Some Like It Raw

I threw a little celebration party after I finished my first year of teaching, and although I have a big living room I noticed that most of my friends were hanging out in my tiny little kitchen. The relative proximity of food and alcohol may have had something to do with it.

Anyway, one of my guests asked me if I had any milk to go with her scrumptious dessert. I told her that I did have milk, but let her know that it was raw. Needless to say, she didn’t drink any… but it did spark conversation about pasteurization, homogenization, bacteria and bovine growth hormone. Since I’m sure many of you would rather spend your Friday nights discussing something else, let me break it down for you.

WHAT IS IT?


Raw milk is simply untreated, unprocessed milk fresh from the cow.

Pasteurization is a process in which milk is heated.

Homogenization is a process which distributes the butterfat globules throughout the milk product, so the cream doesn’t separate and rise to the top.

Organic milk is produced from cows who are allowed adequate space in their pens, are sometimes allowed access to the outdoors and to sunlight and are not treated with synthetic hormones. However, organic dairy cows often subsist on grain feed and organic milk is often pasteurized and/or homogenized.

Grass-fed milk is milk from cows that are pasture-fed.

Why raw?

Raw milk is healthy, nutritious and delicious.

What’s wrong with pasteurization?

Pasteurization was instituted for public protection against diseases, but outbreaks of diseases such as salmonella have occurred in pasteurized milk. Although pasteurization was originally used for sanitation purposes, this was before refrigerated trucks, stainless steel tanks and other modern methods. Although a lot of people (like my house guest) will only drink pasteurized milk, other people (like myself) believe that surely healthy cows who are allowed ample time outdoors and are fed natural diets of grass would be less likely to carry disease as opposed to those being crammed in feedlots and fed an unnatural diet of soybeans, corn and grain as well as a cornucopia of growth hormones and antibiotics.

Cows fed grain rather than grass have higher levels of E. coli in their intestinal tract. Furthermore, if contaminated pasteurized milk has no beneficial bacteria and therefore provides a breeding ground for the bacteria whereas raw milk is able to keep it in check. (See http://www.rebuild-from-depression.com/rawmilk-ecoli/rawmilk-ecoli.html)

The biggest problem with pasteurization is that it compromises the quality of your milk, destroying vital nutrients. Pasteurization reduces vitamins A, C, D, E, B6 and B12. It destroys the enzymes needed to digest milk, as well as beneficial microbials which help prevent infections. Fragile mil proteins are destroyed. Pasteurization promotes pathogens and alters amino acids like lysine and tyrosine. The Wulzen or anti-stiffness factor in pasteurized milk is destroyed, and mineral components such as calcium, magnesium and potassium are less available.

What’s wrong with homogenization?

Homogenization has been theorized to be linked with heart disease (see http://www.realmilk.com/homogenization.html) and is thought to compromise the integrity of the milkfat. It is also impossible to make whey and other fun products from homogenized milk, and yogurt often comes out funky with sticky globules.

Why organic?

The biggest selling point of organic milk is that it is free of hormones such as rBGH, recombinant bovine growth hormone (also known as rBST or recombinant bovine somatotropin), which is regularly used to produce non-organic milk. rBGH increases mastitis and clinical signs of lameness as well as IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor), a hormone that is virtually identical in human and bovine species and increases cell growth. Studies have shown correlation between increased signalling through the IGF-1 pathway and increased risks of cancer and cancer

But rBGH administration also increases the levels of insulin-like growth factor 1, or IGF-1, in the milk. This is a hormone that is identical in both the human and bovine species. So what does it do? IGF-1 is responsible for cell growth. And since studies have shown that increased signaling through the IGF-1 pathway increases the risk of certain cancers (cancers are just rogue cells of you, after all), this doesn’t look good for increasing IGF-1 levels in milk.

Although the FDA (presumably under pressure from rBGH’s only supplier, Monsanto) requires companies selling milk untreated with artificial growth hormones to put stickers on products which state that “no significant difference has been shown between milk derived from rBST-treated and non-RBST treated cows,” rBGH has been banned in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and parts of the European Union. Even companies like Kroger, Safeway and Starbucks sell only rBGH-free milk.

Why grass-fed?

Many cows are fed grains, which they were never really meant to eat. Cows are ruminants, which means that their digestive system allows them to repeatedly regurgitate and rechew their cud, which is then digested by microorganisms in the rumen. Cows are supposed to eat grass. When cows are forced to eat grains (including corn), they often get sick which is why so many dairies regularly give cows high doses of antibiotics. However, cows that are kept in feedlots and fed grain, as well as injected with hormones, produce more milk. (A really excellent and well-researched book which covers this topic is The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan.)

Dairy cows that have been fed grain also produce milk that is not as healthy. Milk from grass-fed cows is high in omega-3 fatty acids and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), which helps with a wide variety of health problems. Both of these fatty acids are mostly absent from the milk of grain-fed cows.

High levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is correlated with lower risk of breast cancer (Bognoux et al, Inform, 10:S43, 1999). Milk from pastured cows contains an ideal ratio of essential fatty acids (EFAs). Research indicates that equal amounts of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids are ideal in preventing a wide variety of diseases, which is one of the reasons why supplementing with fish oil or cod liver oil is so helpful. Milk from pastured cows is also higher in vitamins and minerals (including vitamins A and E and beta-carotene) and is more potent because grass-fed cows produce less milk (which means there are more vitamins per glass).

I want to drink raw milk, but it is whole milk and I usually only drink skim milk. Won’t drinking whole milk make me fat?

In a word, no. This could be a whole ‘nother article, but eating fat will not make you fat. For some information, check out this article.

What about diseases like TB? And what about the FDA and all the naysayers who thin that if I drink raw milk I will die?

Again, you may want to contact your local dairy to see what precautions they take and make your own informed decision. Most dairies regularly screen cows for TB. If you are concerned about TB and other diseases from raw milk, you may want to check out this article and this article.

Where do I get it?

Go to http://www.realmilk.org to see if there is raw milk available in your area.

How do I know if my local source of raw milk is pasture-fed?

I believe that most sources of raw dairy listed on http://www.realmilk.org or on http://www.eatwild.org are grass-fed, but the best way to find out for sure is to visit the farm or to call up the dairy and talk to the farmers.

But I can’t drink milk!

Although many people are allergic to pasteurized, homogenized milk from grain-fed cattle, many more do well on raw organic pasture-fed milk. However, there are a few who do not do digest casein or lactose well or simply do not do well with dairy. The best way to test this out is to abstain from ALL forms of dairy for around 6 weeks and then to reintroduce it into your diet and see how you react. Fermented or soured milk (such as yogurt and kefir or raw cheese) may be an option.

What do I do with it?

You can, of course, use real milk in the same way you previously used the pasteurized homogenized brands. But as I alluded to before, there are some really fun things you can do with it. Here are some ideas, which are featured in more detail in the books Full Moon Feast (by Jessica Prentice) and Nourishing Traditions (by Sally Fallon).

I like to pour my milk into a glass jar and leave it on the counter for a while. After it has separated (approximately one to four days at room temperature), I line a strainer with some cheesecloth or a towel and pour the separated milk on. In a few hours, the whey runs into the bowl and the milk solids will stay in the strainer. Then I tie the cheesecloth or towel (without squeezing them) to a wooden spoon which I place across the top of a container. When the bag stops dripping, I have whey and cream cheese. The cream cheese (which I keep in a covered glass jar) is yummy (though a bit sour) and can be consumed for up to a month. The whey is good for about six months. Whey aids digestion and is good for the joints and ligaments. I use it for lacto-fermentation, and if I must eat grains or beans I presoak them overnight with a small amount of whey to neutralize the phytic acid. (Incidentally, lemon juice, vinegar or a bit of yogurt also works for this). I also add whey to my smoothies for its high mineral content. I respond better to it than I do to highly-processed and denaturized whey protein powder.

You can also make pima milk or buttermilk with a starter culture, or kefir if you have either kefir grains or a package of kefir powder. You can also make yogurt either with culture starter or a bit of store-bought yogurt. First you heat the milk to 180 degrees and then let it cool to 110 degrees (warm but not hot). Then, just stir in the yogurt or starter and then put it in the oven (without turning it on) overnight (or on the gas oven with the pilot light on). It should be between 80 and 100 degrees. In the morning, place it in the fridge.

For more information, check out these websites:
http://www.realmilk.org
http://www.organicpastures.com/faq.html
http://www.eatwild.com/articles/superhealthy.html

For great recipes and information on raw and cultured dairy products check out the “Milk Moon” chapter in Full Moon Feast by Jessica Prentice and the “Milk and Milk Products” and “Cultured Dairy Products” sections of Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.

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