Raw Milk

I've decided to write another post about milk, this time it's raw milk. I've previously wrote about pasteurized milk and some background on how this 'commercial' type of milk could impair our health and body. In this post, I will write mainly about raw milk, and how it would benefit our health, as well as the conspiracy about milk and dairy products, which has been on going for years and years now. 

Whenever a random individual walks along the alley of a supermarket, or deciding which type of milk to buy, he or she will most likely purchase a non organic pasteurized/homogenized milk. In this case, a cheaper milk product, non organic or non raw high quality milk. Why? Simple, lower cost of the milk product and having the mindset of thinking pasteurized or any commercial milk is good for health. 

In United States, FDA is being sued for banning raw milk products in certain states. FDA claimed that raw milk is a dangerous product. That is an outright pathetic claim. FDA can allow highly dangerous drugs such as Lipitor and other statins drugs to be in the market but not raw milk? FDA even allow excitotoxin such as aspartame to be used in food products even their chief senior scientists disapproved. There are long list of harmful food and drug substances allowed to be sold and used in the market which were approved by FDA. Worst still, FDA think that there is no significant difference between genetically modified cow's milk and those that aren't.  Shockingly unbelievable! 

There is indeed a war going on, and it's threatening one of your most basic freedoms, the right to eat whole natural, healthful food. It's essential to understand the reasons why most dairy is pasteurized in the first place. Factory farming conditions are the reason why the milk has to be pasteurized in the first place. If it wasn't, it simply would not be safe to drink. This fact is also what prevents the conventional dairy industry from competing with smaller organic farms.

In terms of quality and nutritional content of the milk, you simply cannot compare the milk produced by factory farms to that of organic farm that raise their cattle on grasses and let them out to pasture. These cows are healthy, and produce high quality, uncontaminated milk that does not require pasteurization to kill off dangerous pathogens.

Still, despite the fact that grass fed organically raised cows are at a distinct advantage, from the get-go when it comes to the quality of their milk, organic dairy farms in most countries still must meet or exceed pasteurized milk standards, without pasteurizing. Hence, organic or raw milk safety standard is higher then ones which are pasteurized. 

So, if it's not really about food safety, what's all the fuss about? In a word, money. The conventional dairy industry, realizing that consumers are flocking toward raw milk because of its health benefits, has redoubled their efforts to quench raw milk sales. You might think that if raw dairy became attractive enough, the dairy industry would simply follow suit and begin producing raw products to meet the demand. But, this is virtually impossible because of the way their overcrowded farms are run.

You simply CANNOT drink factory farmed milk raw. It would be extremely unsafe. Their business depends on pasteurization, and that is why their powerful lobbyists will stop at nothing to persuade government agencies to keep raw milk bans in full force, especially several states in US. 

Public health officials warn that raw milk poses the risk of transmitting bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella, but pasteurizing the milk kills these bacteria while extending the milk's shelf life, which also happens to be more profitable for the dairy industry. While it is certainly possible to become sick from drinking contaminated raw milk, it is also possible to become sick from almost any food source. But it seems that raw milk has been unfairly singled out as a risk, when only a very small risk exists. 

Raw milk is an outstanding source of nutrients including beneficial bacteria such as lactobacillus acidolphilus, vitamins and enzmes, and it is, in my estimation, the finest source of calcium available. The pasteurization process, which entails heating the milk to a temperature of up to 150 degrees and keeping it there for at least half an hour and then reducing the temperature to about 55 degrees. completely changes the structure of the milk proteins into something far less than healthy. While the process certainly destroys germs and bad bacteria, it also destroys the milk's beneficial bacteria along with many of its nutritious components.

Pasteurizing milk destroys enzymes, diminishes vitamin, denatures fragile milk proteins,destroys vitamin B12, and vitamin B6, kills beneficial bacteria and promotes pathogens.You may notice that raw milk left out will sour naturally but pasteurized milk will rot. This is because the beneficial bacteria in the raw milk helps to keep putrefactive bacteria under control. Pasteurized milk, however, does not have any of the beneficial bacteria left to keep it from rotting.

Then, of course there is the issue of the antibiotics, pesticides and growth hormones and the fact that nearly all commercial dairy cows are raised on grains, not grass, like they were designed to. This will change the composition of the fats in the milk as well.

Meanwhile, people could get sick and promote illness by regular consumption of pasteurized milk. Pasteurized cow's milk is the number one allergic food in US, and one of the top 5 in most countries. It has been associated with a number of symptoms and illnesses as below: 

• Diarrhea
• Cramps
• Bloating
• Gas
• Skin rashes
• Allergies
• Colic in infants
• Osteoporosis
• Increased tooth decay
• Arthritis
• Growth problems in children
• Cancer
• Atherosclerosis
• Infertility
• Leukemia

Raw milk, on the other hand, is not associated with any of these problems, and even people who have been allergic to pasteurized milk for many years can typically tolerate and even thrive on raw milk. Raw milk is truly one of the most profoundly healthy foods you can consume, and you'll feel the difference once you start to drink it. 

I got friends and colleagues asking me if milk from 'kampung' cows are considered raw milk. Well, if you can confirmed that the cow's are raised organically and free from pesticides, herbicides, growth hormones and antibiotics and free range, then I would say yes. The idea is milk obtained from healthy cows. People, you have to ask yourself before you purchase any food product including milk. Why do you want to drink milk? Simple as that. If you want to drink milk because you think that it will benefit your health, then drinking pasteurized or homogenized milk is a big mistake. You are basically drinking white liquid filled with pesticides, growth hormones, antibiotics, pathogens, dead enzymes with no or extremely little nutrients. Go for organic or raw good quality milk.