Non-homogenized milk?

[mambera]

Is there something that's better about non-homogenized milk than the regular homogenized kind?

Also the non-homogenized milk I see for sale doesn't say anything about pasteurization. Should I assume it's been pasteurized if it's in the supermarket and doesn't expressly say 'raw milk'?

TIA

[jeminijad]

Yes, you can assume it has been pasteurized. If you are in the US, in most states retail stores can't even sell it raw.

As far as why unhomogenized milk is healthier (IMO): There is a school of thought that holds the homogenization of milk largely responsible for heart diseas. The thought is that the breaking down of the dairy fat globules into super tiny particles that remain in suspension is unhealthy. Xanthine oxidase is released, which scars the arteries and oxidises some necessary compounds in cardiac/vascular cells.

On a practical note, I dislike the fact that commercial milk has been seperated (all milk skimmed) and then reconstituted (whatever % of milkfat added back in) to the industry desired standard- with dried milk solids often added for "body." Dried milk fat also oxidises and can cause problems...

http://www.westonaprice.org/Milk-Hom...t-Disease.html

This is admittedly a somewhat fringe group, but I generally agree with their philosophy on nutrition and the page explains the homogenization thing.

[mambera]

Thanks for the link. It's a pretty solid-sounding discussion; I like that they cite peer-reviewed journal articles. They do say about halfway down that there's no scientific support for the xanthine oxidase thing, but then they bring up reconstitution of liposomes and allergenicity which is another interesting point.

So then how do you use nonhomogenized milk? Do you have to warm and shake the whole container every time or what?

[jeminijad]

I don't warm it, but I do shake it a bit. Less shake than... twirl. It isn't burdensome, truly, and it stays in suspension for maybe 20 minutes undisturbed.

Part of my appreciation for the stuff is that I get mucousy and throat itchy when I drink homo pasteurized, but no problems at all with raw unhomo.

Also, at the risk of sounding like an anti everything loon (which I kind of am,) there is little impetus for any large corporation or govt to investigate an issue that the FDA so soundly denies exists (any superiority of raw or unhomo milk over factory stuff.)

[tatsu15]

Originally Posted by jeminijad

Yes, you can assume it has been pasteurized. If you are in the US, in most states retail stores can't even sell it raw.

As far as why unhomogenized milk is healthier (IMO): There is a school of thought that holds the homogenization of milk largely responsible for heart diseas. The thought is that the breaking down of the dairy fat globules into super tiny particles that remain in suspension is unhealthy. Xanthine oxidase is released, which scars the arteries and oxidises some necessary compounds in cardiac/vascular cells.

On a practical note, I dislike the fact that commercial milk has been seperated (all milk skimmed) and then reconstituted (whatever % of milkfat added back in) to the industry desired standard- with dried milk solids often added for "body." Dried milk fat also oxidises and can cause problems...

http://www.westonaprice.org/Milk-Hom...t-Disease.html

This is admittedly a somewhat fringe group, but I generally agree with their philosophy on nutrition and the page explains the homogenization thing.

What about naturally homogenized dairy like Sheep's yogurt? Is this unhealthy too or would it be the artificial homogenized types only?

[Magelet]

I can't imagine that sheep and goat's milk would be unhealthy because they don't naturally seperate. they have naturally smaller fat globules, so they don't seperate, but they are neither "burst", nor adding dried milk and ukky stuff. (unless they say dried milk, I suppose).

With using un-homogenized milk, I find that if it comes in one of those glass bottles with plastic tops, your best bet is to pour it into a mason jar. You can't mix it vigourously enough to truely mix in the cream in those plastic topped bottles because they don't fit tight, and large clumps of cream in your milk is an... aquired texture. It really grossed me out when I first started drinking non-homogenized. In a mason jar, you can screw the lid on tightly, and then shake it up. A few quick vigourous shakes and the milk should stay mixed long enough to drink or use it.

[wantingagirl2b#4]

According to my new ND today he let me know that no milk is to be consumed and asked me to name any animal that nurses for life; so why should we he said. Makes sense to me but I will have to break the cereal routine unless using coconut milk or almond maybe? hmmmm don't know either so I will be subbing to this thread.

[sunnysandiegan]

Originally Posted by wantingagirl2b#4

According to my new ND today he let me know that no milk is to be consumed and asked me to name any animal that nurses for life; so why should we he said. Makes sense to me but I will have to break the cereal routine unless using coconut milk or almond maybe? hmmmm don't know either so I will be subbing to this thread.

I tend to agree with your ND and consume very little milk (just cooking certain dishes and the occasional cereal & milk breakfast). DH only drinks it very rarely with chocolate syrup and cooks with it about as often as I do, which isn't very often. Our biggest consumer is DD and she doesn't drink it THAT often. Our family of three barely finishes a half-gallon before it goes bad.

When I do use milk, I strongly prefer the non-homogenized milk. It tastes better than commercial milk of any brand/type. Raw is just too expensive here. I've gotten it on sale once or twice (legal in CA), but it didn't taste any better than non-homogenized and even on sale it is really expensive. Not to mention our main use is cooking, which defeats the purpose of non-pasteurized in many ways.

[jeminijad]

Originally Posted by tatsu15

What about naturally homogenized dairy like Sheep's yogurt? Is this unhealthy too or would it be the artificial homogenized types only?

"Naturally homogenized" dairy isn't homogenized in the sense that industry cow's milk is- the fat globules haven't been damaged.

The argument against any animal milks for humans is a good one, and certainly we don't need them. My particular ethnic group has been involved with dairy animal husbandry for a very, very long time, and we are as adapted as any modern humans to consuming milk in adulthood... In the category of foods we did not evolve eating, I personally find grains to be a bigger problem than milk.

[Magelet]

I know that we haven't been drinking milk as long as we have been eating meat (and haven't been eating grains as long either).

I still feel that non-homogenized whole milk (ideally raw and or cultured, but a small amount of pasturized/cooked milk is fine) can be a VERY healthy food, if you can digest it. It has a ton of nutrients in it, and I find that my body is so much happier when I drink plenty of raw milk. And there are groups of people who historically ate a LOT of milk, and were VERY healthy.

[mamadelbosque]

I have to roll my eyes at the 'no other animal drinks milk for life!' comments... I mean, really, no other animal eats foods from around the world either - people certainly didn't evolve eating blueberries, strawberries, apples, beef or dozens of other things either, but that doesn't mean they aren't healthy.

[wantingagirl2b#4]

Not to hijack this thread but.... That's a good one mamadelbosque wish I could have came up with that one when he was telling me how terrible I was to have given my daughter meat before the age of seven that she couldn't even digest it until then. I have never heard of that before so we all do have to live and learn sometimes the hard way.

[mambera]

Originally Posted by jeminijad

Also, at the risk of sounding like an anti everything loon (which I kind of am,) there is little impetus for any large corporation or govt to investigate an issue that the FDA so soundly denies exists (any superiority of raw or unhomo milk over factory stuff.)

Well, the link you posted discusses a number of studies that were targeted towards investigating the xanthine oxidase thing and says that most of the results were not supportive. Down towards the end of the page they say,

"The fact that Oster's theory has been disproven does not mean that the homogenization process is benign."

Then they talk about liposome reconstitution and allergenicity. Which as I said is an interesting point.

Sorry to sound so argumentative. I am a little anal-retentive about evidence bases.

Originally Posted by mamadelbosque

I have to roll my eyes at the 'no other animal drinks milk for life!' comments... I mean, really, no other animal eats foods from around the world either - people certainly didn't evolve eating blueberries, strawberries, apples, beef or dozens of other things either, but that doesn't mean they aren't healthy.

ITA with this. Actually one of the things that made humans so devastatingly successful as a species is that we are so incredibly adaptable to a wide variety of environments and foods. We're the most completely omnivorous species on the planet.

I agree that adults don't *need* milk but unless they are specifically allergic or unable to digest it, I don't think that evolutionary arguments are a good reason to avoid it.

[sunnysandiegan]

I don't actually AVOID milk due to evolutionary thoughts on it, but I do agree with that theory. Too many humans have trouble with milk and milk products for me to ignore it, at least cow's milk. I don't actually LIKE milk all that much, so that is more to the point on we don't drink a lot of it. The non-homogenized milk does actually taste good and we go through a half-gallon of that faster than homogenized. However, the non-homogenized is packed in glass bottles AND it comes from a relatively local, organic, family-run dairy farm (same state, but beyond 100 miles....some folks only consider "local" to be within 100 miles), so it has several things going for it.

[BedHead]

No other animals, besides domesticated ones, eat anything other than what they themselves can forage and/or kill in the wild either. Does that mean we should all move out of our houses and become hunter gatherers again? And domesticated animals certainly don't eat very well - just look at what they feed factory farmed cattle for instance. And kibble pet foods. Horrible horrible diets. Just because other animals don't naturally do it doesn't mean humans shouldn't. Raw milk from grass fed cows is one of THE BEST foods on the planet IMNSHO

[jeminijad]

Originally Posted by mambera

Well, the link you posted discusses a number of studies that were targeted towards investigating the xanthine oxidase thing and says that most of the results were not supportive. Down towards the end of the page they say,

"The fact that Oster's theory has been disproven does not mean that the homogenization process is benign."

Then they talk about liposome reconstitution and allergenicity. Which as I said is an interesting point.

Sorry to sound so argumentative. I am a little anal-retentive about evidence bases.

Sure, studies exist on that point.

For me, that is a ways down the list of why I prefer it fresh from the cow. But the position of the FDA and USDA is that past/homo milk is equally nutritious as raw milk- the x.o. thing is kind of a sideline to the main problem, which is that even if the flippin' stuff was proven to cure cancer in Europe, we would never see it here and such a study would never be funded here on a large enough scale by a "reputable" organization.

I haven't paid as much attention to pasteurized, unhomogenized milk as I have raw. I'll be looking into this further.

[mambera]

Originally Posted by sunnysandiegan

the non-homogenized is packed in glass bottles

Ours too. Which was a reason I was avoiding it actually, because the environmental impact of shipping that heavy glass is so much greater than for the cardboard milk containers.

Edit: I just went to the dairy's website and they say you can return the bottle to the store and they'll reuse it (instead of recycling). So maybe that offsets the shipping issues.

[Magelet]

I think local glass jars that are reused many many times are more sustainable.

[inky leeuhhh]

this thread made me want a big ol' glass of milk! lol.