Anyone ever use fresh-from-the-cow milk?

[stayinghome]

Hi all- I was wondering if anyone ever uses milk that is strait from the cow, with out pasturizing or homogonizing? A few aquaintences of mine are into it and I'm wondering what the benefits, if any, you may all know of. thanks! Warly, HeatherE

[cathe]

Homogenizing has no health benefits - in fact may even bad for your health. It is a process to transform the fat in milk to tiny particles that mix in to the rest of the milk instead of rising to the top. This is to prolong shelf life since the fatty part would go rancid quickly. There is disturbing information that these particles are not digested propoerly but pass thru the stomach and intestine walls (controversy over whether this is harmful or not is ongoing).

Pastuerization is a process of heating the milk to kill bacteria and organizisms that might cause food poisoning. Unfortunately, all the valuable enzymes need for proper digestion are destroyed also.

So, to answer your question. Fresh, raw milk is healthiest and easiest to digest but it must come from a very sterile reliable source to make sure it is not contaminated. IF you do drink pasteurized milk, look for non-homoginezed and use it as yogurt which has live cultures which aid digestion.

A personal example is my brother. If he drank milk or ate cheese he would have extreme allergic reactions. When he lived on an organic farm, he had no trouble with fresh milk or any products made from it. WHen he left and had regulary dairy again - same allergic symptoms as before.

Here's one websites:

www.all-organic-food.com/milk.htm
There are lots of other sites too if you do a search. Good luck.

[velveeta]

I would love to know where to buy raw milk in the Dallas, Texas area. I guess I should just start asking around where there might be a dairy farm.

Jean

[Elismama]

We drink raw milk from a local organic dairy farmer. I also use it to make yogurt- it makes the very best yogurt in the world.
It is cheaper than store bought organic milk, and we pay the farmer more than he gets from the company that buys it from him.

I've read some information about health benefits somewhere, but its been awhile. We were pretty careful about feeding Eli only yogurt for a long time, but after he turned 2 we started giving him cereal with raw milk.

Its really wonderful to go to the farm and pour the milk ourselves, visit the cows, talk to the farmer. We also buy their homemade cheese and homegrown eggs. Eli knows the drill, and he pours the milk from the spout himself, pets the cows, etc. Its a nice way to know where your food is coming from. We hope to start doing some volunteering there this summer, Dairy farmers are having a hard time making ends meet in our part of the world.

Jean- look for local farmers, ask around at farmers markets. The way it works in VT is that a dairy farmer is legally allowed to sell so many quarts of unprocessed milk a week.

-jeanie

[stayinghome]

Thanks for the info! Warmly, HeatherE

[Marlena]

Just keep in mind one thing: raw milk quite possibly has fecal matter from the cow in it. I used to milk dairy cattle for a small farmer (part of the collective that sells to Cabot), and I can tell you that while we always sprayed and then wiped down the teats before milking, you'd still not want to eat off the surface of the teats. They get manure there all the time, and it doesn't get 100% washed off before milking. Not to say you shouldn't drink raw milk; rather, you should merely keep it in mind (especially before, for example, giving a bit to your young child to drink in lieu of breastmilk).

[MysticHealerMom]

I tried some raw goats milk. pretty tasty.

pasturizing denatures the milk, kills the natural bactieria (probiotic stuff) and makes a lot of the enzymes inert or toxic - removes the value of the natural lactase, which is the enzyme that helps you digest lactose and is reproduced in yogurt. Once the pro-bacteria are killed, bad bacteria start to form a lot faster. The standards for raw milk in regards to the amt of bacteria are a lot lower than for pasturized milk - like 1:4. That is, pasturized milk that's ok can have 40,000 live bacteria (or something) to the 10,000 live bacteria for raw milk. By law.

Here's a site I found helpful, Raw Milk

[Arduinna]

When dd was little and we lived in the country we had our own jersey cow and a herd of goats. We had raw milk all the time. I even made butter and yogurt.

oh, and we washed our animals teats well before milking and strained the milk in a dairy quality stainless steel strainer with single use filters.

[AmandasMom]

I grew up in the hills of western mass., we had an apple/maple syrup/dairy farm. We always had fresh milk from the cow, tho even then I couldn't stand the thought of drinking it. but everyone else did. Just give it a shake before you pour and you are all set!

[applejuice]

Wash the teats w/ providine iodine, and milk away.

Chill the milk if you do not drink it immediately.

The problem many people have encountered w/ RAW milk is the same problem people encounter w/ RAW meat. It is a great medium for bacterial growth, and needs to be chilled immediately to retard the growth of bacteria, i.e., less than 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Many people are not used to taking proper care of meat and milk.

I have always drank raw cow's and goat's milk. I have even had goat milk fudge - delicious!

I remember when Alta Dena Dairy had raw milk. They were sued out of manufacturing it; too many personal injuries cases. Jessup and Adohr also had raw milk years ago.

In 1966, I remember being in New York City and going to Riverside Drive in Greenwich Village (?) and trying to buy raw milk from a health food store. I was informed that raw milk is on prescription only basis in New York State.

Is that still true?

[stayinghome]

Applejuice- i heard the opposite about having to chill the milk- that, like breastmilk, cow's milk has a natural antibiotic effect and can sit out longer than pasturized milk. That's the thing that has me kind of interested- breastmilk is considered a living substance and is so healthy, than it makes sense to me that cow's milk would have the same kind of benefits...Warmly, heatherE

[snailmama]

My son drinks raw goat milk straight from the goaty farm.
How could fecal matter get into the milk?
He does wonderfully on the raw milk.

[heartlight]

There are numerous benefits to drinking raw milk. For instance, there are beneficial enzymes and bacteria that do not survive pasterization. Check out www.rawmilk.org for more info.

And, yes, making your own yogurt from it is the best!

[Marlena]

Originally posted by snailmama

How could fecal matter get into the milk?

Cows step in manure and splash it up onto their teats inadvertently, since cow dung is quite liquidy. While I'm sure that those of you with your own herds or cows can take great care to make sure everything is as well-cleaned as you might like, things may not be quite as clean as that on a commercial farm, however small. We had a lengthy cleaning process for both the teats and the equipment and the barn itself, mind you, but manure gets everywhere and we could never get rid of ever last bit on every single thing.

[member234098]

Dear MDC:

A medical doctor once told me that raw milk from a cow will give you "cow's milk tuberculosis'. (?)

Has any one ever heard of such a thing?

It is in my Taber's.

[Marlena]

Nope. Anyone else?

[kaje62]

I can't find any info on pregnancy and raw milk? So I am drinking pasteurized. Anyone have info?

[MamaMonica]

On the TB thing- yes raw milk can be a vector for TB, if the cows have it, and they can. The milk is tested now.

[morsan]

other good sites are www.westonaprice.org and www.realmilk.com

Josefina.