![\"gift_gab-farm_effect1\"](\"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/gift_gab-farm_effect1.jpg\")
Photo by Gadjoboy via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n
Surprised?<\/p>\n
Researchers are calling it the “farm effect,” a phenomenon that is unlikely to shock born-and-raised farmgirls who have known for eons that farming builds hearty constitutions.<\/p>\n
Yet another old wives’ tale turns up true? Hmmmmm.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis [study] would suggest that if you have early life exposure [to allergens], then somehow it drives the immune system away from developing allergies,\u201d says lead author and Indiana allergist Dr. Mark Holbreich<\/a>. \u201cLarge animals are part of it, and the straw bedding animals sleep on \u2026 and what [the Amish children] eat, and the fact that their mothers are in the barn when they are pregnant.\u201d<\/p>\n See?<\/p>\n Farmgirl fortitude isn’t just learned, it’s\u00a0earned.<\/p>\n Photo by Ilamont via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Another important observation in the study was the benefit the Amish appear to gain from drinking\u00a0milk that isn’t ultra-pasteurized or homogenized, although it’s unclear whether that alone\u00a0is the key to stronger immunity. This I do know: I had a\u00a0milk cow when my daughter was born, and she didn’t get her first cold\u2014a mild case of the sniffles\u2014until she was 6 years old, and she never got an ear infection, ever. She’s 34 years old now, and to this day, has never had a tooth cavity. Our farm water back then wasn’t flouridated or chlorinated, and nothing was bromated or fumigated. Once I moved to town with my second child (treated city tap water), he did get a couple of nasty ear infections and has had some cavities over the years. I’m just saying.<\/p>\n Holbreich, lead author of the study and Indiana allergist,\u00a0stresses that he’s not suggesting we all become Amish to relieve our allergy symptoms, but, hey\u2014with allergy rates increasing in the United States, it sure couldn’t hurt to find our way back to the non-GMO, hands-on\u00a0lifestyle, even if that means some containers of dirt on your balcony that you get your hands into every spring.<\/p>\n Photo by Collectie Willem van de Poll, via Nationaal Archief<\/p><\/div>\n If you’re moved to dig in a little deeper, I hope to inspire you to dabble in your own backyard dairy.<\/p>\n I’m busy working on just the manual you need to get started. Look for Milk Cow Kitchen<\/i>, my DIY dairy and kitchen guide, to hit book shelves sometime next year.<\/p>\n \t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dirt, germs, bacteria, and pollen \u2026 Are you squirming? Scratching? Sneezing? Reaching for the nearest bottle of antibacterial something or other? Take a big breath (airborne microbes and all), and nibble on this recent tidbit of news: A new study … Continue reading ![\"gift_gab-farm_effect2\"](\"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/gift_gab-farm_effect2.jpg\")
![\"gift_gab-farm_effect3\"](\"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/gift_gab-farm_effect3.jpg\")