Many people today are avoiding dairy because a once nourishing drink, has been transformed into an unrecognizable, highly allergenic, toxic laden, dead product. Pasteurization of milk was promoted back in the 1920s after the cities became more populated and the demand for milk increased. Unfortunately, healthy, clean raw milk being raised on the farms was too far from the city, so people started buying milk from “distillery dairies” where sick cows were being fed “grain refuse from whiskey distilleries,” according to Farm to Consumer Legal Defense.
Many people especially young children got very sick. Two solutions to the problems were to promote cleanliness or to pasteurize the milk. Pasteurization is a process of heat-treating milk to kill bacteria. According to the Weston Price Website, “Although Louis Pasteur developed this technique for preserving beer and wine, he was not responsible for applying it to milk. That was done at the end of the 1800s as a temporary solution until filthy urban dairies could find a way to produce cleaner milk. But instead of cleaning up milk production, dairies used pasteurization as a way to cover up dirty milk. As milk became more mass produced, pasteurization became necessary for large dairies to increase their profits. So the public then had to be convinced that pasteurized milk was safer than raw milk. Soon raw milk consumption was blamed for all sorts of diseases and outbreaks until the public was finally convinced that pasteurized milk was superior to milk in its natural state.”
It is interesting to note that pasteurization of milk is not a guarantee of sanitation of milk and according to the Weston Price Foundation there have been many illnesses reported and recalls because of unsafe pasteurized milk. Pasteurization destroys the beneficial organisms found in milk (lactic-acid producing bacteria that protect against pathogens). It also makes the proteins in milk less available, destroys vitamins and all enzymes (it is the enzymes that help the body absorb and use the nutrients of the milk (and other foods) including calcium. While the calcium might be there, it’s not fully usable.
According to the Weston Price Foundation, “Not only does pasteurization kill the friendly bacteria, it also greatly diminishes the nutrient content of the milk. Pasteurized milk has up to a 66 percent loss of vitamins A, D and E. Vitamin C loss usually exceeds 50 percent. Heat affects water soluble vitamins and can make them 38 percent to 80 percent less effective. Vitamins B6 and B12 are completely destroyed during pasteurization. Pasteurization also destroys beneficial enzymes, antibodies and hormones. Pasteurization destroys lipase (an enzyme that breaks down fat), which impairs fat metabolism and the ability to properly absorb fat soluble vitamins A and D. (The dairy industry is aware of the diminished vitamin D content in commercial milk, so they fortify it with a form of this vitamin.)
We have all been led to believe that milk is a wonderful source of calcium, when in fact, pasteurization makes calcium and other minerals less available. Complete destruction of phosphatase is one method of testing to see if milk has been adequately pasteurized. Phosphatase is essential for the absorption of calcium.”
A recent European study found that children that drank raw milk were less likely to develop asthma and allergies, but because of possible bacteria in the raw milk they could not recommend raw milk to prevent asthma. I do want to be clear in saying that there are some risks in drinking raw milk, and everyone needs to do their own research, pray, and decide what’s best for them.
There is a growing number of people that are going back to raw milk including our family, and seeing a lot of health benefits. I avoided dairy for many years (with the exception of butter) despite the fact that we had a milk cow for many of those years. After learning about A2A2 cows and a lot of years of struggling to get a good A2A2 milk cow, I was finally able to try the milk a few months after the birth of our last child, and I had no physical symptoms like I had experienced in the past. My two children that had very significant problems when drinking the A1 milk could also tolerate it. If I could only do one thing to nourish myself and my babies, it would definitely be good quality, pasture based, raw, A2A2 milk. More about this soon.
I have a growing list of people that have asked us to sell them raw milk and for some reason I’m scared to sell it. People need good quality raw milk, and I pray about this frequently, but I just don’t have the courage or the peace to pursue this at this time. I will be sharing how to find a raw milk farmer, and some things to watch out for soon.
Have you tried raw milk? We love to hear from you!
Our family has learned to slow down, make careful observations of what heals/damages, get rid of the distractions, take a little more time preparing our food, and most importantly to seek the Lord’s wisdom. It’s a daily struggle and it never goes perfectly, but we just keep trying to do the best we can. If you are working toward a more traditional, clean, whole foods diet, and would like to take small steps to get there, then you are at the right place. Week one was get your salt right, week 2 was get your sleep right, weeks 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 were get your fats right, we had several weeks about seasonings and herbs, some important discussion about natural sweeteners, talked about Forgiveness, hopefully we got our eggs right, learned about the benefits of pastured, clean meats, considered getting mercury removed, we got the toxins out of our mouth, skin, and hair, made some changes in our cleaning routines, and this week we are talking about raw milk. Join us next Tuesday for Get Your . . . Right.