My wife has started to consider buying raw milk from a local dairy and of course the first thing I felt was concern. Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurized so that any pathogen that might make it into the milk then makes it on into the consumer of the milk. So why go for raw milk then? Well there is a movement of people who believe that pasteurization destroys the beneficial aspects of milk and even can make people ill. This effort over the next few weeks will be to investigate from as scientifically sound a direction as possible the reality of the raw milk "debate" for lack of a better term. The goal is to lead to a decision as to whether I will support bringing raw milk into the family menu or not.
Looking at what governments and mainstream researchers have to say, there is no issue. Raw milk is dangerous. But as a scientist myself and with the knowledge that there is a lot to the universe that we do not understand I will try to approach the subject with as open a mind as I can. But what bias I carry will favor caution against raw milk.
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4 comments:
Hi there, I don't know you but get "google alerts" about raw milk, from blogs, news, etc and your blog post came up! Raw milk is an important part of my diet and a real passion for me. I'm interested to see where your investigation leads you, and what you ultimately decide. Points to pay attention to - raw milk is NOT safe unless it is from cows that are 100% grassfed. Cows are not meant to eat grain or corn, and when they do, much changes in their bodies. I wouldn't touch raw milk from a dairy that didn't feed their cows only grass. It might be okay, but it's not worth the risk, in my opinion. The other most important point, at least for me, is to know your farmer. The best thing you can do is go to the farm, speak to the farmer about his practices, look at the animals and the farm, walk around, really check it out. If a farmer is doing things right, he will love the opportunity to talk about it. All the science in the world won't matter if you don't know exactly where the milk is coming from and approve of it yourself. All farms are different, breeds, types of grasses the cows eat, etc can all affect the flavor, and you really can't generalize scientific pros and cons when it comes to raw milk, because it's very different coming from a cow fed grain or a feedlot, and a cow grazing in the pasture on a small farm. www.realmilk.com is a great resource. Milk from Jersey cows is my favorite - unbelievably rich and creamy. Good luck! i'll be checking back to see what happens!
Hi anne and thanks for the comment.
I welcome your input and look forward to your ideas wrt raw milk. Like I said in the post I will err on the side of opposition to drinking raw milk but I do want to be as opening minded as I can.
Thank you for the suggestion on making sure that the milk comes from only grass fed cows. The farm we are looking at is all grass fed. We are planning a visit to the farm (Windsor Dairy) in the coming weeks and I will post more about it when I learn more.
One of the things that I learned from what little research that I've done into omega-3 fatty acids is that grass fed animals in general tend to have higher concentrations of healthful omega-3s as does their milk. I wonder if some (if not all) the benefits of raw milk could be linked to this...
Hey Key, you might want to say something about all the discussion you observed and have partaken of concerning raw milk at www.thecompletepatient.com.
Hi Dave,
Absolutely and that was my plan. Sorry to not give a "tip 'o the pen" earlier. A friendly site you've got there and thank you for your input and help. I am awaiting the one of the books you recommended and will update here what I find.
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