Dr. Muncey: We were very interested in your comments on the dairy industry in particular. Dr. Harrap is in charge of the dairy research. How do you relate your strong interest in dairy products to modern thinking on cholesterol and similar problems? This doesn't disturb you?
Satsvarūpa: There are modern theories that milk is actually harmful.
Dr. Harrap: Well, that butter . . .
Dr. Muncey: The milkfat and . . .
Dr. Harrap: Yes, milkfat.
Prabhupāda: Milk is harmful? (guests laugh) How it is harmful? If it is harmful, why you are giving milk to the child?
Dr. Harrap: There is a certain difference here in that milk that we get from cows has a very low proportion of what we call polyunsaturated fatty acids, only about two percent, whereas in human milk this is about ten or twelve percent. It's a much higher level. So milk from cows, which are ruminants, is quite a lot different to the cow for the milk that we get from the non-ruminants, and of course, humans are non-ruminants.
Prabhupāda: But I think there is a book, Miracles of Milk, written by one American gentleman. He has greatly valued the milk and milk products. Similarly, we Indians, we give very, very importance to milk and milk products.
Dr. Harrap: Yes, I think this is so . . . has always been so here, but in recent years there has been shown to be a relationship between the cholesterol level in the blood and the ratio between the saturated and polyunsaturated fat in the diet. The lower the polyten level of polyunsaturated fat, the higher the level of cholesterol in the blood. And this has been associated with heart disease. So there is quite a move to . . . among many in the medical profession, to prescribe diets which are low in saturated fats.
Prabhupāda: (aside) Have you got our picture, Kṛṣṇa stealing butter?
Dr. Harrap: And we are doing some quite interesting work at the dairy research laboratory aimed at making ruminants' milk, cow's milk, much more like human milk in this way, by a special feeding techniques to the cows.
Prabhupāda: Yes, milk means cow's milk. Milk means cow's milk, because you'll find in this book that kṛṣi-go-rakṣya. Go means cow. Cow protection, cow's milk, is important, not other animal's milk.
Dr. Harrap: Yes, what about human milk?
Prabhupāda: Human milk is natural.
Dr. Harrap: Yes, but then that's very different to cow's milk.
Guest (2): It's very obvious that His Grace isn't suffering from cholesterol. (laughter) Cholesterol is no problem for you.
Dr. Harrap: But we've had very close connections with India in the dairy research laboratory in that Dr. Chulak one of our . . . yes, you know him? One of our senior staff members some years ago spent several months in India developing methods of making cheese from buffaloes' milk.
Prabhupāda: No, India's position is different now. India has practically no milk, and no food. Due to our leaders' mismanagement, there is no milk. India is depending on your milk powder sent by Australia or by Europe. There is no milk. But milk is very important because Kṛṣṇa says that kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyaṁ vaiśya-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.44).