Benefits of Raw Milk

WHY RAW? Before WWII, and certainly for all time before 1822 (the year of birth of Louis Pasteur, the “father” of pasteurized milk), Americans and people all around the world drank their milk raw and fresh, the way God made it. Raw milk is incomparably sweet and delicious! But aside from great taste, what can you expect from raw milk?
BALANCED NUTRITION- Raw milk contains all the nutrients God intended milk to have! Pasteurization reduces the bioavailability of several nutrients in milk, including calcium, the nutrient we most need from milk! Raw cow’s milk has more of the following nutrients than pasteurized cow’s milk1:Calcium – 26.6% moreIron – 194% moreSelenium – 10.7% moreZinc – 227% moreVitamin B1 (thiamine) – 25% moreVitamin B6 – fully destroyed by pasteurization; therefore, fully available in raw milkVitamin B12 – 11.1% moreVitamin C – 335% moreVitamin E – 17.6% moreYou may find fat-free and low-fat milk in supermarkets, but never at a raw milk dairy! Fresh, raw milk contains milk fat, which is essential to make milk a complete food for growth, development, health, and maintenance. Did you know that farmers feed skim milk to pigs to fatten them? Low fat milk doesn’t help you lose weight; in fact, it may make you gain weight2, and ithas also been linked to lower fertility3. Milk fat is a vital and importantpart of milk! Milk fat helps you absorb the calcium and properly utilize the protein found in the milk. In cow’s milk, the milk fat contains the important saturated fatty acid butyric acid, which is known for its antimicrobial properties. It is good to see the cream layer rise to the top of a gallon of fresh, raw cow’s milk! Whereas the cream will rise to the top of cow’s milk, you will not seevisible fat in goat’s milk. Although goat’s milk is rich in fat, the fat globules are smaller, making the milk naturally homogenized. Like cow’s milk, goat’s milk also contains an important antimicrobial saturated fat –capric acid. For some people, goat’s milk is more easily tolerated than cow’s milk. That is because goat milk protein forms a softer curd, which makes the protein more easily and rapidly digestible. Raw goat’s milk has a slightly different nutrient profile, containing more of the following nutrients than cow’s milk:Calcium – 13% morePotassium – 134% moreCopper – 4x moreSelenium – 27% moreVitamin B3 (niacin) – 3x moreVitamin B6 – 25% moreVitamin A – 47% moreFor infants and small children, raw goat’s milk must be supplemented with folic acid in order to be adequate as a formula.4However, both raw goat’s milk and raw cow’s milk are wonderfully nutritious!
LIVE ENZYMES--Pasteurization, a heat process that brings milk up to 161o F, destroys allenzyme activity in milk. Enzymes destroyed include phosphatase, which aids in the absorption of calcium; lactoferrin, which aids in the absorption of iron; lactase, which is necessary for the digestion of the milk sugar lactose; and more. Lactose intolerance, common today, makes most people think they can’t drink milk. However, raw milk, whether from cows or goats, naturally contains lactase. Therefore, raw milk can be tolerated by many “lactose intolerant” people.The benefits of these live enzymes in food are often overlooked by today’s medical professionals. Researchers like Dr. Edward Howell5 and Dr. Francis Pottenger6 feel that raw, enzyme-active foods should be a vital component our diets. Raw milk is an easy way to get live enzymes in your diet!
TRIPLE-PLAY: WULTZEN “ANTI-STIFFNESS” FACTOR, CLA, AND X-FACTOR--Raw and grass-fed dairy contain other three beneficial components of which you may not be aware! The Wulzen Factor, the anti-arthritic factor found in the butterfat of raw dairy, is destroyed by pasteurization. According to the Weston A. Price Foundation, “it protects against calcification of the joints--degenerative arthritis--as well as hardening of the arteries, cataracts and calcification of the pineal gland”.7 CLA, or conjugated linolenic acid, is a fatty acid that may fight cancer and help with weight control. This nutrient is in short supply in the American diet, but is found in the milk fat of grass fed cattle. Feedlot cows do not produce sufficient CLA, so supermarket milk is devoid of this nutrient. X-factor, or Activator X, is a component of butterfat that was studied in the 1930s by nutrition researcher and dentist Weston A. Price. It appeared to be a catalyst for nutrient absorption, particularly protein and minerals.Very little is known about this unique nutrient, except that it is foundin the butterfat of cows that graze on spring grasses.
BENEFICIAL BACTERIA--People often eat commercial yogurt for the friendly bacteria, but did you know that raw milk is a truly natural source of many beneficial bacteria? Pasteurized yogurt has to have the beneficial bacteria added back in, eventhough they were naturally present in the raw milk in the first place! That’s because the pasteurization process kills the beneficial bacteria!Yet, it is these beneficial, lactic-acid friendly bacteria that help ward off pathogens.9 Did you know that raw milk doesn’t spoil? Spoilage occurs with pasteurized milk, because the heat process destroys all the friendly bacteria, but leaves some putrefying bacteria that spoil the milk. Have you ever smelled a carton of pasteurized milk past its expiration date? That’s spoiled milk! However, in raw milk, the lactic acid bacteria use the milk sugar lactose as fuel, and produce lactic acid as a by-product. The lactic acid makes the milk sour, not spoil. Soured raw milk is still a nutritious food! Soured raw milk is excellent for baking, and some people even enjoy drinking it. As raw milk naturally sours, you can also control the souring to make yogurt, sour cream, clabber, or kefir! If you’re worried about your raw milk souring too quickly – never fear! Keeping the milk nice and cold on a back shelf on the bottom of your refrigerator should help keep your raw milk fresh for almost 2 weeks!
SAFETY ASSURED--The naturally occurring friendly bacteria in milk help ward off pathogens. Raw milk is one of the safest foods around, having caused only 0.6% of foodborne illness in the last 12 years - from 1990-2002. What should surprise you is that produce caused 20% of all food borne illness in that same time period! In fact, many foods are much more likely to cause food borneillness than raw milk, including produce, seafood, eggs, beef, chicken, pizza, tacos, and others!Raw Milk information by: Carolyn Bivans, R.D., the Farmer Dietitian. Visit http://www.apple-nutrition.com to hear more about the safety of raw milk and to learn more about other nutrition topics

REFERENCES CITED: http://www.teacupfarm.com/benefits.html
1. Raw Milk and Raw Milk Products - Safety, Health, Economic and LegalIssues; Dexter & Fallon; presentation on http://www.realmilk.com.2. Magdalena Rosell,Niclas N Håkansson, and Alicja Wolk;Associationbetween dairy food consumption and weight change over 9 y in 19,352perimenopausal women; Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, Dec 2006; 84:1481-1488.3. Jorge E Chavarro, Janet W Rich-Edwards, Bernard A Rosner, and Walter CWillett;Dietary fatty acid intakes and the risk of ovulatory infertility;Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, Jan 2007; 85:231-237.4. http://askdrsears.com/html/3/t032400.asp5. Howell, Edward, M.D.;Enzyme Nutrition; Avery Publishing; 1985.6. Pottenger, Francis M, M.D.; Pottenger’s Cats; Price-Pottenger NutritionFoundation; 1983.7. As found at http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/butter.html;American Journal of Physical Medicine, 1941, 133; Physiological Zoology,1935 8:457.8. http://www.westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/right_price.html9. http://www.westonaprice.org/children/rawmilk.html10. Outbreak Alert: Closing the gaps in our federal food-safety net.Center for Science in Public Interest; 2002.