Yeh A1, A2 kya hai?

With A2 milk being called a healthier choice and easier to digest than regular A1, experts discuss the difference and how much it matters

Those of us who grew up in 1980s and 1990s, will remember drinking at least two glasses of milk every day of our childhood. We were told it is good for the bones, and can make us taller and stronger. Sometimes, it didn’t agree with the gut. This was the only time mothers exempted young adult children from breaking the compulsory milk regime.

Adults are inherently lactose intolerant, says food historian and archaeologist Kurush Dalal. “But, Indians became a dominant gene pool who could digest it. Over time, we changed the biochemical property of milk by turning it into chaas, ghee and other products like mithai. With this, we managed to lessen the effect of raw lactose on our gut,” he adds. In the past few years, our relationship with milk has been influenced by lifestyle, quality of milk, veganism and even environmental and moral choices. 

Sheetal Bhatt, owner of Haritt Farms, launched GOD Cafe in Dadar this year to promote a menu revolving around A2 milk

With gut earning the status of second brain and as the epicentre of well-being, A2 milk has been promoted as a gut-friendly choice of milk. This was amplified by numerous research papers that pitted A2 against A1—both protein elements responsible for lactose intolerance in the body.  A2 is a type of milk protein. Around 39 per cent of protein in milk is Beta casein. A1 and A2 are genetic variants of this beta casein A1 milk, which is the most commonly used milk and is abundantly available, is obtained from cows of Western origin such as Bos Taurus, Holstein freisian or Jerseys and is known to yield a large quantity of milk. The A2 milk is obtained by the cows of Indian origin like Gir and Sahiwal. Although both are sourced from cows, the two milks vary in terms of the chemical composition.

“In the Indian context, all  milk produced by buffaloes, native cows, goats, sheep, and camels is A2. Even milk from the exotic cross breeds of Holstein Friesian and jerseys have a large portion of A2,” says Kuldeep Sharma, dairy expert, Suruchi Consultants in Noida. “Experts claim that more than 90 per cent of the milk available in the market is A2 type. A2, under current context, is nothing more than a fad.”

Neeraj Mittal’s Mr Milk does not procure milk from third-party sources, and has a single source working model

He points out that the growing interest in A2 milk has been bolstered by social media and extensive promotion of native cows. “Though 55 per cent of milk available in India is buffalo milk, which is A2, nobody is interested in calling as well as consuming that as A2. Perception is the only reality,” says Sharma. 

Incidentally, there is no scientific evidence that A2 is better than A1. The scientific panel of FSSAI is yet to find anything “special” in A2 milk. “Milk is the first food for life. If we could have digested it at a time when even our digestive system was not fully developed, what’s the issue later? However, in certain cases, there may be lactose intolerance so they may avoid it or take lactose-free milks,” Sharma points out.  “A2 milk is the biggest con in India,” Dalal says without mincing words. “There is no such thing as A1 or A2 in milk. After that one tall claim, what followed was a bunch of papers debunking this theory too,” Dalal explains. 

Kurush Dalal

Proponents assert that A2 has several health benefits and is easier for people with milk intolerance to digest. “It [A2 milk] comes closest to mother’s milk, “ says Neeraj Mittal of Pune’s Mittal Happy Cows Dairy Farms, who launched his brand Mr Milk in Mumbai three months ago. Mr Milk does not procure milk from third-party sources, and has a single source working model. “Even people with lactose intolerance can have it. In India, adulteration of milk has created a concern in the last two decades. Usually, milk corporations collect milk from various milk farms and thus, adulteration cannot be controlled. Cows are sometimes injected with hormones to yield higher quantities too,” says Mittal.  The entry of single origin farms, like Mittal’s, are focusing on the traceability of milk to its origin. “If we can source our food to origin, why not milk?”  Single milk farms promise you purity, which is also a big concern for new mothers, conscious consumers and HNIs, he explains.  On their Lonavala farm, spread across 85 acres, they breed Gir and Sahiwal. The cows are housed according to the life stage they are in—whether they are milking or non-milking. The calves are kept close to them. “We like to keep them in luxury. We have a massaging unit. Their fodder is recommended by experts.”

Neeraj Mittal

At the centre of the debate is the quality of milk, with consumers having no scope to verify its authenticity. “Consumers are also taking pride in buying stories than the actual product. If you visit an automated plant, you will never find a place to put your hand inside the tank. However, by simply using milking machines, if someone claims the untouched theory, that is just good storytelling. Whatever said, the milk from any FSSAI-registered known brand is hardly different from the milk being sold by so many new players with or without farms. We must not forget that milk is a commodity and it will remain so,” says Sharma.

Milk becomes dubious when it is adulterated beyond permitted levels, and cows are pumped with chemically-induced hormones to produce more milk, says Sheetal Bhatt, owner of Haritt Farms. “We rear Gir Cow to produce A2 milk that has up to 90 per cent protein and only 5-8  per cent fats. The SNF level of our milk is 8.9 compared to A1 strains that barely reach 7.4 with additives. No water is added to thin this milk,” says Bhatt, who opened GOD Café in Dadar to promote a menu revolving around A2 milk. On her farm, milking is done by hand. “We feed our cows four times a day as per body weight, and add Ayurvedic herbs like ashwagandha, jestimadh, arjunsal, shatavari, jivanti, and vardhara to their fodder. Non-intrusive care includes promoting natural mating without artificial insemination, no administration of calcium or allopathy medicines,” she explains.

Explaining the effect of A1 and A2 milk on the body, Karishma Chawla, nutritionist and lifestyle educator, says, “A2 is easier to digest than A1 and prevents bloating, gas, by virtue of being free of BCM-7, which is a bio active amino peptide that is released by digestive enzymes from A1beta casein, unlike the case of A1 which causes gastro discomfort.”

For those who are not lactose intolerant, both A2 and A1 are fine to consume, thinks Chawla. She also adds that dairy is a common gut irritant food by itself, and if one is intolerant, the problem will persist. “Dairy can also spike insulin and causes inflammation like acne in some with hormonal imbalances. That is why we give plant-based milk such as almond and coconut milk. To get to the crux of the milk debate, I say just one thing: depend on bio-individuality [one person’s food is another’s poison]. Today, we understand the human anatomy better. The hot topic is Gut Microbiome Test. It helps determine if bacterial cells are functioning well in the organ,” says Chawla.

Dalal leaves us with a parting thought: “Milk cannot be bad if it is meant to nourish even a newborn. For vegetarians, it is the only source of B12 complex. If you say milk is morally bad to consume, then that’s a separate and  sustainable argument. But milk per se being bad is a theory that doesn’t hold. Pop a lactose intolerant pill if needed, and enjoy it!”

Doodh mein kuch kala hai

The reasons for giving up dairy are varied: body intolerance, environment, ethics and lifestyle choice. Author of Reversing Diabetes in 21 Days, Dr Nandita Shah, says, “No animal consumes its mother’s milk after infancy. The reasons that we should not consume cow’s milk is—we are neither calves nor infants. We do not need milk or other dairy either for protein or for calcium. We get plenty of fibre from plants, which keeps a digestive tract clean and constipation-free,” she says, adding, “In order to digest dairy, we need an enzyme in our stomach called rennet. This is present in the stomach of infants, and most of us do not have this enzyme anymore. Therefore, most of us cannot digest milk and are lactose intolerant. This can cause indigestion.”

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