In modern society, most people visit a grocery store and buy pasteurized milk. While this milk can have its own set of benefits, drinking raw milk may bring new health benefits that you haven’t considered.
I’ve been drinking it for about a week and a half and have noticed:
- Improved digestion
- More regular bathroom visits
- My kids drink it and love it, although they have more ‘toots’
- It’s very satisfying, it kills hunger pangs
- It’s a fantastic source of protein
So, given that, here are the top 7 reasons why one should consider consuming raw milk:
It is a living food
In contrast to pasteurized milk which has to go through very high temperatures during the pasteurization process, raw milk remains a living food. This means that many of the beneficial bacteria, food enzymes, vitamins, and immunoglobulins remain present in raw milk as they are not destroyed during the pasteurization process.
There are many beneficial food enzymes
As a living food filled with natural food enzymes raw milk is easier to digest and much better for your metabolism. These enzymes can also help you absorb the calcium in the milk more effectively as well as digest all of the sugars in milk.
It is rich in natural vitamins
Raw milk has butterfat and many natural fat-soluble soluble vitamins. Most importantly, it is rich in vitamin A, vitamin K, and vitamin E. There are also water-soluble vitamins, including Vitamin C and vitamins from the B-complex. Many of these are destroyed by the heat during the pasteurization process which is why raw milk can be much healthier to drink than pasteurized milk.
It has many beneficial bacteria
As a living food, raw milk contains many of the most beneficial bacteria. These are critical to your health as they can help your immune system function properly and can help you maintain your gut health. Pasteurized milk and UHT milk will usually be rid of all of the bacteria that are most important for your gut health and digestive system.
However, this is the one area of raw milk that one needs to be most careful with as harmful bacteria are also present within raw milk. This means that there is a chance for the pathogenic bacteria in raw milk to make you sick. This is the reason that milk is usually pasteurized before being sold off to consumers.
So I would suggest starting off with about a cup of raw milk per day and gradually add more if you like.
Raw milk clabbers
In contrast to pasteurized milk which will go bad if left on the counter for a few days, raw milk will clabber. This means that lactic acid will produce bacteria that will turn raw milk into a probiotic-rich yogurt-like consistency. Clabbered raw milk is completely edible and could actually be an incredibly healthy food because of all of the bacteria and sugars is present in it.
Rich in Conjugated Linoleic Acid.
As raw milk normally comes from smaller farms where the animals can be grass-fed, it can be rich in Conjugated Linoleic Acid. This fatty compound has many positive effects, in fact, there is research that shows that this substance could even have the ability to fight cancer, hypertension, and even some sorts of obesity. These benefits are not found in pasteurized milk because the animals used in mass farms are not grass-fed. Instead, they are given cheap foods of little to no nutritional value, which results in the milk of low to no nutritional value.
Support a more ethical, local family
Many people are now aware of the many harmful aspects of the milk industry. This is an industry that can be extremely unethical and the cows are often sick and stuck in confinement. They are fed with a low nutrient diet that leads to less nutritional food and milk that lacks many of the vitamins and beneficial bacteria that is present in raw milk.
In contrast, raw milk cannot travel far, and as such, it is usually only sold locally by smaller farms. The cows in these farms are taken care of both more ethically and in a way that produces more nutritious milk. If you have ethical reasons for not wanting to support the milk industry as it stands, choosing a raw milk producer in your area will not only strengthen the local economy but also will help you get access to milk that did not come with the usual practices involved in the milk industry.
And you’re supporting a small local family afford medicine, t-ball uniforms, and college tuition instead of helping a megacorporation give its executives another bonus.
How To Find Raw Milk
You can Google ‘local dairy’ to find mom and pop farms that will likely sell raw milk. In most states you have to buy a ‘share’, basically a buyer’s club membership, and fees can vary widely. One farm wanted $40 a year just for the share, and then the price of milk on top of that. The one I settled on is $4 for the year and a gallon of milk is $4. Plus they have delicious cheeses, eggs, and lots more during harvest. The milk tastes great and even the kids love it. We are hooked!
1 thought on “7 Reasons To Start Drinking Raw Milk”