Why We Drink Raw Milk

raw milk

I drank raw goat’s milk when I was little without even realizing it. Well, I knew it was goat’s milk, that’s for sure, I just didn’t know it was raw. Some friends of ours used to drive out to a farm to pick up milk and eggs, and they always let me have a glass of the good stuff when I came over.

Fifteen years later, there’s nothing I like better for a snack than a glass of creamy, raw cow’s milk. Early in our marriage when Eric and I started developing our approach to eating, we decided that raw milk from grass-fed cows was one of the first and most important things we’d add to our diets.  Three main reasons drove our decision:

1. Health benefits of raw milk

Raw milk is a living food. It’s swimming with enzymes and beneficial bacteria that help the body’s digestive and immune systems. Rather than the synthetic vitamin A added to pasteurized milk, raw milk contains every single vitamin–both water-soluble and fat-soluble–in the exact proportions necessary for your body to assimilate them!

The mineral content of raw milk is impressive too, and again–they are in the optimal balance for assimilation. Raw milk is also high in saturated fat, a misunderstood fat that is in fact crucial to our bodies. With its high nutritional content, it’s no surprise that milk was used as medicine in the past, and that you could live off of it. Many of the health concerns associated with pasteurized milk can be improved when the sufferer turns to raw milk instead.

2. Health deficits of pasteurized milk

In contrast to the life-giving properties of clean, raw milk, pasteurized milk actually depletes our bodies. The heating process necessary to pasteurize milk kills the beneficial bacteria and enzymes. Among the enzymes destroyed is lactase, which helps the body to digest lactose. Sometimes people who are lactose-intolerant find that they can handle raw milk. Even many people without lactose intolerance find that pasteurized milk causes mucus buildup and congestion. I used to notice that myself, but with raw milk I’ve had no congestion.

Another enzyme that pasteurization destroys, phosphatase, is necessary for the body’s absorption of calcium. Without it, pasteurized milk actually contributes to loss of bone density, rather than combating it. For more on the types of enzymes present in raw milk, read here.

When the good bacteria in raw milk are destroyed, the milk contains no “defence” system against pathogens that may enter the milk after processing. Thus, if you drink rotten pasteurized milk you’ll get sick, whereas soured raw milk can be consumed safely.

3. Easiest “grass-fed” product to invest in

Among grass-fed animal products, raw milk is a good starter option. The best prices on grass-fed meat are usually for bulk portions of an animal, so there’s a large up-front cost. In addition, you need an extra freezer to store your meat in. On the other hand, milk is easier to obtain and comes ready-to-eat, with all the vitamin and healthy fat content one desires from grass-fed products.

I formulated these reasons to drink raw milk after plenty of research and fact-finding. During my digging, I discovered loads of controversy about raw milk as well. Later this week I’m writing on safety concerns surrounding raw milk, and how you can drink responsibly(:

3 Comments

  1. My main questions are these: how can I find raw milk, and how much does it cost in comparison to the real stuff? My main reason for not buying some all-natural products, like real maple sugar, real honey, rapadura, etc, is because they’re considerably more expensive than the not-quite-as-healthy versions. We consume about three gallons of milk a week, between drinking and cooking, and that’s around $10 a week as it is with milk prices right now. I would have to use less milk if raw milk is more expensive…and that would be sad. 🙁

  2. Jaimie, we found our farmer through realmilk: https://realmilk.com/where.html

    Our milk comes to about $6.50/gal. That seems about average for pricing. We get one gallon per week and use that for drinking, cooking, yogurt, and kefir. We used to use pasteurized milk to make yogurt and kefir, since those culturing processes put back in some of the good enzymes and bacteria that are lost in pasteurization. If we consumed three gallons a week, it would probably be too expensive to use raw exclusively. I would use pasteurized milk to cook with and culture, and keep the raw milk for drinking only. But I think that even adding a few glasses of fresh, raw milk to your weekly diet is entirely worth it! It’s so good for you!

    We pick and choose our all-nat foods, that’s for sure. We buy raw honey and rapadura, but we don’t buy grass fed meat, and rarely buy organic produce.

  3. found your insight and web pages interesting – I have not seen organic items at my local Aldi I will return sometime next week and check it out again. I certainly would buy any item(s) I use – just to reinforce with Aldi there are consumers who would certainly return again and again. Also, it would be very difficult to ‘buy’ raw milk in this area – I’ve been given cow and goat milk now and then from a friend – but because of government regulations, selling it is against the “law” – I think there are individuals who ‘go in together’ and ‘buy’ a cow … and since you own the animal, you may then drink/bottle the milk for personal consumption.

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