The Difference Between Raw Milk and Other Milks

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Below is an article I wrote for the blog at Maximized Chiropractic where I work as a Nutritional Therapist.

What is the difference between raw milk and other milk options?

 I (Nicole) grew up on a hobby farm with goats and chickens, surrounded with tons of grass and big oak trees in Virginia. When friends would come to visit they would stare at the eggs in the chicken coop and say ‘eggs come from inside a chicken and I eat that for breakfast’?!

Their astonishment was funny to me at the time but in the same way I had my own things that bewildered me…for instance the big gallon jar of raw cow’s milk that my best friends always had in their fridge and their mom ‘made’ them drink.  I was completely disgusted by the fact that it had a strong flavor…unlike the tasteless, odorless, nutritionally void milk that came from the grocery store and was in my fridge.

I’ve come a long way from my earlier years and now think that raw milk is a great natural option for getting key nutrients in your diet.   Below I’m going to answer some common questions about raw milk and show you how it’s so great.

Is raw milk safe?

While pasteurization is a helpful tool for preserving food for long term storage, it does come at a price and destroys a lot of the nutritional content in milk.  As long as the cows are healthy and are milked in a clean area you won’t be at risk for ingesting harmful pathogens.  The risk factor only comes into play when the dairy cows are treated with unnatural practices such as…kept in close confinements, aren't given pasture space to range on, are given continual doses of antibiotics and artificial hormones etc… This is where knowing your farmer is important!

What about allergies?  My kids are sensitive to milk?

Because all the nutrients are left in-tact when milk is left raw, its make-up is vastly different from the milk you buy in the store.  This is why it is tolerated by many kids and adults who show signs of sensitivity to conventionally processed milk.  For instance…an enzyme in milk called lactase that is necessary for breaking down lactose (milk sugar) is naturally found in milk but is not found in pasteurized milk.  Whole milk (raw milks is commonly offered in its whole un-seperated form) is more easily digestible because you need the fat (cream) in order to break down the proteins in the milk.  Also, many people have low levels of stomach acid which is vitally important for breaking down proteins in both raw and pasteurized milk.  When optimal levels of stomach acid are reached through diet and supplementation the milk sensitivity generally diminishes.

Aren’t milk alternatives like soy and almond better than milk in general? 

It can be tempting for parents to think that beverages like soy, almond, rice and even hemp milk are safer options because they are avoiding potential milk allergies or maybe they don't know about raw milk or don’t have access to it. These alternative milk options are not good foods for babies or kids. They come to you highly processed often containing refined sweeteners and commercially produced oil as well as additives like carrageenan (which is very difficult for babies to digest. When the ingredients of these milks are processed they lose a lot of their nutritional content and therefore synthetic vitamin D is added to them (D2 has negative effects while the animal form of vitamin D, D3 is beneficial). Soy milk contains high levels of plant estrogens and is inappropriate for developing kids; the other milk options might not have plant estrogens but they are very low in the nutrients that growing kids need!

Is Raw milk good for kids?

In the “Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby and Child Care” Sally Fallon Also states…“Raw Milk is Designed for the developing baby to build the gut wall, create the immune system and ensure the assimilation of 100 percent of nutrients; and, raw milk contains an ideal blend of protein, fat and carbohydrates. Raw milk from human and from other mammals all these health-promoting properties.” 
While it is best that your baby is able to receive great milk from you in order to be protected from the pathogens that you both are exposed too, raw milk can make a great transition food when it is time to ween or time for mama to get her body ready for the next baby.

Does my family even need cow’s milk?

Milk has been a source of nutrition for many years in many different countries and cultures. Pretty much everyone drinks milk or a milk substitute.  In my opinion, milk from another mammal sounds more natural than milk from thousands of almonds ground up in a blender. This doesn't mean that almond milk is never an option it just doesn’t supply you with as many important vitamins and minerals as dairy does. Cow’s milk was not meant to be pasteurized and almonds, cashews and soy beans weren't meant to be eaten in mass quantities as milk replacements. For healthy individuals with well-functioning digestive and immune systems, raw milk is the way to go!

Doesn’t whole milk have too much fat?

Definitely not! The fat of the milk contains special vitamins like A, D and K2.  K2 is known as activator X, a special vitamin that helps your body use all the other vitamins and is needed for development in babies and kids.  Usually excess weight gain is linked to refined sugar consumption. Eating healthy fat does not lead to excess weight gain.  Raw milk naturally separates so shake the jar and leave the fat in!

When addressing his niece on how to feed her children in his book ‘Nutrition and Physical Degeneration” Weston Price states “One of your greatest difficulties will be to provide the children and yourselves with sufficient amounts of the fat-soluble activators and vitamins. We, being mammals, have bodies prepared to get these from milk and its butter fat which is not in skimmed milk. There is not much left for the children when the cream has been taken from the milk for the parents’ coffee”

What about calcium?

Raw milk is a great source of calcium for growing kids. Pasteurized milk is not!  When milk is heated the calcium is made un-absorbable to our bodies. While the calcium still remains in the milk so therefore can be boasted as a health claim our bodies are unable to assimilate and make use of it.  If you are looking for more calcium rich foods for your family raw milk is a great option.  If you don't have access to raw milk make sure to to eat these calcium rich foods...https://draxe.com/top-10-calcium-rich-foods/

In Summary…

To me raw milk is no longer an unfamiliar scary food item that my healthy childhood neighbors drink; now it’s a gallon jar that sits in my fridge waiting for me to turn it in yummy fermented foods like creme fraiche (a sweet tasting homemade version of sour cream that is eaten with berries as an ice cream substitute in my house), yogurt for breakfast and quick snacks, and Kefir for smoothies.  Just like my chicken eggs that I get from my neighbor who got them from the chicken house that I can see from my bedroom window, I also enjoy knowing that my milk and cream come from someone I know who milked the cow recently and has over not processed it.

Our favorite way to get raw milk is by purchasing a cow share from Bartlett.  The cow share allows you to frequently receive shares of what the cow produces (milk) in the form of raw milk, butter, kefir and yogurt, all of this delivered to your doorstep! If you are interested in trying raw milk visit the Bartlett farms website here!

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