Immune Health
Does Milk Cause Multiple Sclerosis?
New research from the University of Bonn shows that casein from cow's milk can trigger immune reactions similar to multiple sclerosis. MS patients may benefit from reducing dairy consumption.
Immune Health
New research from the University of Bonn shows that casein from cow's milk can trigger immune reactions similar to multiple sclerosis. MS patients may benefit from reducing dairy consumption.
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Incredible! A paper from the University of Bonn has just been published. Our initial take: research is making progress! But let's go through this step by step...
Is the human body adapted to grains and milk? A difficult question. Particularly when looking at our Europe: agriculture has only existed here for about 5,000 years. That means: excessive grain and milk consumption is – from an evolutionary perspective – new. For many parts of the world, people cannot digest milk at all. As a reminder: Homo sapiens has existed for an estimated 250,000 years, the genus Homo for approximately 2.5–3 million years. If you can do basic arithmetic, you can calculate the proportion 5,000 years represents. In any case, for many years now, we have recommended excluding milk and grains as an «immediate measure» when the body is struggling and/or sick.
For a long time, this was dismissed from «serious circles.» We know this from the «microbiome» discussion too, whose importance was long denied, or from «leaky gut,» which our competent doctors here in Switzerland still smile at condescendingly despite numerous publications in scientific journals. This list of «DIY topics» from «alternative circles» could go on. But you should always remember that you shouldn't let your lived experience be limited by current scientific knowledge. After all, science often lags behind by years or even decades. But now to [source no longer available].
Researchers at the University of Bonn wanted to find out why multiple sclerosis patients frequently complain that «they feel worse when they consume milk, quark, or yogurt,» explained Stefanie Kürten from the Institute of Anatomy at Bonn University Hospital. So they actually took patients seriously and injected mice with various milk proteins. With casein, whose effect they increased slightly with an «enhancer» to see effects more clearly, «the mice subsequently developed neurological disorders. Electron microscopy showed damage to the insulating sheath around the nerve fibers of myelin. This fatty substance prevents short circuits and also significantly accelerates nerve conduction.»
Among other things, these structures are also affected in MS, where inflammatory foci appear in the entire central nervous system precisely at these myelin sheaths of nerve fibers. The body's own antibodies react against these structures! But why does this seem to happen even when casein is merely injected? The researchers point to a phenomenon we've known about for a long time: actually, the antibodies react against the casein – it can happen. Unfortunately, some proteins located in the central nervous system look almost exactly like casein. The antibodies therefore also bind to these structures and trigger an immune reaction. This is called cross-reactivity. Something we've known about for a long time, especially from wheat protein gliadin. However, here hundreds, if not thousands of body proteins are affected, which antibodies react against once antibodies against gliadin have been formed.
The authors write: Such cross-reactivity can occur when two molecules are at least partially very similar to each other. The immune system then confuses them with each other, so to speak. «We compared casein with various molecules important for myelin production,» says Chunder. «In doing so, we came across a protein called MAG. It looks very similar to casein in some respects – so much so that antibodies against casein in the laboratory animals were also active against MAG.» Of course, the researchers wanted to see whether something like this could also happen in humans and found that many MS patients have antibodies against casein. So one thing leads to another – possibly against the background of genetic predisposition.
Important: the authors add that these findings do not mean that hypersensitivity to casein necessarily leads to the development of multiple sclerosis. That would probably require additional risk factors. Nevertheless, this connection is concerning, says Kürten: «Studies suggest that MS rates are elevated in population groups where large amounts of cow's milk are consumed.» Interesting. Whether this connection is really as clear-cut as presented here, we don't know. What we do know is that grains and milk can cause problems in some individuals – and even if they don't trigger MS, they might make it worse.
Once again, this study shows:
Lifestyle is the key. We have to take this seriously.
And we should always remember that science doesn't know a lot (yet). Personal experience is therefore the real key. The authors of the study clearly recognize this too, which is why they write that «our data suggest that patients with antibodies against bovine casein could benefit from a diet low in dairy products.»
A big but. I know, many of our readers hate this. Always this «but.» Humans didn't simply stumble upon dairy products by accident as a new food source. Dairy products are nutritionally super valuable. Especially the fattier, truly natural variants contain, for example, large amounts of vitamin K2 or conjugated linoleic acid. These are substances from which many people benefit tremendously. Dairy products might be our best calcium source (really, truly), which at the same time brings the necessary cofactors (proteins, K2, miRNA, etc.) to keep bones stable. In addition, dairy products are an outstanding source of amino acids – in other words, protein. So everyone has to try it for themselves and come to their own conclusions. That's just how it is.
