What is Raw Milk?
Raw milk is nature’s perfect food. It is fresh dairy milk that has not been pasteurized (subjected to extreme heat) or altered in any way, rather, it is in its natural state. In referring to raw milk, I am referring to only one of two types. First I will describe what I am not referring to. There are the conventional Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) where if you consumed their milk raw you would likely get sick. They have large herds on small amounts of land that prioritize the quantity of their milk to the detriment of the health of the herd and the consumers of their milk. These animals are not fed fresh grass, stand in manure, often have mastitis, and are injected with antibiotics. This is milk produced for its quantity with the intent of exposing it to extreme heat to make it “safe for human consumption”. That is a distorted version of nature’s perfect food.
When I refer to raw milk I am describing happy cows who freely graze on lush green unsprayed pastures. Their milking parlors are clean, their hygiene and welfare are taken very seriously, and their farmers are on another level. They want what is absolutely natural and best for the cows, the farm, and their consumers. This is raw milk that is produced with the intent to sell it raw; that is nature’s perfect food.
A Personal Story on Pasteurized Milk
This is not medical advice but I can tell you from personal experience that pasteurized milk did detriment to my health while raw milk helped heal me even though the FDA does not recommend drinking it. A personal testimony means more to me than whatever the FDA publishes. From a young age, I started having physical symptoms of sickness arise while consuming pasteurized milk, yogurt, butter, cheese, ice cream, and the like. Dairy has always been my favorite food group and for a while I kept eating it despite the acne, gas, bloating, belching, and constipation it gave me. That was normal, right? In high school, it had gotten worse to the point where I had severe constipation and stomach cramps. I went to a conventional doctor who did some tests but didn’t find anything wrong. He told me to eliminate gluten and dairy for a month and referred me to a gastroenterologist. I saw significant improvement in that month and pinpointed dairy as the problem. I still went to the gastroenterologist who labeled me with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, basically a catch-all for digestive issues with no direction for healing and he sent me on my way. I maintained my lactose-intolerant life trying the “new and better alternative kinds of milk” for six years until I was introduced to raw milk for the first time.
Honestly, raw milk has changed my life. I have no digestive issues when consuming the milk, my chronic constipation has lessened, and it feels so nourishing beyond a physical level. I get to drive out to the farm where I pick up my glass jar of raw milk and fellowship with the lady who milks Feather, our local cow. This gives me a deeper connection to the food coming into my home and instills a grounded understanding and gratitude that just isn’t there when you walk through the store to pick up a gallon of milk that traveled hundreds of miles to the shelves in your local store. I would never change my relationship to my raw milk for anything.
Benefits of Raw Milk
An article title published by the FDA states that “Raw milk is not an immune system building food and is particularly unsafe for children” (Raw Milk Misconceptions and the Danger of Raw Milk Consumption). This article leaves me with the question: what do they think breastmilk is? Breastmilk is a human’s perfect whole food for babies that is unaltered. Of course, this is only true of women who nourish their bodies with nutrient-dense foods, the equivalent of the cows who freely graze on lush green pastures. If raw breast milk is whole food for babies, isn’t the same true for raw milk being a powerhouse whole food for adults?
Raw milk contains many beneficial enzymes, probiotics, healthy fats, calcium, and natural vitamins. So the answer is yes, raw milk is a wonderful whole food for adults as well as children. In a study titled “Raw Milk Compared to Other Milks” done by the Raw Milk Institute, they compared the nutrients and immune factors of five different types of milk including raw human milk, raw cow/goat milk, pasteurized cow/goat milk, pasteurized almond milk, and pasteurized soy milk. The findings from their study are intriguing and differ quite significantly from what the FDA suggests. The study results showed that fats and proteins were damaged in all three types of pasteurized milk but remained active in both raw milks. Bioavailable vitamins and calcium became altered or inhibited by the pasteurization in cow/goat milk. Enzymes, lactase-producing bacteria, and probiotic bacteria were inactive or destroyed by the pasteurization as well. None of those three things occur naturally in almond or soy milk which is another issue altogether. In conclusion, every element of the pasteurized milk, regardless of the type became damaged, altered, or inhibited by the heat of pasteurization while every component of the raw milk was active and bioavailable.
The FDA states “Pasteurization does not reduce milk’s nutritional value” (Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition). If the heat of pasteurization did not denature milk, then there would be no need to “fortify” milk with added vitamins, synthetic or not, before it’s sold. The FDA document “Questions and Answers on FDA’s Fortification Policy” states that milk can be fortified with vitamins A and D, but this contradicts the Raw Milk Institute study where those vitamins are all active and available in raw milk but are found altered and reduced in pasteurized milk. Like many other studies done on raw milk, this study does not draw the same conclusion as the FDA. But which type of raw milk is the FDA doing its studies on? We both know it’s the CAFOs. What if they took the time to study the grass-grazing cows whose farmers aren’t in it for the quantity but the quality? The results would change. The quality of the raw milk would be higher and maybe even the presence of bad bacteria wouldn’t be there to begin with so there wouldn’t be a need to pasteurize it. It is unlikely that the FDA will spend money on a study that could prove them wrong, tear down their system, and make them less money.
Where Can I Find Raw Milk?
In the United States, each state has individual laws on raw milk. In some states, raw milk is available in local stores while in other states raw milk is only legal by herd share or to be sold “only for pet consumption”. There are multiple resources available that list the laws per state online. I like to use https://www.realmilk.com/ for updates on new farms in my area selling milk and for current news or attacks on raw milk. Currently, bird flu is a big political topic and is being used to dissuade people from consuming raw milk. This issue is addressed on their site. They also have a link to finding raw milk internationally. Overall it is a well-rounded resource for finding information and answering questions on raw milk.
Conclusion & Other Resources
Like many other things in nature, raw milk is alive and should be left that way. When consumed you are feeding your body with nature’s perfect food and benefiting from all the nutrients it has to offer. Regardless, this post couldn’t contain everything there is to know about raw milk and I encourage you to further your research. I recommend the Weston A. Price Foundation at https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/facts-about-raw-milk/ or the Raw Milk Institute at https://www.rawmilkinstitute.org/. Or even I’ll go as far as to say, read through the FDA site at https://www.fda.gov/food/resources-you-food/raw-milk to read through their perspective on the topic and come to your conclusion.
*Disclaimer: We are not medical professionals, and take no responsibility for your choice to consume raw milk. Do your own research, and find a safe and healthy milk provider in your area.
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Citations:
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. “Unpasteurized Milk Can Pose a Serious Health Risk.” The Dangers of Raw Milk: Unpasteurized Milk Can Pose a Serious Health Risk, FDA U.S. Food and Drug Administration, www.fda.gov/food/buy-store-serve-safe-food/dangers-raw-milk-unpasteurized-milk-can-pose-serious-health-risk#:~:text=Pasteurization%20DOES%20NOT%20reduce%20milk’s,Pasteurization%20DOES%20save%20lives. Accessed 7 Aug. 2024.
“Questions and Answers on FDA’s Fortification Policy Guidance for Industry.” FDA, Nov. 2015, www.fda.gov/media/94563/download.
“Raw Milk Compared to Other Milks.” Raw Milk Institute, www.rawmilkinstitute.org/about-raw-milk. Accessed 10 Aug. 2024.
“Raw Milk Misconceptions and the Danger of Raw Milk Consumption.” U.S. Food & Drug Administration, www.fda.gov/food/buy-store-serve-safe-food/raw-milk-misconceptions-and-danger-raw-milk-consumption. Accessed 24 July 2024.