What’s the major difference between A1 and A2 milk?
The difference is just one amino acid that is different in the beta casein proteins. Although it is a tiny difference, it affects the way the milk is digested. It causes the release of a protein fragment called ‘beta casomorphin7’. ‘Casomorphin’ means a ‘morphine-like substance derived from casein’. I call this fragment ‘the milk devil’. So called ‘ordinary milk’ bought in supermarkets and which is sometimes called ‘A1’ will actually be a mix of A1 and A2. In the United States, about half of the beta casein in milk will be of the A1 type and the other half will be A2. All milk used to be pure A2 and it is only through a chance mutation affecting a proportion of cows of European origin that so called ‘ordinary milk’ contains the A1 beta casein. Human breast milk is all of the A2 type.
