Raw Milk, to drink or not to drink? That is the question!

Raw milk has many health benefits. But first lets start with the main question. What is raw milk? Raw milk is defined as milk that has not been pasteurized and/or homogenized. Pasteurized milk is raw milk that has been heated to a high enough temperature that i not only kills the bad germs but the good healthy beneficial ones as well. The high temperature of 145-150 degrees F also destroys the nutritional value of the milk, like calcium, vitamins, and iodine. Homogenization is the breaking down of the fat in the milk. In raw milk the fat floats to the top. This is where you get your heavy cream from. In store bought milk those fat molecules have been broken down or taken out. That is how you get your 2% and skim milk.

Because of these processes, the sale of raw milk has many laws and regulations governing it. On a federal level you can sell raw milk but only within your residing state. Each state has its own laws and regulations. To find the laws for your state you can go to ProCon.org.

Now that you know the what and the rules, we can get to the why you should drink raw milk. Raw milk contains beneficial bacteria, food enzymes, vitamins and mineral. The bacteria is critical to human health. It stimulates your immune system to function properly. It keeps bad bacteria at bay.

Food enzymes in milk are lactase, lipase and phosphatase. These enzymes help you digest milk and metabolize the nutrients. Without these enzymes milk can cause reactions in people sensitive to food intolerance. Phosphatase helps you absorb the milks calcium.

Vitamins present in raw milk are A, K, E, C, and B-complex. A low grade version of these vitamins are added back to your store bought pasteurized/homogenized milk. Take a look at the ingredient label on your milk the next time you buy it.

The raw butter fat is high in conjugated linoleic acid which is a tran-fatty acid, a good one. This substance is known to fight cancer, hypertension, and obesity. This is not found in store bought milk. Even buying organic milk doesn't mean it's in there. If you are buying organic, that does NOT make it raw milk. It just means the cows weren't given growth hormones or antibiotics, immunization, and it was feed 100% organic food. But its mil still goes through the pasteurization/homogenization process

Buying milk from a local farmer or creamery is not only helping your health and that of your family, it is also cutting out the middle man industries and the industrial dairy farms that mistreat the animals.

Raw milk does not spoil like store bought milk. I you you leave it out and the probiotics turn it into yogurt or sour cream, not some putrid glob of yuck.

Now for the fun part and my favorite. How can raw mil be used? Other than drinking it (shake well before you do), there are many uses for raw milk.

1. yogurt

2. ice cream

3. custard

4. buttermilk (the leftover liquid from making butter)

5. cream cheese

6. cottage cheese

7. mozzarella cheese

8. sour cream

9. ricotta cheese

10. butter

You can even use it for in your bath for soft smooth skin.

So we as a family have decided that the benefits of raw milk out way the possibilities of becoming sick. We have even ventured into making some of our own products from the raw milk. Some day hopefully in the next year or so we will adventure to get a dairy cow of our own, that our daughter Kali wants to name Buttercup.

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