Benefits of Raw Milk
WHY RAW?
Before WWII, and certainly for all
time before 1822 (the year of birth of Louis Pasteur, the “father” of
pasteurized milk), Americans and people all around the world drank their
milk raw and fresh, the way God made it. Raw milk is incomparably sweet
and delicious! But aside from great taste, what can you expect from raw
milk?
BALANCED NUTRITION
Raw milk contains all the nutrients
God intended milk to have! Pasteurization reduces the bioavailability of
several nutrients in milk, including calcium, the nutrient we most need
from milk! Raw cow’s milk has more of the following nutrients than
pasteurized cow’s milk1:
Calcium – 26.6% more
Iron – 194% moreSelenium – 10.7% more
Zinc – 227% moreVitamin B1 (thiamine) – 25% more
Vitamin B6 – fully destroyed by pasteurization; therefore, fully available in raw milk
Vitamin B12 – 11.1% more
Vitamin C – 335% more
Vitamin E – 17.6% more
You
may find fat-free and low-fat milk in supermarkets, but never at a
raw milk dairy! Fresh, raw milk contains milk fat, which is essential to
make milk a complete food for growth, development, health, and
maintenance. Did you know that farmers feed skim milk to pigs to fatten
them? Low fat milk doesn’t help you lose weight; in fact, it may make
you gain weight2, and ithas also been linked to lower fertility3. Milk
fat is a vital and importantpart of milk! Milk fat helps you absorb the
calcium and properly utilize the protein found in the milk. In cow’s
milk, the milk fat contains the important saturated fatty acid butyric
acid, which is known for its antimicrobial properties. It is good to
see the cream layer rise to the top of a gallon of fresh, raw cow’s
milk! Whereas the cream will rise to the top of cow’s milk, you will
not seevisible fat in goat’s milk. Although goat’s milk is rich in fat,
the fat globules are smaller, making the milk naturally homogenized.
Like cow’s milk, goat’s milk also contains an important antimicrobial
saturated fat –capric acid. For some people, goat’s milk is more
easily tolerated than cow’s milk. That is because goat milk protein
forms a softer curd, which makes the protein more easily and rapidly
digestible. Raw goat’s milk has a slightly different nutrient profile,
containing more of the following nutrients than cow’s milk:
Calcium – 13% more
Potassium – 134% more
Copper – 4x more
Selenium – 27% moreVitamin B3 (niacin) – 3x more
Vitamin B6 – 25% more
Vitamin A – 47% more
For infants and small children, raw goat’s milk must be supplemented with folic acid in order to be adequate as a formula.4
However, both raw goat’s milk and raw cow’s milk are wonderfully nutritious!
LIVE ENZYMES
Pasteurization,
a heat process that brings milk up to 161o F, destroys allenzyme
activity in milk. Enzymes destroyed include phosphatase, which aids in
the absorption of calcium; lactoferrin, which aids in the absorption
of iron; lactase, which is necessary for the digestion of the milk
sugar lactose; and more. Lactose intolerance, common today, makes most
people think they can’t drink milk. However, raw milk, whether from cows
or goats, naturally contains lactase. Therefore, raw milk can be
tolerated by many “lactose intolerant” people.The benefits of these live
enzymes in food are often overlooked by today’s medical professionals.
Researchers like Dr. Edward Howell5 and Dr. Francis Pottenger6 feel
that raw, enzyme-active foods should be a vital component our diets.
Raw milk is an easy way to get live enzymes in your diet!
TRIPLE-PLAY: WULTZEN “ANTI-STIFFNESS” FACTOR, CLA, AND X-FACTOR
Raw
and grass-fed dairy contain other three beneficial components of
which you may not be aware! The Wulzen Factor, the anti-arthritic factor
found in the butterfat of raw dairy, is destroyed by pasteurization.
According to the Weston A. Price Foundation, “it protects against
calcification of the joints--degenerative arthritis--as well as
hardening of the arteries, cataracts and calcification of the pineal
gland”.7 CLA, or conjugated linolenic acid, is a fatty acid that may
fight cancer and help with weight control. This nutrient is in short
supply in the American diet, but is found in the milk fat of grass fed
cattle. Feedlot cows do not produce sufficient CLA, so supermarket milk
is devoid of this nutrient. X-factor, or Activator X, is a component of
butterfat that was studied in the 1930s by nutrition researcher and
dentist Weston A. Price. It appeared to be a catalyst for nutrient
absorption, particularly protein and minerals.Very little is known
about this unique nutrient, except that it is foundin the butterfat of
cows that graze on spring grasses.8
BENEFICIAL BACTERIA
People
often eat commercial yogurt for the friendly bacteria, but did you know
that raw milk is a truly natural source of many beneficial bacteria?
Pasteurized yogurt has to have the beneficial bacteria added back in,
eventhough they were naturally present in the raw milk in the first
place! That’s because the pasteurization process kills the beneficial
bacteria!Yet, it is these beneficial, lactic-acid friendly bacteria
that help ward off pathogens.9 Did you know that raw milk doesn’t spoil?
Spoilage occurs with pasteurized milk, because the heat process
destroys all the friendly bacteria, but leaves some putrefying bacteria
that spoil the milk. Have you ever smelled a carton of pasteurized milk
past its expiration date? That’s spoiled milk! However, in raw milk, the
lactic acid bacteria use the milk sugar lactose as fuel, and produce
lactic acid as a by-product. The lactic acid makes the milk sour, not
spoil. Soured raw milk is still a nutritious food! Soured raw milk is
excellent for baking, and some people even enjoy drinking it. As raw
milk naturally sours, you can also control the souring to make yogurt,
sour cream, clabber, or kefir! If you’re worried about your raw milk
souring too quickly – never fear! Keeping the milk nice and cold on a
back shelf on the bottom of your refrigerator should help keep your raw
milk fresh for almost 2 weeks!
SAFETY ASSURED
The naturally
occurring friendly bacteria in milk help ward off pathogens. Raw milk is
one of the safest foods around, having caused only 0.6% of foodborne
illness in the last 12 years - from 1990-2002. What should surprise you
is that produce caused 20% of all food borne illness in that same
time period! In fact, many foods are much more likely to cause food
borneillness than raw milk, including produce, seafood, eggs, beef,
chicken, pizza, tacos, and others!
Raw Milk information by:
Carolyn Bivans, R.D., the Farmer Dietitian. Visit
http://www.apple-nutrition.com to hear more about the safety of raw
milk and to learn more about other nutrition topics
REFERENCES CITED
1.
Raw Milk and Raw Milk Products - Safety, Health, Economic and
LegalIssues; Dexter & Fallon; presentation on
http://www.realmilk.com.2. Magdalena Rosell,
Niclas N Håkansson, and Alicja Wolk;
Associationbetween
dairy food consumption and weight change over 9 y in
19,352perimenopausal women; Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, Dec 2006;
84:1481-1488.3. Jorge E Chavarro, Janet W Rich-Edwards, Bernard A
Rosner, and Walter CWillett;
Dietary fatty acid intakes and the risk of ovulatory infertility;
Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, Jan 2007; 85:231-237.4. http://askdrsears.com/html/3/t032400.asp5. Howell, Edward, M.D.;
Enzyme
Nutrition; Avery Publishing; 1985.6. Pottenger, Francis M, M.D.;
Pottenger’s Cats; Price-Pottenger NutritionFoundation; 1983.7. As found
at http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/butter.html;American
Journal of Physical Medicine, 1941, 133; Physiological Zoology,1935
8:457.8. http://www.westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/right_price.html9.
http://www.westonaprice.org/children/rawmilk.html10. Outbreak Alert:
Closing the gaps in our federal food-safety net.Center for Science in
Public Interest; 2002.