Farm milk 'could be cure for asthma'

Milk served straight from the cow can protect children against asthma, medical experts have suggested.

DRINK UP Milk hits allergies DRINK UP: Milk hits allergies

Doctors found that drinking farm milk cut asthma rates by about 25 per cent. Lower rates were also related to other farm-produced dairy products, but only if children also consumed unpasteurised milk.

They also discovered that it seems to prevent hayfever too, following a study of almost 15,000 children in five countries.

Eating farm eggs also appeared to help fight hayfever.

Unpasteurised milk could contain “good” bacteria that protect against allergies. But the research, published in the journal Clinical and Experi­mental Allergy, warned against drinking unpasteurised milk because it may contain dangerous bugs such as salmonella and E.coli.

Pasteurisation boils the milk to destroy the bacteria. In England and Wales, it is illegal to sell the raw variety.

Our research showed that the children who enjoyed the best protection from asthma and allergies had been drinking farm milk since their first year

Study leader Dr Marco Waser

Study leader Dr Marco Waser, from the Institute of Social and Preventative Medicine at Basel University in Switzerland, said: “All the children drinking unpasteurised farm milk and eating other farm-related dairy products showed the same level of protection against asthma and allergies, regardless of whether they were living on a farm or not.

“Our research showed that the children who enjoyed the best protection from asthma and allergies had been drinking farm milk since their first year.”

He added: “Despite our findings, we cannot recommend consumption of raw farm milk as a preventative measure against asthma and allergies.”

The children, aged five to 13,  were drawn from farms and  rural and suburban areas in Austria, Germany, the

Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.

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