raw milk vs. pasturized milk

[rhesp1212]

My DS is severly intolerant to cows milk and any of it's derivitives. I am desperately trying to find a "milk" for him to drink on a rotation. We have tried all the alternatives (coconut, hemp, oat, soy, almond, etc). I recently stumbled upon a farmer's market where I began buying grass fed beef for my son. I'm wondering if he would tolerate raw milk even though he reacts to pasturized milk. Anyone have any experience or goodluck with this?? Why would they tolerate raw better?

Thanks for any info you can give!!
Valerie

[mamafish9]

Some people do - raw milk has the enzymes still in it that help digest the lactose (milk sugar). Some people say pasteurization can change the milk proteins and make them harder to digest. And some people are actually reacting to things like the vitamin A that gets added to pasteurized milk. Raw milk also often comes from breeds of cows (like Jersey, Guernsey) that make more A2 milk, vs. commercial dairies that usually use Holsteins, which make A1 milk (A1 and A2 are variants of the casein protein).

So you do hear of people that can drink raw milk, but not pasteurized. My son does better with raw, but he was never "severely intolerant". His issues with milk are mostly digestive - so he did OK with raw goat's milk kefir first, then gradually we gained back straight raw cow's milk (Jersey, so mostly A2 milk). But I know there are lots of people on this forum who have tried raw milk with no more success than pasteurized.

[kjbrown92]

We're one of those that tried and failed (the kids reacted to sheep and goat's milk on the ALCAT test, and we also tried water buffalo milk in the form of real mozzarella cheese, but that failed too).

[rhesp1212]

hmmmm....interesting! i don't know if I should try it or not. He only drank a little bit of mayenberg goat's milk and had a reaction to it, if I remember correctly. He's never had straight cow's milk, ever. He used to react to it so strongly through my breastmilk that we never even tried cow's milk. I'm wondering if I should try the raw cow's milk or raw goat's milk or raw cheese first.

Sigh.....I hate all this! I always go back and forth on trying new things. I'm just so afraid of setting off a major reaction that will take us a week or more to get over. We recently tried grass fed beef and he's doing well with it so far, on a rotational basis. He's severely reactive to corn, so in the past he reacted strongly to any kind of animal meat that was grain fed. So, the grass fed beef is a huge break through for us! I guess the best thing to do is just to try it and wish it luck!

[mamafish9]

I think the key here is to test using the milk you would get on a regular basis - so many variables (type of milk, feed) - my son does great with the milk we get, but reacted to raw milk from a different source (I suspect corn fed).

[rhesp1212]

Mammafish, I couldn't agree more. What started my quest about the raw milk is that I found raw milk from grass fed cow's and goats at a local farmer's market. Since he was doing well on the grass fed beef from them, I started wondering if he might be able to do raw milk from a grass fed cow.

[mamafish9]

Goat is "usually" easier to digest, but it also tastes stronger. My DS liked it fine with a little maple syrup added, but my DD won't touch it. Personally, I'd trial a little straight raw cow's milk. If that doesn't work, you can always try goat later. Or if you want a gentler trial, buy cow's milk, skim the cream and make butter. (put in a jar no more than half full, shake until you have a big buttery lump and buttermilk inside, strain off the buttermilk, rinse and squish the butter in cold water several times to get the last of the buttermilk out, add salt to taste).

[rhesp1212]

yea, I personally don't care for goat's milk....it's got a bit of a tangy taste to me and I dont' like it. I think I'll try the raw cow's milk next weekend. Yum....homemade butter is so fun to make and delicious!!

[AllForPrecious]

Hi Valerie,

My 2-year old did not tolerate pasteurized cow milk well, so I switched her to raw goat milk.  it was a hit. If you read about goat's milk, it is closer to mothers milk than anything else.  You will not find a farm that will sell you raw milk in NJ. Shame.

Great sources to read are raw-milk-facts.com and Go to realmilk.com and look to see if you can find a co-op in your area I found one. You can also drive to a farm in NY and buy some.

Nutley, NJ

[SweetSilver]

Originally Posted by rhesp1212 

hmmmm....interesting! i don't know if I should try it or not. He only drank a little bit of mayenberg goat's milk and had a reaction to it, if I remember correctly. He's never had straight cow's milk, ever. He used to react to it so strongly through my breastmilk that we never even tried cow's milk. I'm wondering if I should try the raw cow's milk or raw goat's milk or raw cheese first.

Sigh.....I hate all this! I always go back and forth on trying new things. I'm just so afraid of setting off a major reaction that will take us a week or more to get over. We recently tried grass fed beef and he's doing well with it so far, on a rotational basis. He's severely reactive to corn, so in the past he reacted strongly to any kind of animal meat that was grain fed. So, the grass fed beef is a huge break through for us! I guess the best thing to do is just to try it and wish it luck!

What kind of reaction is he getting?  I am mildly lactose intolerant (I jokingly call it "lactose impaired") and absolutely cannot tolerate raw milk of any species.  But then, some brands of yogurt give me trouble, too.  I tried taking tiny spoonfuls every day thinking that I could train my body to get used to it, but after a week the pain made me double over.  Not just once, either, I've tried to start raw milk many times.  Pasteurized milk does not do this to me.  My daughter is severely allergic, to the point where her throat will begin closing and she ends up vomiting within minutes of ingestion.  I would not give her any milk no matter what.

I've heard lots of stories about raw milk and it's worth a try.  I just thought I'd add my experiences since they are different than most.

[scsigrl]

Originally Posted by rhesp1212 
 I am desperately trying to find a "milk" for him to drink on a rotation. 

Why do you need a milk sub?  We do water for both kids. 

[Koalamom]

OP, I see the date of this thread was over a year ago. How did the trial go?