important public health issue, as well as a commercial opportunity.
Cow milk is about 87 percent water and 13 percent solids, a combination of fat, carbohydrates in the form of lactose, minerals, and protein. About 30 to 35 percent of the casein (equivalent to two teaspoons per quart of milk) is beta-casein, of which there are several varieties, determined by the genes of the cow. The most common of these variants are A1 and A2 proteins, named for the order in which they were identified by scientists. The sole difference is that one of the 209 amino acids that make up the beta-casein proteins, a proline, occurs at position 67 in the chain of amino acids that make up the A2 beta-casein, while in A1 beta-casein, a histidine occurs at that position.
Studies in cells found that digestive enzymes that cut up proteins interact with beta-casein precisely at that location, so that A1 and A2 beta-casein proteins are processed differently. A seven-amino acid peptide, beta-casomorphin-7, can be cut away from the A1-beta-casein protein by those enzymes, but the enzymes cannot cut the A2 protein at that location, so BCM-7 is not formed from A2 proteins.
Studies in humans have not consistently found that BCM-7 is formed in the human digestive system. BCM-7 can also be created during the fermentation of milk or through the process by which cheese is made; those same processes can also destroy BCM-7.
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