Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Raw Milk is a living food ... nutritious and easy to digest.




Why I drive for an hour and a half to purchase raw milk from a local farmer:
(The homogenization stuff particularly creeps me out. And the additives part.)

(I've taken the following information from the brochure "RAW MILK: Nature's Nutrient-Rich Food," published by Sandra Redemski and Joyce R. Young, N.D.)

PASTEURIZATION

Pasteurization heat destroys valuable enzymes, diminishes vitamin content, denatures fragile mile proteins, virtually destroys vitamins B6 and B12, and kills beneficial bacteria.

Pasteurization is associated with allergies, increased tooth decay, colic in infants, growth problems and ear infections in children, osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease and cancer.

Pasteurization sterilizes milk, creating the perfect medium for pathogens to grow if post-pasteurization contamination occurs. Extensive records show that raw milk from healthy cows has a high safety record and that pasteurized milk does not, having caused thousands of cases of bacterial diseases. Those records show that certified raw milk products have never been proven to cause a fatality, but pastuerized milk has caused many.

Pasteurized milk turns putrid. Raw milk sours naturally and safely. Proponents of pasteurization have used lies, blatant propaganda and fear tactics to achieve consumer acceptance. Pasteurization can promote carelessness and discourage efforts to produce clean milk. pasteurization laws favor large, industrialized dairy operations.

HOMOGENIZATION

Homogenization is a process that forces milk through hair-like tubes under pressure, generating intense turbulent eddies which tear apart milk fat glubules, greatly reducing their size. The original membrane of the fat globule is damaged or lost and the exposed surfaces absorb milk proteins, especially caseins. The increased allergenicity of homogenized milk may be caused by these milk proteins in the fat globule membrane.Homogenization greatly increases the fat surface area which increases fat oxidation and creates off-flavors. Processors began to homogenize milk so consumers would not know how little fat was in the milk.

MILK STANDARDIZATION

Milk standardization is the dividing and putting back together of milk to meet regulatory standards. Milk components (cream and skim milk) are separated and put back together for the typle of product sold (1%, 2%, and 3% whole) to meet the legal minimum requirements, with additives for taste, consistency, etc. The finished processed milk product is totally different from the original milk.

ADDITIVES

Additives are common in commercial milk. Synthetic vitamin D additives cause calcification of soft tissues and the softening of the hard tissues. Powdered skim milk, a source of dangerous oxidized cholesterol and neurotoxic proteins, is added to 1% and 2% milk. Some producers now add vegetable oils to milk products. These oils have been linked to arteriosclerosis, heart disease and multiple sclerosis. Low-fat yogurts and sour creams contain mucopolysaccharide gums to give them body.

Many mass-produced cheeses contain bioengineered enzymes and additives. Imitation cheese products made from vegetable oils are passed off as milk products. Milk and milk products have a US Agricultural Department "Standard of Identity" which allows processors to put anything in the products as long as they heat them, without listing all the ingredients on the label.

(Special Issue: Health hazards of Milk, 2002, J. of Nutritional and Environmental medicine, 12 (3):141-266; Jensen, Robert G., Handbook of Milk Composition, 1995.)




5 comments:

Sarah Cornett said...

I drive quite a ways to get my milk, too. About an hour total for the "good enough" i.e. raw, mostly grassfed milk, and two hours for the all grassfed, organic/biodynamic milk. I've been drinking raw milk for about 2 years now, and the store kind makes me feel kind of sick now when I drink it. So creepy how they can put stuff in the milk and not label it on the ingredient list!

Valerie Willman said...

Thanks for commenting, Sarah!

HappyOrganist said...

That's really interesting. Does it taste better?

We used to get home-delivered milk from some organic farm (pretty sure it was organic). It was fresher than what's in stores, and the price was good (actually a bit cheaper, believe it or not, than the normal store-bought stuff). It was wonderful and tasted excellent. We really liked it.

Then we moved to a new area. The equivalent product here costs way too much for us (even if we wanted it).
I kind of play around right now with organic whole milk, myself (Walmart). But I have never tried raw milk at all.

I'm skin and bones, and can't help but think that milk shouldn't/wouldn't be all that bad for me, but I think I'm "sensitive" to it -- meaning, I think it contributes to my OCD.
Anyway, maybe I'll try raw sometime..

We have tried goat's milk (I know everyone *raves about it) - I think it tastes horrid. ;)

Sarah Cornett said...

I hate goat's milk, too, even goat cheese although I love all other kinds of cheese including made from sheep's milk. I think that the raw milk tastes soooo much better - store milk tastes like water to me. I used to live in Florida and I couldn't afford raw milk there - $12/gallon! Now I am in NY and pay $5/gallon for it.

Lynn said...

Dear Valerie, thank you so much for visiting me and commenting. It's so nice to have support. :) I've been interested in raw milk for some time, but so far cannot find a source. My husband grew up drinking it, on a dairy farm where he was raised. He says the grocery store stuff is no where near what fresh raw milk is.

Lynn