Sep 28 2009
Pasteurized vs. Raw Milk: Which One Is Healthier for You & Your Family?
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Since the early 1930’s our government has been “protecting” us from the “dangers” of whole, raw milk. How do they do this? By actually killing the whole, raw milk by pasteurizing it! Interestingly, pasteurization also increases the shelf life of milk, making it much easier to mass-market, maximizing profits for the dairy industry.
Real milk comes from real goats or cows that are allowed to graze in toxin free pastures. Besides tasting great, raw organic milk is a precious, life-giving food. But extreme temperatures used to pasteurize (”cook”) the milk can actually render it life-depleting.
Pasteurization destroys almost all of the nutritive value of cow’s milk. The milk everybody drinks today is far from a whole food, and in my research is not fit for human consumption.
Pasteurization also destroys beneficial bacteria found in raw milk. It kills the natural enzymes and destroys the chemical make-up of calcium in raw milk. Calcium is vital to the growth and health of children. Pasteurization has been implicated in everything from allergies to heart disease to cancer. Truly, the resulting product after pasteurization is not raw and living, but rather “killed and dead.”
Raw Milk: Why the Fuss?
The fuss about raw milk has to do with pathogens – organisms that can cause diseases such as Salmonella. But whether or not raw milk carries pathogens depends totally on the way the milk is produced, how the animals are fed, and the care that’s taken to keep the milk clean during production.
Today’s pasteurized milk comes from cows crammed in cages loaded with synthetic hormones and antibiotics. Homogenizing purposely destroys raw milk’s natural butterfat in an effort to separate and hide the cream from the consumer. European studies show that this is dangerous and may cause heart disease. Of course our FDA disputes this. Homogenized milk is quite unnatural!
Back in the 20’s Americans could buy raw, clean, grass-fed milk and cheese – and at that time milk-borne diseases were rare. Can you believe that suppliers of organic, raw milk today are required to display the words “Not fit for human consumption”? It’s true!
I firmly believe that true health starts in the colon. Raw milk contains the milk sugar “lactose” in its purest form, and lactose aids in digestion and elimination. And organic, raw milk is the only food that has it in a usable form! I personally am not a animal milk drinker, but if I was I would only consume raw organic goats milk.
The Nutritional Benefits of Raw Milk
Here’s just a sampling of the nutritional benefits of raw, organic milk
- Organic, raw milk is a complete food, loaded with minerals, protein and vitamins. Raw milk contains an amazing selection of minerals ranging from calcium and phosphorus to trace elements. Pasteurization destroys them and they must be re-supplied
- Raw milk has 20 of the standard amino acids
- Up to 80% of the proteins in raw milk are easy to digest — some are complex antibodies
- Raw milk is abundant in calcium — legendary for its benefits for teeth, bones etc.
- It is also loaded with enzymes that have an array of health benefiting functions
- Raw milk is alive with beneficial bacteria that aid digestion and protect against disease-carrying organisms
A Historical Look at Raw Milk
Humans have drank raw milk, long before the pasteurization process began. Here’s a look at the history of raw milk and how it was used for many generations before ours.
- The earliest possible records show that man valued milk intensely, including milk from goats, camels, horses, even reindeer! And most certainly it was of the unpasteurized, raw organic variety. Herdsmen in Asia coveted milk even before the Bible praised the “land of milk and honey.”
- Most people don’t know that raw organic milk from grass-fed animals was actually used as a medicine in the 1920’s. The Mayo Foundation used a diet of raw milk as a remedy for heart failure, diabetes, kidney disease, chronic fatigue and obesity.
- From the time of Hippocrates until just after World War II, this miracle food nourished and healed millions. Today, in Germany, successful raw milk therapy is provided in many hospitals.
- Studies show that raw milk is very effective in preventing scurvy and protecting against flu, diphtheria and pneumonia. Raw milk prevents tooth decay, even in children who eat a lot of sugar.
- And it’s amazing to think that, almost always, the folks known most for their great health and long life, like the Bulgarians and Russians, are heavy consumers of raw milk and milk products, not to mention that they eat hardly any meat!
How to Find Raw Milk
There’s a huge demand today for organic raw milk and milk products. That’s because people are becoming more aware of the life-giving benefits of raw milk. But dairy farmers who have been supplying raw organic milk to consumers are increasingly at odds with local and state government, who are oblivious to the adverse effects of pasteurization.
In California, Governor Schwarzenegger signed legislation requiring pasteurization of all raw milk in California. California will go from being one of the most raw-milk friendly states to one of the most restrictive. And that’s a pity.
Fortunately, an abundance of small organic farms across the country are willing to continue to stick their necks out and sell raw organic milk, and raw organic milk products like cheese, butter and yogurt – in spite of the risk from the long arm of the FDA. To find your own local source of raw organic milk check out The Weston A. Price Foundation, as well as RealMilk.com.
Or you can share part “ownership” of a healthy organically fed cow or goats. You just split the cost with other folks and the milk becomes yours, and thereby legal to drink! Believe it or not some people are forced to skirt the law by claiming its for their pets! In the meantime, it’s best to follow the advice of one of the pioneers of the natural health movements in America, Dr. Paavo Airola.
As a vegen alternative, try drinking organic nut and seed milks… My personal favorite is Hemp Milk.
~Dr. G
February 8th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Wow, what an awesome article, I just love seeing people being honest about the real Milk and still stand up for it.
Good job man, keep up your good work
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December 29th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
This also reminds me of something that happened a few months ago, I watched my niece force her son drink milk. The poor kid was crying the whole time. I’m like “GIRL, what are you doing???? He doesn’t want the milk, he doesn’t like it!!!!” Then i went on to tell her how the milk she is forcing him to drink is full of puss, hormones and antibiotics… but the puss thing creepes me out”… she jkust looked back at me and said “Well how else is he going to get his cacium?” I said…Try spinach…try an organic suppliment!!!!
To this day I hear my great nephews screams…”But mommy NO!!! I DON’T LIKE IT”… it sickens me that people believe the hype of the factory farming dairy hype. Milk from cows is meant for baby cows. Not humans. I used to love me some ice cream, didn’t really do milk, but when I went organic, and then learned how milk puts thick thighs on a body…..and now other research being done on non-natural calcium/chemical based calcium we are force feeding our bodies.
I just ask everyone here, research for yourselves. I don’t trust one website for ALL my info, and I LISTEN TO MY BODY. That is the most important thing, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. All of the things Dr. Group informs me of may not work for me. Things people post here may not work for me. But I have learned what works for me, and i’m willing to try something more to give me ultimate health, as long as it is natural/organic/raw-living. If it doesn’t agree with me I stop using/eating it. PERIOD. I slao learned from doctors, “keep taking this pharmacutical or find another doctor”…I found nature instead. If you believe in God, he provided a weed, plant, herb to heal you. Nature provides. Man cooking, irradiating, genetically modifying, outlawing what God/ Mother Nature has provided us…
I keep hearing…”But Mommy NO!!!!!”
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Marcla replied on December 29th, 2009:
sorry for all the typos…i get excited sometimes and don’t check before i press send/submit…i hope you all can see thru the typos…
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November 25th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
I use very little milk and can only get organic Ultra – Pasteurized from Horizon. It last twice as long as other milk. I don’t know why but could guess. We use to be diary farmers.
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November 13th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
here is the evidence…
http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm079516.htm
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Keisha replied on November 13th, 2009:
@Ben,
You are seriously going to believe everything that the FDA tells you? The FDA is the biggest crook in our government system, that’s a known fact!
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Emma replied on November 25th, 2009:
You are so right. You can tell what kinda food they eat.
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November 13th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
there is no sceintific proof to what you have said on here. organic foods are a lie… just because it was done in the olden days does not make it right…. technology is your friend… raw milk is a joke and so are the people that beleive in organic foods.
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Marcla replied on December 29th, 2009:
Well Mr. Ben, then explain to me why and how, after a cancer scare, and not trusting medical doctors, i sought out alternative medicine, which led me to an organic life. Which led to no more migrane headaches, no more DAILY headaches, the loss of 50 lbs., no more depression, and I haven’t been sick in over 4 years? Explain to me how and why I can immediately tell when I have ingested chemicals/pesticides? (it messes BAD with my brain) Especially when food that is labeled organic is not. I have learned that the reason alot of mental disorders are caused from conentional farming, the chemicals and pesticides. I am proof. Migranes/headaches/depression/sad angry person, that’s me on conventional food. Me on organic- happy, loving life, no headpain what so ever. AND the lump is gone. No chemo, no invasive SEARCH biopsy.
I do have to ask you Mr. Ben, why are you here on this website? If you don’t believe, go away. If you are a factory farming/FDA shill-troll, go away, you will not find anyone here that you can change their thinking. We all know the truth here. The truth you try to do away with for your profits. We are not stupid. We may be out there but we know the truth and would rather spend our money on good, organic/living food than dead, processed, frankenfood. We know the truth, so just do yourself a favor and go away. We don’t believe your lies because we are proof of the truth.
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October 24th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
When raw milk goes bad-bad, you don’t want to drink it (smells foul – not just sour – looks worse), unlike pasteurized/homo milk that may or may not be all the way pasteurized when you get it in the carton due to lack of quality control… Beware family shopper!
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October 18th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
it amazes me how the discussion between raw and processed foods continues to be so heated! I think the heat is not driven by the consumer (who fortunately learns about alternatives to today’s norm) or raw foders but by industries that want to push the advantage of never spoiling (already spoilt ?) products where everything has been killed, bad and good alike. The same discussion goes on in my area of pet foods where some still say raw food is dangerous and animals are safer with cooked foods (did anybody ever see a wild dog / wolf or cat or rat cook his food? If yes, please send me a link!). Cooking also helps kill some of the pathogens which can accumulate easily when the foods are derived from ‘animal lots’ or processing facilities that are prone to favor bacterial contamination.
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Marcla replied on December 29th, 2009:
thank you Heidi. People are amazed when their dogs will eat my goji berries or other organic veggies and fruits…but turn away from factory farmed stuff…it’s a thing i do anymore to show people the difference… then they start getting all weirded out that their dogs are not eating their dog food…well what the…..(rolling eyes) dog/pet food is a money making scheme, just like all the other crap out there….the coolest thing to me is watching someones dog eat an organic carrot…
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October 15th, 2009 at 8:09 am
I am headache expert from Your Headache Solutions and I totally recommend to my patients to drink RAW MILK. This is also one way to avoid getting headaches.
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October 13th, 2009 at 7:59 am
More information on this topic:
Comparing the food safety track record of pasteurized and raw milk
http://tinyurl.com/yj3bnov
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Rochelle replied on October 24th, 2009:
Impressive link, but it’s clear to see who’s paying for this information to be widespread…
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October 7th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Our doctor happens to be on the board of Weston Price Foundation and we’ve been consuming Raw milk in the San Francisco Area since our daughter was 1 years old. Apparently even our doctor had noticed that some of the patients who were consuming raw milk were still experiencing some of the negative symptoms associated with pasteurized milk. Research has now been conducted on the health impact of the milk based on the type of cow the milk came from(and subsequent peptides and other molecules in the milk) known as A1 and A2 cows(if I have that correctly). There is a new book out called “Devil in the milk” where the author explores the different type of cow strains that can lead to better or worse health and the history behind it.. Here is an interview with the author on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA-D09HF8bA
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October 6th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
We used to be able to get Raw Milk (Golden Fleece brand) at our local Whole Foods in Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.
They discontinued selling it last week.
No one in the store has a “real” answer for that decison.
We’ve switched to Hemp and Almond milk.
Was it the “Raw” nature of the milk ?
I’ve been eating raw eggs for years now in my morning smoothies.
We eat raw fruits, veggies.
Maybe it was a corporate decision based on liability matters ?
I’ll never know.
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