Caravela, a cow from the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, allowed Túlio Madureira, 30, a producer of homemade cheese, who could not drink milk, to recover a little more of the taste for life. Caravela produces a different type of milk, which does not affect humans' gastrointestinal system. Targeting people with the same problem as Madureira, a research is trying to produce more cows like Caravela in the country.

Madureira, who had not drunk milk for years, is not alone. Problems related to the consumption of milk are common. The Brazilian Society for Food and Nutrition says some two thirds of the world population does not have the enzyme lactase. The enzyme is responsible for breaking the sugar lactose, which is found in dairy products.

Caravela belongs to the gyr breed, which can produce milk without or with little beta-casein type A1 protein, says Aníbal Vercesi, a researcher at the São Paulo Institute of Animal Husbandry. That makes the milk produced by those cows healthier and therefore it has fewer chances of causing problems.

As milk with beta-casein type A2 is less allergenic, a study of the São Paulo Institute of Animal Husbandry began to breed animals that produce milk only with this type of protein through the insemination of gyr cows. "Medical research has already shown that this protein causes some inflammation in the intestinal mucus membrane," says Vercesi.

Vercesi says that a partnership with Unicamp university has just been started to carry out more studies on the effects of this type of milk on human health.

WATANABE, Phillippe. Trad: MUELLO, Thomas.

Disponível em: <www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional>. Acesso em: 20 nov. 2016.Adaptado.