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Here are 10 things you should know about raw milk that the government won’t tell you:
1. Raw milk is healthier: Pasteurized milk is accused of causing everything from allergies to heart disease to cancer, but back in the day, these diseases were rare. In fact, clean raw milk from grass-fed cows is chock full of healthy amino acids and beneficial enzymes, and was used as a cure.
2. Raw milk does not make you sick: That is, if it is properly collected from cows fed good, clean grass. Grass-fed milk has natural antibiotic properties that help protect it from pathogenic bacteria. But it’s worth noting, if you’ve been using pasteurized dairy products, you might want to eat small amounts of yogurt or kefir for a week or so, for a dose of probiotics, just to be safe. I did, and it helped.
3. Not all raw milk is the same: The cow’s diet, how and where it’s raised, and how the milk is collected are all factors in the safety and quality of raw milk. Cows pastured on organic green grass produce milk with good health benefits. It’s good to know where your milk is coming from.
4. Pasteurization was instituted in the 1920s to combat TB, infant diarrhea, undulant fever and other diseases caused by poor animal nutrition and dirty production methods. But modern stainless steel tanks, milking machines, refrigerated trucks, and inspection are enough of a precaution, and pasteurization has become irrelevant.
5. Pasteurization destroys enzymes, diminishes vitamin content, kills beneficial bacteria, promotes pathogens and is associated with allergies, increased tooth decay, colic in infants, growth problems in children, osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease and cancer.
6. Calves fed pasteurized milk don’t do very well, and many die before maturity. Scary, considering the milk originally came from their mom.
7. Raw milk sours naturally but pasteurized milk turns putrid; processors must remove slime and pus from pasteurized milk by a process called centrifugal clarification. Gross.
8. Inspection of dairy herds for disease is not required for pasteurized milk. This means, pasteurization is used as a nifty way to wash away all forms of bad bacteria that are allowed to flourish freely before the process. Imagine that for a second.
9. Raw milk has more butterfat, which is rich in fatty acids that protect against disease and stimulate the immune system. Skim milk doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better for you, in other words.
10. Pasteurization laws favor large, industrialized dairy operations and push out small farmers. When farmers have the right to sell raw milk directly to their consumers, they can make a decent living even with a small number of cows. Support small farmers!
So how do you use raw milk properly and storage, and what not to do with it?
ReplyDeleteThe real trick is finding it, as in most states it is either illegal (shameful), or you have to purchase ti directly from the farm. You use it just as you would any milk, and refrigerate it as usual. There isn't anything you can't use it for. Raw milk from organic grass fed cows will last MUCH longer than pasteurzed milk, but when it does start to "sour", it will make great yogurt, sour cream, tangy ricotta, or kefir. or can always be used for baking or making tangy sauces, and still will not harm you. Just don't throw it out; it's like liquid gold, and can usually be tolerated by people who are otherwise lactose intolerant.
DeleteI agree 100% ! We raised all three of our kids on fresh cow's milk. All are healthy, with good strong bones and teeth.
ReplyDeleteI grew up drinking raw milk.. and i have not taken any medicine or vaccines in the past 5 years
ReplyDeleteI am 81 years old. When growing up I lived on a small family farm and drank raw milk. A tin cup was always hanging on the wall in the barn. After the cows were milked I always drank a cup of warm raw milk scooped directly from the milk pail, the cows were milked by hand.When the milk was strained and bottled and left in the ice box, some of you probably never heard of an ice box, the cream came to the top and filled the first third of the bottle. The top inch was so thick it sometimes had to be removed with a spoon. My mother used to spoon it out and drink it, from the spoon,she lived to be 98. She would pour the milk into pans and let the cream come to the top which was later hand churned and made into butter. We sold the milk & butter to the area residents for many years, no body got sick and died from it. I usually drank three to four quarts every day. I still do not care for commercial milk, tastes like water. If raw milk is processed correctly and the cows are properly taken care of there is nothing to fear. Sometimes they would get into the apple orchard and eat the apples off the ground then their milk tasted like apple juice.
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