Talk Me Into Taking a Sip!

[Gracefruit]

Hey everybody, I have lurked on this board for ages but have never posted. My family has been striving to eat the NT for nearly three years now and have nearly everything down except for the raw milk. Before we moved to our new area, access to raw milk was problematic for us, but now I can not only purchase the "liquid gold" on the shelf at my co-op but can even have it delivered to my front door.

I have purchased raw milk on several occasions already, but have yet to drink it myself without heating it to a "germ killing point." My husband and daughter have consumed it with no problems, but my emetephobic self just cannot take the first sip, despite knowing all the benefits and really wanting to. It's really ridiculous, I know.

It seems that people hardly ever get ill from raw milk, but I think I need a bit more reassurance. I have heard a few horror stories from people who are very much against raw milk consumption, but I realize these are not all that different to the stories of birth sans epidural terror shared with me during my pregnancy. Have y'all ever become ill from your raw milk? Am I the only who was really anxious about trying real milk? Convince me to at least try my "real" yogurt this week.

[PeggyinNC]

What if you tried making it into "hot" chocolate? I heat my raw milk up just a bit, just to feel sorta warm in my mouth, not enough to kill much, and add good cocoa, rapadura or muscovado sugar, and vanilla. Then if you saw you didn't get sick or anything, you might be able to take another step? Maple milk is also good, just stir a tablespoon of good maple syrup into a cup of raw milk, and stir. Kinda sneak up on it...maybe a smoothie? Your "real" yogurt could also go into a smoothie? I understand the phobia thing. I have been drinking raw milk for a year or two now, and I have never gotten sick. It has made me far healthier than I used to be. But it did take me some time to get over the anxiety about it, so I understand. Good luck! And don't stress over it, or give yourself a hard time. Maybe make a milkshake...whatever sounds good to you!

[Theia]

Go for it! I was raised on raw milk, granted this was from goats, but we milked, strained and refrigerated it only. And my nephew ran away from home when he was 14 and was homeless, living next to a creek, and working on a dairy farm when he was found. He had been subsisting on fish he caught and raw milk he got from the farm. He was fine and he wasn't living in a home. It made an impression on me, if you can drink raw milk and not get sick when you are homeless, then doing it when you have a home, running water, soap, and access to medical care is safe.

Not sure if that was helpful. Just do it, don't let worries keep you from enjoying something good.

[Jojo F.]

My pregnant self can't get enough of the awsome stuff!!

As long as you know the source of your milk, that the cows are healthy, fed a healthy diet, and are happy you are good to go

Today I picked mine up and got to see the pretty cows happily munching on the lush green grass

Not to freak you out about other stuff but people get sick from regular grocery store vegetables like the jalapenos, tomaotes(OK, really a fruit), spinach, etc. My FIL's brother lives in Ecuador and they will not eat the bananas that get shipped to the US because of all the chemicals used to grow them- they eat the banans from their own tree instead.

If you KNOW your source of raw milk it's probably safer then shopping at the regular grocery store.