Nourishing the Human Holobiont to Reduce the Risk of Non-Communicable Diseases: A Cow’s Milk Evidence Map Example

• Published in: Applied Microbiology (Basel) Vol. 2; no. 1; pp. 25 - 52
• Main Authors: Dietert, Rodney R., Coleman, Margaret E., North, D. Warner, Stephenson, Michele M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 30.12.2021
• ISSN: 2673-8007; 2673-8007
• DOI: 10.3390/applmicrobiol2010003

The microbiome revolution brought the realization that diet, health, and safety for humans in reality means diet, health, and safety for the human holobiont/superorganism. Eating healthier means much more than just feeding human cells. Our diet must also nourish the combination of our microbiome and our connected physiological systems (e.g., the microimmunosome). For this reason, there has been an interest in returning to ancestral “complete” unprocessed foods enriched in microbes, including raw milks. To contribute to this inevitable “nourishing the holobiont” trend, we introduce a systematic risk–benefit analysis tool (evidence mapping), which facilitates transdisciplinary state-of-the-science decisions that transcend single scientific disciplines. Our prior paper developed an evidence map (a type of risk–benefit mind map) for raw vs. processed/pasteurized human breast milk. In the present paper, we follow with a comprehensive evidence map and narrative for raw/natural vs. processed/pasteurized cow’s milk. Importantly, the evidence maps incorporate clinical data for both infectious and non-communicable diseases and allow the impact of modern agricultural, food management, and medical and veterinary monitoring outcomes to be captured. Additionally, we focus on the impact of raw milks (as “complete” foods) on the microimmunosome, the microbiome-systems biology unit that significantly determines risk of the world’s number one cause of human death, non-communicable diseases.