News & Media :: Daily Log
Do You Know
Jun 25, 2010
Twice a year the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) reports on sales of organic milk and dairy products. In April of 2010, sales rose in that single month an impressive 16.8%, an encourgaing sign that the American people are beginning to feel they can afford to invest in a healthier future.
In addition, an editorial comment and major new study has been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN, March, 2010).
The new research shows that the higher levels of conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs) in organic meat, milk, and dairy products can help children combat weight gain and obesity, and as a result keep some children off, and slow others along the path to Type 2 diabetes before graduation from high school.
The authors of the AJCN paper (Racine et al.) note that the incremental and historic shift of conventional dairy and beef cattle operations from largely pasture and forage-based systems to confinement operations and grain-based diets has reduced CLA levels in meat and dairy products by about 75%.
This reduction in CLA nutrient density is accompanied by a major shift toward Omega 6's in meat and dairy products, at the expense of Omega 3's, and is another reason why this profound shift in the American diet deserves far more attention than currently the case.
