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The protein casein is included in all dairy products, or, as it turns out, almost all of them. I recently read The Gluten Free Homemaker's post on making ghee or clarified butter, which only contains butterfat and whey protein, and excludes the casein. I read other sources about ghee and would like to try it, but I still haven't yet. But, it got my wheels turning. Casein-free dairy products.
Then, I came across this section (and a few other bits) in On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee:
Subtract the four caseins from the milk proteins, and the remainder, numbering in the dozens, are the whey proteins. Where the caseins are mainly nutritive, supplying the amino acids and calcium for the calf, the whey proteins include defensive proteins, molecules that bind to and transport other nutrients, and enzymes. The most abundant one by far is lactoglobulin, whose biological function remains a mystery. It's a highly structured protein that is readily denatured by cooking. It unfolds at 172 degrees Fahrenheit, when its sulfur atoms are exposed to the surrounding liquid and react with the hydrogen ions to form hydrogen sulfide gas, whose powerful aroma contributes to the characteristic flavor of cooked milk (and many other animal foods).
In boiling milk, unfolded lactoglobulin binds not to itself but to the capping-casein on the casein micelles, which remain separate; so denatured lactoglobulin doesn't coagulate. When denatured in acid conditions with relatively little casein around, as in cheese whey, lactoglobulin molecules do bind to each other and coagulate into little clots, which can be made into whey cheese like true ricotta. Heat-denatured whey proteins are better than their native forms at stabilizing air bubbles in milk foams and ice crystals in ice creams; this is why milks and creams are usually cooked for these preparations.
Paint me skeptical. The problem with so-called casein-free cheese is that just because there are no tests available for antibodies to any of the whey proteins does not mean that none of us are sensitive to them. I have a hunch that many/most of us who react to casein would also react to whey (but obviously that's just a WAEG).
Regarding colostrum, I'm afraid that train left the station decades ago. Colostrum can virtually perform miracles for infants (with undeveloped immune systems), because it's loaded with antibodies that can pre-load a naive innate immune system. But frankly, unless your sister is only a few months old, I would be very surprised if it would have any significant benefits (again, this is just a WAEG, and maybe someone else has some better information).
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
I bought some ghee. Liked it and seemed to tolerate it ok on my GF bread. I bought some unsalted butter and clarified it. I've been using it about a week without problem. I am not using a lot of it just a little on bread or baked potato. I think after clarifying it is mostly fat without the protein which is the problem.....or I could be all wet.
Theresa
MC and UC 2014
in remission since June 1, 2014
We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. ~Jim Rohn
