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March 15 2008

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More Dairies Go Raw as Consumers Learn the Benefits of Unpasteurized Milk

raw milkDemand for raw milk is growing in much of the United States, including the state of Massachusetts, where the number of dairies licensed to sell raw milk has grown from 12 to 23 in the past two years.

Meanwhile, according to the Northeast Organic Farming Association, dairies are selling more raw milk than they were just five years ago, and consumers call in every week looking for advice on where to find it.

While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns that raw milk can carry disease-causing bacteria, advocates say raw milk is healthy because it contains good bacteria, enzymes and raw fats that help to boost your immune system and aid digestion.

Both anecdotal and scientific reports also support the health benefits. For instance, a study by researchers at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Basel in Switzerland found that children who drank raw milk had a lower risk of asthma and allergies.

Raw milk can be sold for human consumption in 28 states, but only eight states allow it to be sold in stores. As a result, many people have begun to form buying clubs that buy raw milk directly from the dairy.

Sources:

  The Boston Globe February 23, 2008


Dr. Mercola''s Comments Dr. Mercola's Comments:

There really is no comparison, in taste or nutrition, between a glass of raw milk and a glass of pasteurized milk. The raw milk will always trump the pasteurized version.

Why, then, does the FDA continue to warn Americans that drinking raw milk is like “playing Russian Roulette with your health?”

Well, I’m assuming they’re referring to the milk that comes out of most commercial dairies (the ones from which they recommend you get your milk). Well, here is a brief description from The Humane Society of the United States (whose undercover video also recently prompted the largest beef recall in U.S. history) about what these factory-farm dairies are really like:

“Factory farmed dairy cows are typically kept in indoor stalls or on drylots. A drylot is an outdoor enclosure devoid of grass. Cows raised on drylots usually have no protection from inclement weather, nor are they provided with any bedding or a clean place to rest.

Drylots can hold thousands of cows at one time. Because these lots are only completely cleaned out once -- or at the most, twice -- a year, the filth just keeps building up. Such conditions are not only extremely stressful for the cows, they also facilitate the spread of disease.”

Now, if you were to drink milk from THESE cows prior to it being pasteurized, well, then the FDA may have a point comparing it to “Russian roulette.”

Of course, this is not what I, nor any other raw milk advocate, is suggesting when they recommend drinking raw milk. The milk you drink is only going to be as healthy as the cow that produces it. So the raw milk you obtain should come from a clean, well-run, farm that gives its cows access to pasture. It is a rare occasion that milk from a healthy cow such as this would make you sick.

On the contrary, raw grass fed milk is full of things that your body will thrive on: good bacteria, raw fat, cancer-fighting conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), and much more. It is not uncommon for people who drink raw milk to report that many health issues -- from allergies to digestive trouble to skin issues like eczema -- clear up.

Is Raw Milk a Magic Wand to Health?

Of course not. But then, nothing is.

Yet, many people THRIVE on raw dairy (just read through some of the Community Comments below for a testament to that).

These kinds of positive results are just not coming from pasteurized milk. What does come, however, are countless numbers of people experiencing all kinds of health troubles, from digestive upset to perhaps even autism and diabetes, from drinking milk that is heated to the point where nearly all of its beneficial properties are destroyed, or, worse, turned into harmful ones.

This is why even organic milk, which should be from relatively healthy cows, is STILL not a healthy choice for milk, as it is still pasteurized.

As with nearly all food, the closer you consume it to its natural state, the better. And this is also true for milk.

Looking for Raw Milk?

As demand for raw milk continues to grow, it will, hopefully, become easier and easier to come by. For now, you can locate a raw milk source near you at the Campaign for Real Milk Web site. You can also look here to find out the legal status of raw milk in the U.S. state or country where you live.


Related Links:

  The ''Experts'' Are Wrong About Raw Milk

  FDA Continues to Harass Raw Milk Providers

  Dairies Unite to Set Safety Standards for Raw-Milk Cheese




Comment on This Article
Comment on This Article Community Comments (87)
 
 
Posted On Mar 29, 2008

My grandson has been drinking organic Milk since he was born. He will be 6 in May. 2 years ago we was diagnosed with high end asberger syndrome. He was flapping his hands at a fast pace.

After reading about organic milk verses raw milk on Dr. Mercola's website we switched to raw milk. Yes we had the same fears, are we going to catch some" huff amd mouth desease" from drinking raw milk. well it has been 1 1/2 years since we switched. My grandson has not been flapping his hands for a long time. After reading the article on milk, maybe his symptoms disappeared because of the raw milk. WOW

I grew up on raw milk in Germany and I am still alive and well and very healthy.

Have a great day

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wittlicher49
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Posted On Feb 27, 2008
I was raised on raw milk, raw butter and cream plus grass feed beef, pigs and chickens plus home grown fruits and vegitables.  It has been so long that I had forgotten how good they taste compared to super market stuff. 

I get my raw milk locally, it says right on the container "not for human consumption" to get around the stupid Florida laws. 

If you like milk try raw whole milk and then try pasturized milk, there is no comparision in taste.

Have a great day,

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FloridaDon
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Posted On Feb 28, 2008
I was raised in a similar manner Don. Commercial produce is tasteless in comparison. I particularly noticed the difference between the small, flavour full plums on our plum trees compared to the large taste less plums you buy from stores today. It seems the expectation is, the larger - the better  (not). I have now come full circle back to the farm life, eating home grown produce.

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Posted On Feb 27, 2008
No one has to tell me twice....I was a HUGE milk drinker until it made me very sick in my teens...stayed away from it...oh look no allergies, no post nasal drip....no more asthma!!!.....Heard about RAW milk....drank it....no asthma, no allergies......It had to be the Pasteurization!!!...Raw milk and Raw dairy products are definitely the way to go for me and my family!!! when I think of all the medication I was on....all because of past.dairy!!!

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Charisse
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Lidija
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Posted On Mar 01, 2008
All of you people with access to raw milk should really be happy and count yourselves very lucky.

I drink raw milk every time I happen to travel to Switzerland but as I live in Dubai, UAE I have no such luck to have it right here at home.
I have to young children and it's truly sad that they are denied one of the healthiest foods, drinks. I don't even consider the organic varieties as they are all pasteurized or the UHT kind.

The rest of the milk available (locally produced) comes from cattle that see no sunshine or fresh air. They live in a modern, airconditioned space and all of the milk produced is not only pasteurized but also homogenized for the "added benefit"?

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sobber
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Posted On Mar 15, 2008

raw dairy is good only for B type blood people, O type people hate it

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Posted On Mar 15, 2008

I'm O-Neg blood type, with Hashiomoto's, and love raw milk (Bethany Farm in Glenmoore, PA, certified).  Also enjoy raw organic virgin coconut oil. Thanks, Dr. M.

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Posted On Mar 17, 2008

I'm also O and love raw milk.  I had completely stopped eating all dairy products because of the problems it cause me.  Stomach "rumblings", mucous buildup to the point of wheezing at night, etc.  Since my very first glass of raw milk I have had ZERO of those symptoms and other digestion ills have also gone away too.  I'll never go back.  I'll stop all dairy again before I'll intentionally ingest "approved" dairy products.

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Posted On Mar 26, 2008

Lidija,

What about goat's milk?  Can you get that raw there?

Rolinda

Wife, Mother, Friend

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Posted On May 25, 2009

B-type? I am absolutely astounded at this comment, as I am a B-type and remember raw milk well (and very fondly) from my childhood. There was a dairy in California that sold it to stores like organic co-ops, where we were able to buy it. I have not tasted anything like that since it was taken off the market. I *really* miss it.

I don't know that it has anything to do with my blood type, but my mother (another B-type) and I loved it, and my sister and brother remember it but didn't think it was anything special. They are, respectively, type O and type A.

I can get some in Washington state, where I now live, but it costs upwards of $8.50 a gallon. Might be worth it, though I fear what my doctors will say about it, given that I have kidney failure, and am on dialysis and immunocompromised because of it.


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Posted On Feb 27, 2008
The public has to teach the Government that it don't have to cry over spilled milk anymore. Pass this on to Arnold Russ out there in California.

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Posted On Feb 29, 2008
Try this experiment:

Leave a glass of raw milk and a glass of pasteurized milk out of the fridge for 2-3 days, then smell the difference.

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Posted On Mar 01, 2008
what is the result supposed to be.

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Posted On Mar 14, 2008

The result is that the raw milk will smell funky and cheesy (from its self-culture), and the pasteurized milk will smell disgustingly rotten.  I drink "old" raw milk all the time, and feel just fine afterward.

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joannec
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Posted On Apr 02, 2008

what happens? i'm not going to spend the money on pasturized milk

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