What is the hype over raw milk?
The consumption of raw milk has grown in popularity over the last few years. However, there are still many misnomers people have about this food. When I talk to people about drinking raw milk (which I've now been doing for the last year and a bit), I usually get incredulous looks. I've heard all of the reasons why not to drink raw milk...
it's illegal in Canada (not 100% true, there are workarounds)
it's dangerous for you (not true)
no other adult mammal drinks dairy (this used to be my reasoning until I learned....not true)
Let's break these down and begin by discussing the history behind the campaign against raw milk. In the 1940s, there was an article in Coronet magazine that reported a small town in the US called Crossroads (idyllic, yes?) had an outbreak of undulant fever caused by drinking raw milk that killed 25% of the population. Obviously, this would set off alarm bells EXCEPT Crossroads USA doesn't exist and there was no such outbreak.
Around that time, the mandatory pasteurization laws began to be passed across the US States, starting with Michigan. Raw milk was outlawed in Canada in 1991. Interestingly, today, Canada and Scotland are the only countries (as far as I could research) that prohibit the sale of raw milk. There are four states in the US (Nevada, Rhode Island, Hawaii, and Louisiana) that don't allow farmers to distribute raw milk.
If you were to buy conventional milk at the grocery store, it is pasteurized. This is a process by which they raise the temperature of milk very quickly to 72C for a minimum of 16 seconds and then rapidly cool it. Pasteurization destroys bacteria within the milk that could potentially cause harm to individuals.
However, pasteurization also kills all of the benefits of milk. Raw milk is high in enzymes that help with the assimilation of nutrients. When you think of it, breast milk is the original raw milk. When a baby is breastfed, they are not only getting the benefits of milk but they are receiving the benefits of pathogens that Mom encounters. When children are weened off of breast milk, moving towards raw milk would be an ideal next step as their digestive and immune systems are still developing. The pancreas isn’t producing enough enzymes to properly digest food, which is why allergies can pop up at this early age. Raw milk contains every single vitamin and mineral as well as has a complimentary enzyme to help digest and assimilate it. Through the process of pasteurization, however, these enzymes are destroyed.
When someone says they have a sensitivity or allergy to milk, my guess is it’s a sensitivity or allergy to pasteurized milk.
Raw milk contains everything in our blood except for red blood cells and iron. Interesting fact! In WW1, they used raw milk for blood transfusions when blood was scarce and then supplemented with liver in order to get red blood cells and iron (which raw milk is also low in).
Benefits of Raw Milk
Raw milk is basically the perfect food. As mentioned above, it has almost identical to what’s in our blood, minus the red blood cells and iron. This means it has white blood cells, neutrophils, antibodies, vitamin C, folate, Vitamin B12, vitamin A, hormone/vitamin D, Vitamin B2, and minerals like calcium, chlorine, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, sulfur, zinc, and iodine.
Raw milk contains both carrier proteins and binding proteins that are inactivated with pasteurization. The binding protein, lactoferrin, helps to regulate how well iron is absorbed into the body from the intestine. Carrier proteins help carry minerals through the body for absorption and assimilation.
Raw milk has been associated with lower rates of eczema, asthma, allergies, and respiratory diseases in children. Raw milk has been associated with better heart function in adults.
Milk fats contain 18 fatty acids critical for healthy skin, digestion, bone growth, hormones, immune support, cellular function, and metabolism.
Milk proteins contain all 20 standard amino acids and 8 essential amino acids, with 80% of them present in casein portion of milk and 20% present in the whey. These proteins are fragile and disrupted/mutated when heated thus pasteurization has an effect here. Rats fed heated milk proteins had a disruption in their brain, liver, and plasma.
There are 60 functional enzymes present in raw milk that help with fat, carbohydrate, and protein digestion. These act as catalysts to mineral absorption. These enzymes not only help with the digestion and assimilation of nutrients and minerals but they also help with the elimination of pathogenic bacteria.
Lastly, raw milk contain beneficial bacteria that help to build up the gut lining to produce a more balanced microbiome.
Is Raw Milk 100% Safe?
I don’t think we can claim any food as 100% safe. In fact, there are outbreaks of infections with pasteurized milk every single year. There are regulations within the raw milk industry that need to be followed in order to produce and sell raw milk.
From the Raw Milk Institute:
Nearly 10 million people in the USA were consuming raw milk regularly as of 2007, and the number of people consuming raw milk is likely to be higher now given the growing popularity of raw milk. An independent assessment of raw milk risks from 2000-2007, which excluded queso fresco-related illnesses and outbreaks, concluded that there was a "a roughly 1 in 94,000 chance of becoming ill from drinking unpasteurized milk during that period... During the 2000−2007 period, there were 12 hospitalizations for illnesses associated with raw fluid milk. That’s an average of 1.5 per year. With approximately 9.4 million people drinking raw milk, that means you have about a 1 in 6 million chance of being hospitalized from drinking raw milk."
Do adults need milk?
When I drank almond milk as my '“dairy” alternative, I was adamant that there are no other mammals that consume the milk from other mammals. This isn’t exactly true. Mammals may not get milk directly from another mammal but there are plenty of domesticated animals who will happily drink milk when offered.
As for human consumption, many tribes consume milk from different mammals - buffalo, cow, goat, camel, reindeer, and sheep. Dr. Weston Price studied, for decades, different native, remote cultures and their level of health. He found that indigenous tribes who consumed dairy beyond human milk had the best levels of health. Many of these tribes also ate the entire animal (parts that were edible) and prioritized organ meats as they are far more nutrient dense.
How to purchase raw milk
Every country has different regulations. A little research on your part is necessary, especially if living in Canada, however it’s well worth the effort.
If you live in the United States, go to www.realkmilk.com to find a local retailer of raw milk products.
If you live in Canada, it’s a bit more difficult. The sale of raw milk is prohibited here however the consumption is not. There is a well publicized law suit involving a farmer, Michael Schmidt, and the Government of Canada. In 2010, he was found not guilty of 19 charges of selling raw milk in Ontario. However, he (and many other farmers) continues to get push back and governmental oversight. In Ontario, if you own a share of a cow, legally you can get the milk from a local farmer who is producing and bottling the milk. You can go to this FB page to find a local farmer near you or start asking around at local markets and like-minded individuals who may be able to point you in the right direction.
I hope this gives context to the history and health concerns many people express when it comes to raw milk. As with anything, it’s a personal choice, but one that you can now make a decision based on balanced information.
RESOURCES
For more information, I strongly urge you to listen to this NOURISHING TRADITIONS podcast episode.