Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Dr. Gundry Podcast, the weekly podcast, where Dr. G gives you the tools you need to boost your health and live your healthiest life.
Dr. Gundry (00:14):
Welcome to the Dr. Gundry Podcast. Milk, it does not do a body good. At least not for adults and especially not for kids, except that is if it’s from A2 cows. You see, most dairy products found in the US grocery stores come from a breed of cows, such as a Holstein, that’s that black and white cow, that is a highly inflammatory type of milk protein called casein A1.
That’s why I’m so excited to have the Alexandre’s on today. They are one of the only A2 dairy farmers in the US. Husband, wife duo, Stephanie and Blake, plus their five kids are truly pioneers in the A2 dairy industry, and also in farming as the first certified regenerative farms. So pay attention.
We’ll find out why organic just isn’t enough. How farming like our grandparents will help heal the planet. And why A2 dairy products are optimal if you’re going to drink milk. So stay tuned. You’re not going to want to miss hearing about their incredible story of running a family farm, and what you can do to help facilitate regenerative agriculture in your community. We’ll be right back.
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So welcome to the podcast, Stephanie and Blake. It’s so good to see Alexandre A2 Milks and Yogurts more available in more grocery stores these days.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (04:34):
Thank you.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (04:34):
Thank you. We’re honored to be here.
Dr. Gundry (04:37):
So first thing’s first. What’s wrong with conventional agriculture? You guys are farmers. What’s wrong?
The Alexandre’s- Blake (04:46):
Yeah, it’s taken a turn over the last eight or 10 decades that has just industrialized everything in terms of focusing on high yield only, I would say. I went to college 40 years ago, or we went to college 35 and 40 years ago. And they really weren’t teaching us about the soil other than the basic minerals in the soil, but certainly nothing about biology. And so I think that’s what’s missing in conventional agriculture.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (05:22):
And then also, within regards to just dairy specifically, a lot of people have moved away from dairy, and there’s got to be reasons why. Whether it’s the method, the style, or you just can’t digest it, or it doesn’t agree with them, and not healthy for them any longer.
Dr. Gundry (05:39):
So do you think if we went back a hundred years, that the idea that people had milk intolerance would be very different, based on the way cattle were grazed a hundred years ago?
The Alexandre’s- Blake (05:56):
Yeah, we do tend to believe that. We think that, certainly the cattle industry and the dairy cow itself has changed because we do have that corrupted gene, which we will call A1 in there, that causes a lot of difficulty for a lot of people all around the world. And so, we just don’t know if that change happened a thousand years ago or more, or less, right? Somewhere along the line, the cow changed, not our guts necessarily.
However, you understand this really well, by the way, thank you for teaching us about lectin. That was very helpful for our family.
Dr. Gundry (06:42):
My pleasure.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (06:45):
We’ve got gluten intolerant people, and we now have extreme dairy intolerant people. And so we think of this protein problem in dairy, somewhat akin to the gluten intolerance. The wheats have changed, and the milk has changed. And then our lifestyles have changed, so our guts aren’t maybe as healthy to handle this stuff, where a hundred years ago to get back to your question, people weren’t noticing intolerances. They could handle it because they were rugged. They were growing up on farms, they were exposed to everything. And we have a different society Now.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (07:24):
Yeah. And they didn’t have the stressors that they have now. Maybe A1 was already there a hundred years ago, but the other stressors weren’t making their body susceptible to an A1 because they were healthy everywhere else. But now with all the multiple stressors with modern food, then people are going to be more sensitive to everything.
Dr. Gundry (07:45):
No, that’s a good point. As I pointed out in my books that 95% of us are born with an antibody to the peanut lectin. And yet probably when you were growing up, and I was growing up, nobody had peanut allergies.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (07:45):
Right.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (07:45):
Right.
Dr. Gundry (08:00):
We know everybody ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and had peanuts on planes. And nobody was carrying Epi pens to school. And now of course, peanut allergies are rampant.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (08:13):
Right.
Dr. Gundry (08:13):
But our immune system, the antibodies still existed, but our immune system was called down by, we had a normal gut microbiome teaching our immune system, and we didn’t have leaky gut. And you’re right. So it’s the same thing with, I think, casein A1. Probably, if we didn’t have a leaky gut and we had a great microbiome, that wouldn’t have been a big of problem as it is now.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (08:47):
Yeah. Correct.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (08:48):
Yes.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (08:48):
That’s how we look at it.
Dr. Gundry (08:54):
Okay. So you’re a dairy farmer, and all my vegans say, “You guys, and your cows are the cause of climate change, because your cows are farting. And, we got to get rid of you guys.” So what say you?
The Alexandre’s- Blake (09:10):
Great. Well, thank you for the opportunity there. That gets right to the quick. So we believe that we’re part of the solution and not part of the problem. And so we would certainly welcome any of those folks that have those concerns to come visit us. Come see our farm and come understand. Start with our website, but understand how we do our farming. And we’re truly part of the solution.
I think cows get a bad rap. I firmly believe that. We’ve got less bovine in the country today than we did years and years ago. And that methane that they make has a 10 year shelf life. So it’s kind of … we’re lowering that number, not increasing it. But let’s really talk about the soils and what we’ve come to understand through being organic and really learning and educating ourselves on soil and how we sequester carbon with our farming practices.
We are truly part of the solution. And cattle are a big part of that solution. In that, we need the cattle’s ruminate to digest some of these large fibrous plants and species out there that the cellulose that humans can’t digest. And those animals help us add biology to that, through their urine and manure back on the ground, they’re contributing and feeding the soil microbes, and then ultimately sequestering carbon in the soil through roots and other plant material that becomes part of the soil.
In our world, it’s its organic matter that we measure. It’s a real simple test. And our organic matter, in our soils have gone from two to 3% when we started 25 years ago or so up to 8, 10, 12, 15% now. It’s a phenomenal story. And, half of that organic matter is carbon.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (11:13):
So we’re basically as a dairy farmer, we’re, grass-based dairy farmers. And that’s a way we have farmed for four generations, now our fifth generation is helping us out. And so it’s a way that mimics the wildlife, the buffalo, where you do a rotational grazing. And that is all part of what we’re doing in a regenerative organic approach.
Dr. Gundry (11:39):
So you’re moving. I mean, just like buffalo roam, you’re moving your cows from pasture to pasture?
The Alexandre’s- Blake (11:47):
Yes, absolutely. We’re cycling the grass growth. The grass grows above the ground, say 12 to 18 inches tall. And under the ground, the roots are growing to kind of somewhat mimic and match the volume that’s above ground. And as you harvest it off using cattle, they go in, and we put a lot of cattle in a small space and they eat it all. And then of course, they leave the nutrients as well as taking some out. But, then those roots, some of them engage in rapid growth and regrow the green material up top, which becomes a solar plant that’s pulling carbon again, out of the air.
But also some of those roots just die off. They slough off and become little spaces in the soil for the microbes to live, for the water to transfer through. And then it leaves that carbon in the soil to be part of the permanent structure and part of the tilth of the soil.
Dr. Gundry (12:53):
With regenerative agriculture, for people who hopefully have been watching my podcasts, we’ve talked about it before. But for people who are first listening and hearing the word regenerative agriculture, define that. You’ve kind of done it, but what exactly does that mean?
The Alexandre’s- Blake (13:13):
Yeah, I think in simple terms, it’s regenerate soil. So let’s build soil, and get away from soil erosion, whether that’s wind erosion or water erosion or whatever. But regenerating soil, and when you regenerate soil, we’re literally building top soil. So maybe our fields are getting taller every decade. It’s that kind of approach, just visualize that they’re growing by an inch or two, because we’re adding bulk to the soil.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (13:47):
As you do all that, and you increase the organic matter. It increases the nutrients in the soil, the microbes, all the bugs and good critters. That’s increasing the nutrient density in the plant. And that’s ultimately what we’re after, is nutrient density and the plant for the cows to graze on. And the by-product of it, and the goodness of it, is that we’re sequestering carbon and it’s getting notoriety.
Dr. Gundry (14:12):
Gotcha. Yeah, no, it’s, I mean, correct me if I’m wrong, but the level of topsoil in the United States has plummeted drastically, right?
The Alexandre’s- Blake (14:27):
Yes. Through this industrial revolution of agriculture.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (14:31):
Those soils are dead.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (14:35):
Yeah. And so, one of my personal missions, one of the things that I like to work on by being involved with some of the advocate groups that farmers are involved with, I go to Washington DC three or four times a year and talk to legislators and a lot of policy makers. And, my dream is to help … or I’d say our dream is to help agriculture change, and conventional farmers across the country to understand some of these regenerative practices, would be super good and smart of them to implement. In that, healthier soils translate to healthier and larger yields, which ultimately helps pay the bills.
And if we can’t pay our bills as farmers, then nothing we do is sustainable. And so that’s really important. That’s an important piece of this puzzle, is that we have healthy farms. And so therefore we need consumer support to support the regenerative labels and to support the practices that we’re doing. But it also has to apply to where we can convince our conventional neighbors to kind of come along on this ride, because it makes sense.
Dr. Gundry (15:50):
So there’s many people say that regenerative agriculture is much too expensive and that you poor farmers can’t make a living doing this. And you got to use petrochemical fertilizers and herbicides to make a living. And I suspect your conventional farmer friends buy into that. Is that true?
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (16:23):
I’m not really sure about what they’re buying into from that standpoint, but I know for us, when you talk about it being expensive, we have the benefit of composting. Of course, our manure solids that we use for bedding local shavings from the lumber mills, and we also get fish waste, and really any green waste we can get. And we’re composting constantly and doing quite an effective compost program. And then we’re reapplying it to our fields and that’s nutrition going back to the fields. And that has helped us in the regenerative project and build that organic matter in the soil.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (17:01):
Yeah. So we would encourage farmers around the country to get anything free that they can, that can be an organic source to assist and to start a compost pile.
I’m just thinking back to your question. 30 years ago, when we were probably… Before we had even entertained the idea of becoming an organic farm, so we were still using some urea to fertilize our fields. And urea is a wonderful, fast responding nitrogen source for our grasses and different plants that we grow in our pastures. And it was a really convenient tool. And so I understand how farmers get somewhat dependent or even addicted to these kind of quick responding chemicals and fertilizers. And I’ll just tell you, once we went away from that, the response that we get from a compost application, fertility and soil amendment is, it’s just long-term. It keeps giving year after year, season after season.
And so we would notice that our fields didn’t get all yellow in the fall and winter when we weren’t applying the chemical. There’s a long-term benefit. And it just keeps literally snowballing in a really positive way.
And so part of this is, is we’d encourage farmers to be patient and to just kind of build it and they will come. And what’s coming is the microbiology in your soil. And this is the lesson that we learned, not in college, but out here on the ground, is that it’s our responsibility to do nothing that harms those biology that are all that [inaudible 00:18:52] critters, they’re working on our behalf, really just stay out the way and let’s feed them and do things that are good for them. So it’s the microbiome of our farm, if you will, that we’re really trying to focus on and pay attention to.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (19:05):
And just like you’re telling your listeners about gut biology and the goodness of what you can do to make your gut healthier. We’re doing that same effect to our soils.
Dr. Gundry (19:15):
Yeah, no, that’s a very good point. One of my favorite sayings is, “You are what you eat, but you are with the thing you’re eating ate.” I think maybe our listeners need to hear that grass is not necessarily grass, that grass that’s supported by a rich soil microbiome is going to absorb far more nutrients than grass, basically grown in dead soil with petrochemical fertilizers. And that’s going to be delivered into the cow and subsequently in the milk. Is that saying it correctly?
The Alexandre’s- Blake (20:01):
Yeah.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (20:01):
Yes. That is correctly.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (20:02):
It absolutely is. As you’re asking that question, I’m thinking, I think your listeners need to understand that our cattle are really a bit old fashioned if you will. And so we have spent 30 years selecting genetics that were the right genetics for grazing. In other words, they’re almost athletic. They’re a little smaller framed. They have the ability to literally walk a mile to the field if they need to, and go out and work for a living, and get their own feed out of the field. And so they’re not pampered, they’re not sitting in a corral where we just keep bringing feed to them.
So there’s a lot more to that story. The consequences are we get less milk per cow, but we also get much higher quality milk per cow, in terms of a lot more butterfat and protein, and I’m just going to say conjugated linoleic acid, the good stuff that is making people healthy, is a result of that.
And so it’s literally different kinds of cows that we focused on. And then of course, 15 years ago or so, or 14 years ago, we learned about A2 and started focusing on that, because we’re open-minded to a lot of things. And so A2 made sense to us, and we’ve been certainly selecting for that along the way.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (21:34):
And then because of that similar breeding for all these years and something we noticed about our milk before we launched our own brand was the amazing taste. And I love it when we get somebody from a foreign country and they might be older and they taste our milk and they tell us that it takes them back to their childhood, because that’s the way milk used to taste in Yugoslavia or in Romania or something like that.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (21:56):
The old country. That’s what they say.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (21:59):
The old country. Yes. And that warms our heart because we know our milk has a special taste. And people buy it, maybe, because they can’t drink milk and they want to try the A2-ness of it, but they keep buying it because it tastes so great.
Dr. Gundry (22:11):
Yes. And, I actually, I have a patient who had a dairy farm in Minnesota growing up. She was a child then. And they were Guernsey cows. They were A2 cows. And they had to switch over to Holstein, because Guernsey’s, bringing coal to Newcastle, but Guernseys, don’t produce as much milk as Holsteins. And they’re not as hardy as Holsteins.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (22:42):
Right.
Dr. Gundry (22:42):
So they were kind of forced, even though they knew it was better, they were just kind of forced commercially to do it.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (22:49):
Yeah. And, we totally understand that transition that, that farm family went through. And we’ve seen that all over the country. And I guess what we did, somewhere along the line here is, really recognize that we were focusing on grazing, which was really a core part of our upbringing.
And our oldest son lives in Ferndale and dairies on the dairy that my great-grandfather started, about a hundred years ago.
Dr. Gundry (23:18):
Wow.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (23:18):
And we’ve been grazing on that farm for five generations. And all we’ve done is learn more about the soil and learn more about the process, and the management of grazing, kind of the art of grazing.
I’d like to give out a shout out to Stan Parsons and Allan Savory for that. Back when I was in college, I learned about those guys. And then I really got to know Allan Savory and the Savory Institute. And we’d really appreciate the evolution of his understanding of how ruminants are part of saving our planet, if you will.
Dr. Gundry (23:59):
Yeah. That’s a good point. I suspect you’re aware of the dentist Westin Price?
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (24:09):
Yes. Of course, yes. And I say that when we went organic and stuff, and even before. Blake, who’s an excellent cow man became a soil and grass enthusiast, and was reading all kinds of things about soils. And I was reading nutrition and physical degeneration in 2001, because we went to Sally Fallon’s classes. So we’re big fans of Westin A. Price. And our attitude in our kitchen is eating foods the way they were a few hundred years to be eaten. Making that bone broth soup. And in our milk that we’ve produced is that way too.
Dr. Gundry (24:41):
Well, I thought it was interesting. I’m a big fan of that book. It’s actually one of the first books I read back when I changed my career. And one of the things he points out, as you know, he revised his original book to talk about the activator X that he found in the milk products, particularly butter in cows that were grazing on rapidly growing grass. And subsequently it’s almost certainly a vitamin K2.
It also may be two interesting new saturated fats that are odd chain fatty acids called C15 and C17, that are actually probably essential fatty acids that have recently been discovered. And that’s also in the milk and butters of grazing cows. And it may be one of the exciting, essential fatty acids that nobody knew about except Westin Price. Of course, he didn’t know the name of it.
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One thing, you may be aware of this. Up until 1984, true Parmesan cheese, Parmigiano Reggiano, could only be made from the milk of cows that were grazing on spring or fall grass. It was against the law to use summer or winter hay or grasses. And I think that’s fascinating. You can still find those cheeses from summer and fall grasses made into Parmesan cheese, if you look hard for them. But I think, they knew all this and you guys, as fourth generation farmers know all this.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (29:41):
Yes.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (29:41):
Absolutely.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (29:41):
And, because we live right on the ocean on the Oregon border in Northern California. Our grass is green all year round. So most of the year we’re rotating our cows to new green growing grass. So that season is lasting a lot longer than say Switzerland, where Dr. Price discovered the yellow butter in this [crosstalk 00:30:01] where they had that sacred food.
So when we look at the top of our bulk tank, our milk tank, and the cream’s all on the top, there’s a yellow hue most of the year because our cows are grazing. And that yellow hue is only found in cows grazing green grass. So that activator X or K2, it’s real in our milk. And we always feel great. And we think it is because of the dairy and the milk we drink here at the farm.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (30:28):
Yeah. And we certainly understand why the Parmesan folks honored the spring milk, because that’s when the green grass is growing and it does affect and change the products, obviously. And what Stephanie’s saying is we have an extended season of that here, but, growing up here, I grew up down there where our son lives now in Ferndale where Humboldt Creamery used to make butter. And our butter was extremely yellow, much like your neck tie there today. And it bothered some of the new potential customers because they wanted to know why this butter, the color was so extreme. And well, it’s because all the cows were eating grass, even in this conventional world 40 and 50 years ago.
Dr. Gundry (31:18):
So what’s the difference, people are now going, “Okay. Well, if the milk is organic, they’re eating grass.” What’s the difference between organic and regenerative farming?
The Alexandre’s- Blake (31:35):
Yeah. That’s an interesting question. I haven’t tried to think of that answer yet. But it’s really, we’re talking about, organic is a certification. And so you need a third party certifier to verify that you’re doing this, this and this. And what you’re not doing is antibiotics in cattle, and you’re not doing pesticides and chemicals on your soils, and some basic things like that. And you’re only utilizing feeds and inputs that are also qualified as organic.
That’s generally what organic means. And I think that’s certainly taken… Consumers grabbed onto that and embraced that over the last 30 years in a wonderful way.
Regenerative came along and somewhat became a program and a definition to define something that I’m going to say my grandfathers were already doing. And, generations for eons have been doing. I don’t think regenerative farming is as new as we all would like to pretend it is. I think it’s really honoring a system that God created, and understanding it better.
And so we eagerly jumped on two different regenerative programs that were developing over the last four years, and became kind of a pilot farm for both of them. And so that’s how we ended up being the country’s first certified organic dairy farm. I’m sorry, regenerative farm is that we just embraced the concept because they came along with a word that helped define what we were really doing is grazers.
Dr. Gundry (33:24):
Was it hard to make the transition? Did you have to throw out old practices? Or did you have to have new practices? Where do you start?
The Alexandre’s- Blake (33:34):
No. It wasn’t hard at all for us, because of our step into organics first. And so it was a natural evolution. And again, I’m just going to say it again. I think, it’s a program that came along and endorsed it and then named what we were already doing. Because as good grazers, we wanted to build soils, when we were [inaudible 00:34:00] organic matter, not necessarily carbon in the soil, but carbon is a result of the organic matter.
And so, because we wanted to build organic matter and we were doing compost and we were doing kind of intensely managed a rotational grazing that built soil. And, we were doing it because it was a smarter business decision. It grew more feed and fed more animals and paid more bills.
And so when you have that component, and then you just begin to understand what it’s doing biologically under the soil and from a kind of a global warming perspective in that we’re sequestering carbon. Wow. It just absolutely makes sense. And it just motivates you to kind of help tell the story and to do more.
Dr. Gundry (34:52):
Okay. So how do you convince fellow farmers? How do you convince politicians? How do you convince big dairy to regress and regenerate? Go back a hundred years?
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (35:16):
I think that’s the consumers that need to do that. What are they going to buy? It’s about a health that they want to have. And like politicians, our healthcare bill should be tied to our farm and food bill. They should be talking to each other. What should be subsidized? What should be helped out? Consumers need to look at what they’re eating and food is thy medicine.
And a lot of consumers today vote with their dollar every single day. And there’s a cost of food. There is. And is the cost is bad health, if you’re not eating healthy food? Or is it not satisfying ecosystem if you’re purchasing industrial food? Those things need to be brought to the table.
It’s the consumer that has to ask for it. And it’s the consumer we are praising and bowing down to that they appreciate what we’re doing here at a farm level.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (36:12):
And I would answer that a little differently in that I think what Stephanie said is also true. That’s one side of the equation. You mentioned politicians and kind of policy, if you will. That, again, that’s these trips that I want to make to DC and continue to do and, and participate in that conversation so that we can help direct and focus policy that encourages farmers to embrace some of these practices. And then, it’s just kind of one farm at a time it has to happen.
It’s a long ways from converting the entire, say, dairy industry. That’s absolutely overwhelming. But if we can just do regions and different crops and, have the effect on different crops.
I gave a talk at the Annual American Farm Bureau in Austin, Texas a couple of years ago. And it was titled Honor Soil, Like You Would Your Grandchildren. And so, if we can get those concepts out to farmers that, even the guy growing cotton or corn in the Midwest needs to pay attention to this conversation and build organic matter and regenerate soil, they need to do that because of their kids and their grandkids and the prosperity of their farm. It’s more likely to pass on to the next generation if it’s profitable. It’s that simple. So sometimes it just boils down to the money.
Dr. Gundry (37:55):
Well, that’s a good segue to your family, and family farm, the Alexandre Family Farm. And you’ve got five kids and they’re a part of your farm. And that bucks the trend of, “Oh my gosh. You know, I grew up on a farm and I can’t wait to get out of here and do something useful.” How’d you do that?
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (38:19):
Well, I remember we were driving 20 years ago and talking about a grazing dairy that we have, and we should go organic. And it seemed to be the good option to create a viable future for our kids. So ultimately it was a business decision to go organic 21 years ago. And then as we went organic and became that family, that became an organic consumer because we saw the value in it, we realized it. And it really became the attitude, build it, and they will come. Build the soil and the microbes will come and the grass will grow. Build a business that is attractive to our kids to want to come home after they go to college and they have. And so that really was our attitude. Like I said, we thought it was a business decision, but then it became purposeful life for a farmer.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (39:10):
Yeah, I would add to that drive that she’s talking about, we specifically remember we were touring farms in Northern Oregon on the coast, and it was much like the area I grew up in Ferndale. And a lot of those farmers or dairy men up there were wanting to get out. They said, “Oh, you’re from California want to buy my farm?” Three out of six said that to us in one day. And it just shocked me.
And so as we’re driving home with all five kids in the car, and this was actually 23 years ago, Stephanie are talking, how do we create a business where our kids can grow up, go to college, meet their spouse and make an adult decision in terms of their career. And, how can we rank in that and not force them into something that’s less than ideal?
And so we’ve been kind of chasing niche markets and new concepts and being very open-minded, since that day. And primarily because we wanted to build a business that was attractive to the next generation.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (40:13):
Yeah. And then on the subject, build it, and they will come, as we built that organic matter, as we fenced the creeks on our ranch and that planted trees in the [inaudible 00:40:23] zones, the elk came, the bald eagle nest came, the salmon started going through the creeks again, the frogs galore everywhere. And so it’s fun to talk about just the wildlife in our ecosystem that we live around. And then say, “By the way, we’re organic regenerative dairy farmers.” [crosstalk 00:40:44].
Dr. Gundry (40:46):
So I know we’ve talked about A2 milk. Did you have to transition your herds to pure A2-A2 cows? I mean, how do you go about doing that?
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (41:04):
Basically, we first started with selecting sires, selecting the bulls that were A2. We were able to, through New Zealand Genetics, the Kiwi genetics that are there, we were able to select sires to breed to our cows that were 100% A2. A2-A2 is the DNA. You get one from mom, one from dad. So that’s why we say A2-A2 on our bottle. We call that out.
And so we’re looking for that DNA. And then we test our cows by taking hair sample from their tail and send it to a lab. Back then we sent it to New Zealand and now we send it in the States. And we basically separate our A2 cows that are 100% A2 to from those that still have the A1 gene. And we’d been doing that now for about 15 years or so.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (41:50):
And I think, specifically, it’s a long transition on the entire population of all the cattle that we own in our herd. But because we milk in more than one barn, it was easier to take and identify, simply identify the A2-A2 cows and put them all in one milk barn and then 100% percent of that milk on that ranch is now A2. And so we’ve been milking in four locations, and three of them are 100%, and the other one is 50/50, and still transitioning.
Dr. Gundry (42:25):
Gotcha. Now, can the average consumer detect A2 milk by the way they feel, by the way, it tastes by… What do you say?
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (42:41):
I think, right when you drink A2 milk, it’s refreshing your body doesn’t want to get that phlegm. You don’t want to expel it. So when people tell us when they drink our milk, which I’ve always thought about our milk, it’s refreshing. Then the gut likes it. It’s very happy about it.
But the interesting thing, and I haven’t seen any research and maybe you know more about this. But when people have that weak gut defense, and you’ve got that foreign protein going through your body, then people are susceptible to autoimmune disease and people say, get off dairy. And that’s where people really feel good.
People tell me that they don’t have their dark circles under their eyes any longer, or their eczema disappeared when they started drinking our milk. They just feel good. Their joints feel better now. So there’s a lot of anecdotal things we hear. We’re not scientists. We’re the dairy farmers producing it, but we’re excited to hear the good news.
And then also parents of autistic children have come to me, and parents that have children that have seizures have also approached us, and told us stories about how their children are just so calm on A2 milk.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (43:46):
Yeah. Yeah. And, I think in general sorts, we believe that the mucus, that reaction in people’s mouths that happens from dairy, is not meant to be. That’s a response to the A1 protein and not necessarily happening with the A2. That’s our belief.
Dr. Gundry (44:08):
Yeah. And certainly, those were some of the original discoveries in the book, Devil in the Milk that was interesting. And the interesting correlation around the world with casein A1 and juvenile diabetes, type one diabetes, is actually rather shocking. It’s one of the things that actually convinced me that this is one of those troublesome proteins that shouldn’t be in our diet. So good for you.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (44:41):
No, absolutely. I would add, this is kind of interesting. I think you would find it intriguing here. So both of our daughters have gone to New Zealand and studied at Lincoln University, where the Keith Woodward who wrote the book, was it a teacher or professor?
Dr. Gundry (44:59):
Yeah.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (44:59):
So our younger daughter, Savannah met with him here a couple of years ago. And so he offered us up 33 pages of new data.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (45:07):
Since the book.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (45:08):
Yeah, since the book. And it was really interesting, because he had prepared it for some talk he was doing in Russia. But, all that stuff he talked about the details and how he correlated it to SIDS in babies, and it’s just mind boggling.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (45:24):
Yeah. And I haven’t had time to research it any longer and maybe people in your world or your listeners know about some of this. So when you have a baby that drinks infant formula, and that infant formula is made with a base of milk that has the A1 protein in, now you got a beta-casomorphin-7 that is now floating in that new little baby. It crosses that gut defense. And then it crosses the blood brain barrier. And the baby goes to sleep. And it’s called beta-casomorphin-7.
That morphine-7 reaction causes the baby’s respiration to slow down to where they stop breathing. And then the doctor says, “I’m sorry, your child has passed away. Your baby passed away due to SIDS, sudden infant death syndrome.”
Is there a linkage between A1 protein and SIDS? So this book wants to say there is, and there is a research article published on this topic.
Dr. Gundry (46:26):
Well, it certainly makes sense. People hear the word morphine, and it’s basically acts as a narcotic to suppress respirations.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (46:36):
Yes.
Dr. Gundry (46:37):
And unfortunately, I can’t tell you the number of times in a hospital setting where we give someone too much morphine for pain. And the next thing we know they’re not breathing. Now, luckily we can rescue that with Narcan. But yeah, that’s what morphine does. And in a little baby with this morphine like compound circulating around, that’s only made from casein A1, not from casein A2, it can be a real thing.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (47:12):
Yes.
Dr. Gundry (47:12):
All right. I got to wrap this up. How hard is it to find you guys? Where are you? How do people find you? How do they get your milk and your yogurts?
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (47:26):
The best thing to do is go to our website. There’s a store locator on our website. We are nationwide with a couple of our fluid milk products. On the west coast we have a lot more choices. And you can type in your zip code and find where you can find us. And we would be excited if you want a grocery store to carry our milk, you have to just ask the dairy buyer, asked the store manager. It’s the consumers asking for it, that brings them into a store.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (47:53):
And what we would really encourage is to find us on a map. So that’d a be a map of California, the upper left-hand corner. We’re literally about a mile from the ocean and about five miles out of Oregon. And so, we’re way up in the corner of California. And we would welcome people to come see us.
Dr. Gundry (48:10):
Oh, great.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (48:11):
Yeah, We’re Crescent city, California. And it’s just having here. Always green and beautiful, and our town loves to have you visit.
Dr. Gundry (48:19):
All right. Just tell everybody again, the website and the name of your milk.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (48:36):
It’s www.Alexandrefamilyfarm.com.
Dr. Gundry (48:37):
And that’s the end, it’s spelled R-E rather than E-R. Right?
The Alexandre’s- Blake (48:42):
Yeah. On the end, yep. And that’s my Portuguese immigrant father that helped us do that.
Dr. Gundry (48:48):
Yeah. He made you do it and you’ve been cursing him ever since, probably.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (48:54):
We love it. [crosstalk 00:48:55]
The Alexandre’s- Blake (48:57):
Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah.
Dr. Gundry (48:59):
All right. All right. So everybody go find this. Let’s not only support organic, but now regenerative agriculture. And please, please, please do yourself a favor and look for A2 milk. And if you want more information, you can find a discussion about that in the Plant Paradox and all my books. It’s that important.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (49:24):
Literally we can be found in all Whole Foods and most natural food stores now across the country.
Dr. Gundry (49:24):
Great.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (49:32):
So keep asking for us.
Dr. Gundry (49:34):
All right. Well, take care and keep up the good work.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (49:39):
Thank you.
The Alexandre’s- Blake (49:39):
We will.
The Alexandre’s-Stephanie (49:39):
And come visit. Bye bye.
Dr. Gundry (49:43):
All right. Now it’s time for the audience question. From A.S. Runkle on Instagram, “I heard today on a radio show that cranberries are rich in polyphenols, and drinking 100% cranberry juice has been shown to have good effects on heart and blood circulation. What info do you have on this?”
Well, it turns out cranberries are incredibly rich source of polyphenol. They’re also a very rich source of a sugar molecule that’s called d’mannose. And those of you who have treated yourself for urinary tract infections, have either taken cranberry juice or have looked for cranberry capsules, or have actually taken d’mannose.
Now, the problem is there’s really not a whole lot of d’mannose in cranberry juice. So I encourage you the next time, if you ever developed a urinary tract infection, to get d’mannose. Now the problem with cranberry juice is the same problem with pomegranate juice. It’s mostly sugar. And even if it says no added sugar on the label, what that means to an alert consumer is, “There is so much sugar in here already, we didn’t have to put anymore in.”
You’re much better off buying fresh cranberries, or even frozen cranberries, and then throw them in your smoothie, grind them up in your blender and eat them that way than using cranberry juice. But great question. They are a wonderful source of polyphenols. Okay. It’s time for the review of the week.
Kimberly Snyder (51:34):
Welcome to the feel-good podcast with Kimberly Snyder. My goal is to help you develop a holistic lifestyle based on our four cornerstone philosophy, food, body, emotional wellbeing, and spiritual growth. This holistic approach will help you feel good, which I define as being connected to your most authentic, highest self. And this is the place from which your energy, confidence, creativity, true power and true beauty will start to explode.
Every week we provide you with interviews from top experts in their field, or a solo cast from yours truly to support you in living your most beautiful, healthy, and joyful life. I’m your host, Kimberly Snyder, founder of Soluna, New York Times bestselling author, and holistic wellness, nutrition, and meditation teacher. Let’s get started.
Dr. Gundry (52:27):
“Thank you, Dr. Gundry and team for another fantastic episode. I am so grateful for you, your show and all of your guests. I have learned so much over the last year regarding my journey on the Plant Paradox. This podcast and your books have been instrumental in my transformation this year. Thank you for always being here for us.”
Well, thank you for that review. I’m here for you. I’m going to show up every week. We’re going to bring you important information, like we did today. And if you like what you’re hearing, tell your friends. Rate us on Apple Podcasts, because we’re here to improve everybody’s health. And thank you for that work. We’re going to keep going.
And as you know, I love to hear from you because I’m Dr. Gundry. And I’m always looking out for you. We’ll see you next week.
Disclaimer, on the Dr. Gundry Podcast, we provide a venue for discussion. And the views expressed by my guests do not necessarily reflect my own.
Thanks for joining me on this episode of the Dr. Gundry Podcast. Before you go, I just wanted to remind you that you can find the show on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. And if you want to watch each episode of the Dr Gundry Podcast, you can always find me on YouTube, at youtube.com/DrGundry, because I’m Dr. Gundry. And I’m always looking out for you.
