By Martin Lopez
I met with Luis Ducoing at his ranch La Factoría in Guanajuato to break a myth.
I don’t like labels—I prefer to think more about conscious eating for a better planet than to say “I’m vegan” or “I’m vegetarian” or “I’m a carnivore.”
But I’m happy because now I can once again eat a lot of cheese and milk without guilt, as well as the OST sourdough bread, which is also rich, healthy, and made by hand in Guanajuato. A bread that causes no harm to those who are intolerant to this type of protein due to its transformation during the fermentation process.
Some time ago I decided to meet local producers and farmers to better appreciate the food we consume daily. I like to feel and thoroughly investigate what the sellers of those products tell me. What I read on the labels of health products seem to favor corporations, because the labeling law is very poorly done.
Milk is often considered unhealthy due to an investigation done by Dr. Keith Woodford of New Zealand. He was obsessed with the study of the different properties of milk and its impact on health, which he expounded in his book “The Devil is in Milk,” published in 2007. He investigated 100 cases that he claims prove, with evidence, that the consumption of milk with casein A1 (one of the two types of protein most prevalent in milk) is the cause of heart disease, type-1 diabetes, autism, and schizophrenia.
But the casein from cows with the A2 gene (the second of the two types of protein most prevalent in milk) isn’t connected to these diseases, and in fact, its consumption provides a great deal of healthy proteins and a balance in the omega oils that our body needs to grow healthily. It has also been found that ancestral milk is casein-type A2, similar to that of goats. These dairy products are easily digestible and do not cause inflammation, so most people who are intolerant to milk won’t have problems consuming them, Luis tells me.
As I walked around his ranch, I observed that his cows look very healthy. This is quite the opposite of what I witnessed in other dairy production ranches I visited, where I saw sick and sad cows grazing, even those that were free-range. This is without mentioning the poor cows that live in industrial factories surrounded by cement. There’s a saying that “you are what you eat,” so I prefer to consume dairy from the happiest cows possible.
Luis is zealous about this. He began to be interested in this ten years ago, when was looking for the healthiest food that he could give his children. He began working on a piece of land in Guanajuato, near San Miguel de Allende. Every time he went with other ranchers from different states of the country to visit their cows, he took a DNA sample from their cattle and sent it to California to see if it had the A2A2 gene, responsible for A2-type milk. Among 20 cows offered by the rancher, sometimes he only buys one, sometimes none (he only buys those that test positive for that gene). Then he explained to me that he feeds them only with perennial grass—live grass, without pesticides and high in nutrients—unlike what most others do, which is feeding their cows with corn. This generates low carbon consumption, as well as being much better for the feeding of the cows—and for humans when they consume their dairy products. In addition, Luis uses rotational grazing to regenerate the soil, contrary to traditional agriculture, which erodes it and the poor cows end up eating dead and poisoned grass.
For those of you who would like to read more, I suggest you take a look at the research of Dr. Rubino. He developed a certification called “Latte Nobile,” referring to dairy products with the best balance of omega oils for your body. In Mexico, you can contact Doctor Miguel Galina, his representative.
Luis has the first cattle ranch with 100% A2A2-gene cattle, and perhaps the only one in the country. I never saw anything like it.
At the end of the tour, he treated me to a delicious meal. I had the opportunity to try several of his fresh and aged cheeses, milks, Greek yogurt, and ghee, which are true delicacies. Now I can go back to eating cheese, and drinking milk without worrying about my health and without having my belly swell like that of a panda bear. To health!
Every Wednesday, La Factoría dairy products are delivered straight from their meadows to your house. You can place your order by Whatsapp: 442 324 6981.
This is a project that supports small, local, organic producers, free of monopoly.
