Ever wonder why camel milk has become so popular? Why do some parents insist that camel milk helped their child with autism?
Camel milk in the US is exotic, however, parents have been spending quite a bit of money to buy it. In other parts of the world, camel milk is common, and those parents are also buying it for their children with autism.
Why? Is there actually a difference between cow’s milk and camel milk? Why would one be preferred over the other? And here’s the most important question. What does the real science say?
There was a publication that came out in 2022 that explored the effects of cow milk on children with autism as measured with blood tests.
Cow milk
Cow’s milk is the primary dairy product at the beginning of many children’s lives. Consumption of conventional cow milk is associated with small intestine inflammation. How does that happen?
Conventional cow’s milk releases a protein called beta casomorphin, which increases opioid activity in the GI system if it’s not properly broken down. Milk protein, specifically beta-casein, is associated with increased intestinal permeability, otherwise known as leaky gut, and also potentially leads to neurological disorders, including autism.
BCM-7
Let’s get into the inflammatory effects of milk. This is important to know. This explanation is taken from a scientific publication about camel milk from 2022.
You start out with the milk protein and you have casein and whey. So we’ll focus on the casein. There are a variety of different types of casein, but the researchers focused on beta-casein. With beta-casein, there’s a potential release of a particular protein called BCM-7. There is a higher amount of BCM-7 in cow’s milk than camel milk. BCM-7 contributes to
- increased intestinal permeability, or leaky gut, which can also influence
- an inflamed bowel,
- brain, and
- impaired social interaction.
That’s the figure from this particular research article on camel milk and autism.
Camel milk
What are the benefits of camel milk? Isn’t milk just milk?
Camel milk has become increasingly popular because it has a lower concentration of A1 beta-casein. Additionally, camel milk has therapeutic qualities such as
- antibacterial,
- antiviral,
- anti-inflammatory,
- anti-diabetic, and
- anti-allergenic.
Camel milk also has a significantly lower omega 6 to omega 3 ratio. So the ratio shows that it’s more anti-inflammatory.
Effects of camel milk on inflammation in autism
Let’s get into the study that was published in 2022 about camel milk and autism. The whole purpose of this research was to investigate the therapeutic potential of raw and boiled camel milk in reducing neuroinflammation. And then we’re going to compare the effects of raw and boiled camel milk consumption versus cow milk consumption. Lots of questions will be answered.
The sample size was 64 children with autism. The age was 2 to 12 years old. The duration was two weeks. That’s very short. So please note that that’s a relatively short time to study the beneficial effects.
The biomarker used to measure autism severity was chosen to be TNF alpha which is an indicator of inflammation. How these scientists measured behavioral changes in the children was using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale and the Social Responsiveness Rating Scale. Those are standard tests. They also measured gastrointestinal symptoms.
Methodology
All the groups received the same instructions, volume of milk, and containers to preserve the blinding of the study. There were 64 children with autism broken into three groups. 23 consumed raw camel milk, 27 consumed boiled camel milk, and 14 consumed cow milk, which was raw. Now I know that in the US most cow’s milk is actually pasteurized, but this is the research that was done.
These wonderful children in this research study were able to get blood draws and we all know that getting blood work from children is not always the easiest thing to do. The blood work is how they measured TNF alpha.
Results
What did the blood test show? It showed that there is actually a reduction in inflammation when consuming camel milk, whether it was boiled or raw, didn’t matter. For the cow’s milk, there was an increase in inflammation as measured by TNF alpha from the blood work. This was in the group of those with autism that was classified as mild to moderate autism.
They also studied those with severe autism, and again, boiled camel milk showed a reduction in inflammation as measured by blood work looking at TNF alpha. With the kids who had severe autism, the raw camel milk did not show much of a change. In this group, the cow milk again increased inflammation as measured by TNF alpha.
How about gastrointestinal symptoms? GI symptoms did decrease with the camel milk.
Conclusion
Camel milk has therapeutic potential due to its antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects. These effects are mainly due to two active ingredients – lactoferrin and immunoglobulins.
Lactoferrin in camel milk specifically inhibits the growth of microorganisms known to be highly abundant in the feces of patients with autism compared with those of healthy individuals.
Results in this study demonstrated a significant decrease in TNF alpha as a marker of inflammation in the serum of children with autism after consuming raw or boiled camel milk for two weeks. That was the study’s conclusion, and that is why camel milk is starting to increase in popularity in parts of the world where it’s considered exotic because it has a particular health benefit that parents want for their children.
This research also showed that camel milk consumption is accompanied by a much lower number of participants with GI symptoms. The research also showed that there was an increase in inflammation by consuming cow’s milk.
Now I understand, that not every parent wants to or has the money to buy camel milk. But does that mean you’ve got no options? The first step would be to stop consuming cow’s milk because more than likely, it’s increasing inflammation. This study found it. There are definitely lots of options if camel milk is not easily available for you.
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