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If you are still wondering about raw milk, now’s the time to give it a try! It is one of the most complete, healthy foods you can consume and provides many critical nutrients we are missing in our modern diets.
Our family has been drinking it for 4 years and it’s been one of the best investments we’ve made in our health. For years, my husband had respiratory allergies and took medications. Before I knew about raw milk, I heard that dairy can cause a lot of allergies in many people, so I suggested he stop eating dairy. This was very hard for him and he wasn’t able to completely avoid it.
Then we discovered raw milk. I started ordering milk from Organic Pastures Dairy in 2007 before the laws changed and CA disallowed raw dairy to go beyond state borders. It was so fabulous and creamy, we were all impressed. My son had recently been told by a practitioner that he had an allergy to dairy as well. Both my husband and son did just fine with the milk and cream we were buying.
When CA laws changed and we could no longer order it, raw milk started to become available in our area – Boise, ID. Now I’m on the GAPS diet and I make kefir and yogurt weekly. It’s been instrumental in getting my health back on track, as I experienced some sort of a crash in the beginning of this year due to stress and depletion in my body, and started having severe anxiety and panic symptoms. I was not sleeping for nearly 3 months and I thought I was going to lose my mind.
I had been eating a very healthy, traditional diet for 6 years and have done many different detox strategies. But what I found out was that I had not fully addressed healing my digestive tract and detoxification. Plus, I’ll never underestimate the power of stress to destroy health again, as the financial stress our family has been under for the last 2 years has been oppressive and stifling. I was desperate and tried many different things to end my anxiety episodes, but what worked the best was to eliminate most of my supplements, eat a nutrient-dense diet, and go on the Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride’s GAPS protocol, which includes regular consumption of cultured dairy products if they are tolerated in the beginning, and adding more in as digestion heals.
What’s the difference between pasteurized and raw milk?
A lot. Most pasteurized milk comes from cows in confinement operations (including a great deal of “organic” dairies), where they cannot graze on green pastures and stand around in their own excrement all day. Those cows sole purpose in life is to produce milk, and lots of it. Cattle are administered a lot of cheap feed like grain, soy, and corn which are not their natural diet and create an acidic environment in their digestive tracts, which is capable of producing pathogenic strains of bacteria such as E. coli. Cattle are also given preventative doses of antibiotics to counteract these conditions. Some dairies administer hormones (rBGH) to artificially increase the milk production of lactating cows.
Clean, healthy, raw milk comes from happy cows grazing on green grass, without hormones, antibiotics, exposure to pesticides, grain or other artificial feed, and spend time roaming and moving around in the sunshine.
What if I am allergic to dairy or have lactose intolerance?
There are far fewer “lactose intolerant” people than the medical establishment would have us believe. You may be reacting to the casein in milk, which can cause digestive symptoms and other issues. When milk is pasteurized, the fragile enzymes and proteins that are necessary for digestion are destroyed. You may also have a compromised digestive tract from eating a lot of processed foods, which makes digesting most foods properly difficult (which is the case for many people). In any case, you won’t know until you try it to find out. Everyone in our family was either diagnosed as “dairy intolerant” or had noticeable issues to pasteurized dairy when we were consuming it. Those issues all went away when we started drinking raw milk.
I don’t like milk or drink it. Why would I want to start drinking raw milk?
You might change your mind if you had clean, healthy raw milk from cows grazing on green pastures. But, if you try it and still find you don’t care for it, put it in a smoothie with some fruit, a bit of raw honey, a raw egg yolk, coconut oil, and an avocado and you’ll have a nutrient-dense, delicious, “fast food” breakfast that will blow any breakfast you’ve eaten out of the water. You can also make yogurt, kefir, sour cream, buttermilk, cream cheese, and many other dairy foods that are delicious and healthy.
Watch this informative video interview with Mark McAfee from Organic Pastures Dairy in Fresno, CA. Mark’s dairy is the largest raw dairy in the country and they go the extra mile to make sure you are getting a fresh, clean, and wholesome product from healthy cows on organic green pasture. This interview was done last year, but it’s one of the most well-done and comprehensive videos on the subject.
Want more information about raw milk and the health benefits? Check out these posts:
The Truth About Raw Milk, Part I
The Truth About Raw Milk, Part II
Testimonials:
I drink real milk, fresh, raw, local and full of fat- Nourished Kitchen
I don’t drink raw milk…but if you took it away from me, I’d be pissed – Kat’s Food Blog
Why we drink raw milk – Life As A Plate
Top ten reasons to drink raw milk – Cheeseslave
Three facts you should know about raw milk – Real Food Digest
Fresh milk: Part 1: Why raw milk is better than pasteurized – Health, Home, Happiness
My kids health depends on raw milk – Divine Health
Why drink raw milk? – Dr. Joseph Mercola