Raw Milk: What and Why

I grew up on a dairy family. My grandparents were dairy farmers, my dad was a dairy farmer and I purchased my first cow when I was eleven years old. So to me the term raw milk is totally normal and I don’t think twice about talking about it like every one drinks it. But reality is that many people don’t know what raw milk is or that it is a completely different food than the milk you get from the store.

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So what is raw milk?

Raw milk is milk that is straight from the cow, unpasteurized and full of lovely bacteria and enzymes.

What? You don’t normally use the word lovely to describe bacteria? Oh.

Well these bacteria and enzymes make raw milk a living food. Meaning it is super good for you and works with your body, not against it. The milk you buy from the store goes through two harmful processes rendering it completely dead and useless to your body. Store bought milk goes through pasteurization which is a high heat sterilization process that kills all bacteria, both good and bad, in the milk. It also goes through a process called homogenization which is a centrifugal process that binds the fat molecules in the cream with the rest of milk molecules so that the cream no longer rises to the top. Raw milk never gets heated so it maintains it’s beneficial bacteria and enzymes and never gets homogenized so the cream naturally rises to the top.

Now that you know what raw milk is you may wonder what it’s benefits are. Raw milk is an amazing nutritional food, some of the benefits include:

Bacteria that are healthful for your digestive tract
More than 60 digestive enzymes that make the milk easier to digest
Beneficial raw fats, amino acids and proteins that are all 100% digestible
High amounts of omega 3 fats
Highly available vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K
And a balanced blend of minerals whose absorption is aided by live lactobacilli

(source)

So what’s so bad about pasteurized milk?

Pasteurized milk is a denatured product when it comes out of the pasteurization process. It’s vitamins are destroyed or weakened and the vitamin A in the milk is completely ruined. Ever wonder why milk is fortified with vitamins A and D? Now you know. Pasteurization also ruins the important enzyme that makes our bodies able to absorb calcium rendering the calcium in the milk useless.

Milk that has been heated to such high temperatures alters the amino acids which reduces digestibility by 17% (source).

This alteration of the milk can trigger an immune response in the body causing inflammation and allergic reactions. Many (but not all) people who may think they have an allergic reaction to milk oftentimes aren’t actually allergic to milk but instead are allergic to the pasteurization of milk. My mom is one of these people. She can not drink pasteurized milk without getting sick but can tolerate raw milk just fine. And if you have a child who drinks a lot of pasteurized milk and has a chronic runny nose I would bet my bottom dollar the milk would be the culprit.

If it’s so wonderful why do we no longer drink it? Why do we pasteurize it?

Pasteurization and homogenization came about when people grew further from their food. Believe it or not, people have been drinking raw milk a lot longer than pasteurized milk. Pasteurization of milk did not become commercialized until early 1900s in the United States (source). Back before big box stores many people kept a family cow or had a neighbor who kept a family cow but with the industrialization age these people started going to work away from home and no longer were able to keep the cow. With the disappearance of the family cow came a whole lot of changes in the family table. People started depending more and more on the stores for food and less on themselves thus through the generations people forgot what real milk was. People no longer knew their farmers or where their milk was coming from. Then government agencies stepped in to provide regulations for the milk and promote their campaign for pasteurized milk. And the campaign continues on today.

So what’s a person to do?

Clearly the best thing to do would be to source raw milk but I understand that sometimes that is just not that easy. But to start with, lets pretend you want to find raw milk then we will explore other options.

Finding Raw Milk:

Raw milk laws vary state by state. Some states it’s totally legal, some you can only buy raw milk through “shares” and others it’s totally prohibited. So I would encourage you to look up your state laws before you seek raw milk.

One of the best sources for finding raw milk on the internet can be found here. You just search by your location and it will find any farmers that are registered with them. Not all farms are registered with them though so the next option would be to ask around. Join health groups on social media or ask any one that you know that has ties to local farmers. Or buy your own cow (or goat!) and learn to milk her yourself. When looking for raw milk it is important to try to find a farmer that allows their cows on green pasture, feeds very little grain, has a clean farm and facility and is transparent about what they do.

Next Best Option:
The next best option would be to buy low heat pasteurized and unhomogenized milk from a reputable (preferably grass fed) company. You won’t find this at the regular big box stores but may find it at health stores. I have not had luck in finding low temperature pasteurized at my local stores but I know some do carry it.

If Not That Then:
If you can’t find the above option then you could search for simply unhomogenized milk. This milk has most likely been treated with the standard high heat pasteurization but has not been homogenized, meaning the cream will rise to the top. This is better than pasteurized and homogenized because the fat molecules have not been altered and may be a little easier for some people to digest.

What To Avoid:
I would really avoid ultra pasteurized milk if possible. It really is so denatured that the body has such a hard time digesting it that it does more harm than good. The vitamins and minerals just can not be absorbed by the body and it can cause unnecessary inflammation.

Here is a nifty info graphic to help you out with the levels of pasteurization:

At the end of the day just know that even if you can’t go out and buy your own cow or can‘t find raw milk, just reading this post you have taken a step in the right direction; in the direction of growth and expanding your brain. If this post just makes you think a tiny bit more about the food that you put in your body and where it comes from then I am a happy lady and I welcome you to the journey of health and wellness. After all, it all starts with just a tiny bit of new information and grows from there.

Talk to me! Have you ever drank raw milk? Would you be interested in drinking raw milk? Does it weird you out? I’d love to hear your experiences.