Many alternative health practitioners accuse milk of causing everything from allergies and asthma, to heart disease and cancer, but when we could buy Real Milk, these diseases were rare. So what is real milk?
The source of most commercial milk is the modern Holstein, bred to produce huge quantities of milk- three times as much as the old-fashioned cow. She needs special feed and antibiotics to keep her well. Her milk contains high levels of growth hormone from her pituitary gland, even when she is spared the indignities of genetically engineered Bovine Growth Hormone to push her to the udder limits of milk production.
Real milk comes from real cows that eat real feed.
Real feed for cows is green grass in Spring, Summer and Fall; green feed, silage, hay and root vegetables in Winter. It is not soy meal, cottonseed meal or other commercial feeds, nor is it bakery waste, chicken manure or citrus peel cake, laced with pesticides. Vital nutrients like vitamins A and D, and the Price Factor (a fat-soluble catalyst that promotes optimum mineral assimilation) are greatest in milk from cows eating green grass, especially rapidly growing green grass. Vitamins A and D are greatly diminished, and the Price Factor disappears, when milk cows are fed commercial feed. Soy meal has the wrong protein profile for the dairy cow, resulting in a short burst of high milk production followed by premature death. Modern milk often comes from dairy cows that are kept in confinement their entire lives and never see green grass!
Real milk is not pasteurised.
Pasteurisation destroys enzymes, diminishes vitamin content, denatures fragile milk proteins, destroys vitamin B12, and vitamin B6, kills beneficial bacteria, promotes pathogens and is associated with allergies, increased tooth decay, colic in infants, growth problems in children, osteoporosis, arthritis and ..you guessed it.. heart disease and cancer. Calves fed pasteurized milk die before maturity.
Raw milk sours naturally but pasteurized milk turns putrid and processors must remove slime and pus from pasteurized milk by a process of centrifugal clarification. Inspection of dairy herds for disease is not required for pasteurized milk.
The practice of heating milk to kill germs was instituted in the 1920s to combat TB, infant diarrhea, undulant fever and other diseases caused by poor animal nutrition and dirty production methods. But times have changed and modern stainless steel tanks, milking machines, refrigerated trucks and inspection methods make pasteurization absolutely unnecessary for public protection. (And pasteurization does not always kill the bacteria for Johne’s disease, with which most modern cows are infected. The Johne’s bacteria is suspected of causing Crohn’s disease in humans.) Clean raw milk from certified healthy cows is your right.
Real milk is not homogenised.
Homogenization is a process that breaks down butterfat globules so they do not rise to the top. Homogenized milk has been linked to heart disease.
Real milk contains butterfat and lots of it.
Average butterfat content from old-fashioned cows at the turn of the century was over 4% (or more than 50% of calories). Today butterfat comprises less than 3% (or less than 35% of calories). Worse, consumers has been duped into believing that low-fat and skim milk products are good for them. Only by marketing low-fat and skim milk as a health food can the modern dairy industry get rid of its excess poor-quality, low-fat milk from modern high-production herds. Ask any dairy farmer older than 60 what they did with the left over skim milk when they extracted the cream. They will tell you, they fed it to the pigs to fatten them up.
Butterfat contains vitamins A and D needed for assimilation of calcium and protein in the water fraction of the milk. Without them protein and calcium are more difficult to utilize and possibly toxic. Butterfat is rich in short and medium chain fatty acids which protect against disease and stimulate the immune system. It contains glyco-spingolipids which prevent intestinal distress and conjugated linoleic acid which has strong anticancer properties.
Real milk products contain no additives.
Powdered skim milk, a source of dangerous oxidized cholesterol and neurotoxic amino acids, is added to 1% and 2% milk. Low-fat yogurts and sour creams contain mucopolysaccharide slime to give them body. Pale butter from hay-fed cows contains colorings to make it look like vitamin-rich butter from grass-fed cows. Bioengineered enzymes are used in large-scale cheese production. Many mass produced cheeses contain additives and colorings and imitation cheese products contain vegetable oils.
Real milk can save family farms.
Pasteurization laws favor large, industrialized dairy operations and squeeze out small farmers. When farmers have the right to sell unprocessed milk to consumers, they can make a decent living, even with small herds.
This article refers to information found on the Weston A Price endorsed real milk campaign web site. www.realmilk.com. To find out more about how you can access raw milk, in Australia go to the Real Milk Australia Website. For information about what is happening in your country to free milk try the real milk links page. For Australian readers, Nourished is working towards making herd shares available to all Australians.
About the Author...
Real milk comes from real cows that eat real cow food. It contains no additives, is not pasturized or homogenized nor is it fed to humans skimmed. Real Milk can save Family Farms and the health of many millions of people.. Join a campaign for Real Milk. A project of The Weston A. Price Foundation For international Real Milk Activism go to the the Weston A Price Foundation's Real Milk Site.
Feb 18th, 2006 at 2:54 pm
Hi,i am really hoping someone could help me.I have a 9 month old who is breastfed,when she is 1 i want her to go onto ‘cleopatras bath milk’.I drink it,and i was wondering if it is safe for her to drink?Its sold at organic shops and some health food stores.Its produced by dairy farmers in gympie.Do you think it could cause any problems as its raw?I would really appreciate an answer.Thank you,Jacqui
Feb 20th, 2006 at 1:01 pm
Hi Jacqui, Is there any reason you want to take her off the breast? If you are on a good diet, you breast milk is the perfect food for her. Your body can change ratios of water and fat in your milk depending on the air temperature.(more water in heat, more fat in cold) Breastmilk has the antibodies your body has made in response to your environment. Since her immune system is not fully formed until at least 18mths, breastfeeding supports her this way also. Primitive cultures breast feed and co sleep until at least 3 years old so unless there is a practical reason to stop, just don’t. I still regret weaning my oldest at 14 months because of pressure from family. Comparing to my other children, who were weaned at 19mths and 2years (still quite young by international standards), he is much less settled emotionally.
If there is a reason you need to stop feeding, Sally Fallon has a great recipe in Nourishing Traditions for baby formula based on raw milk. If you need to leave her for extended periods of time, there is no reason you can’t give her a little snuggly booby time when you do see her and feed her raw milk formula when you’re not there.
Apr 29th, 2006 at 7:58 pm
Hi
Would you know a supplier of raw milk in Melbourne? Queensland seems blessed with access to Cleopatra’s Milk.
Apr 30th, 2006 at 5:11 am
Here are the two Weston Price Foundation Chapter leaders in Victoria.
Fish Creek: Victorian Organic Dairy Farmers Association (Bev Smith) (03) 5683-2340, orana@dcsi.net.au
Melbourne: Arabella Forge (03) 9419-8290, Broadbean@optusnet.com.au.
They may know of a share herd in your area.
We are setting up a share herd locally, I will write about how when I have done it. Stay tuned
Joanne
Jun 27th, 2006 at 10:44 pm
I am moving to Qinhuangdao, China soon and would like to continue drinking Real Milk. Do you know anything about the milk industry in China?
Thank you
Jun 28th, 2006 at 10:00 am
Karen
While we don’t have any contacts in China, we’d love to hear how you get on in China with real milk, local markets and organics. Keep us posted and have a great journey.
Jul 18th, 2006 at 6:18 am
Hi, Do you have any contacts in Tasmania?
Thank you
Jul 18th, 2006 at 6:44 am
Helen
While there aren’t any Weston Price Leaders in Tasmania, Steve Solomon has a site that is very useful for people interested in native nutrition and gardening. His yahoo group members get a little down in the mouth about the environment, but he runs a fantastic online library full of wonderful resources, including all Weston Price’s work.
Email him as he will probably know someone in your area.
You could also join the Weston Price Foundation and lead a chapter down there. We could use all the help we can get to make some changes for our kids.
If you find any real milk, let us know so we can tell our readers.
Blessings
Joanne
Aug 6th, 2006 at 10:23 am
Hi all - also looking for contacts in Tasmania. Perhaps Joanne, you could put Helen and I in touch if she has not found the contacts she needs. Alternatively, maybe I could piggy back on her research.
Christine
Aug 8th, 2006 at 2:59 pm
Sure thing Christine. I’ll email her with your address.
Joanne
Aug 18th, 2006 at 9:11 am
Wow, Im so glad people like you exist. Do you supply your bath milk to WA and if not do you know anybody who does???
All the best. Nicole
Aug 18th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
Hi Nicole
The Shipley family run a farm perhaps they are near you.
Check out the Western Australia Wise Foods List here:
http://www.nourished.com.au/articles/western-australian-wise-foods-list
Blessings
Joanne
Sep 4th, 2006 at 9:53 am
Hey there
Has anyone seen this site?
http://realmilkaustralia.com/ You can chat on a forum and register there as well…. Some good information.
Mark
Sep 26th, 2006 at 11:14 am
Hi
I am looking for a source of raw dairy in Melbourne?
Any suggestions.
regards
jeffery cox
Sep 26th, 2006 at 2:07 pm
Hi Jeffrey
I’ve listed the Melbourne leaders for the WAPF above in the comments. also http://www.realmilkaustralia.com is a good place to start. Register and your desire for pure raw milk will be made on your behalf when they lobby the government.
Blessings
Joanne
Oct 2nd, 2006 at 2:55 pm
Hi there, my family and I are in the process of buying an organic store and we would love to stock some “real raw milk”. Do you know how I would go about obtaining some wholesale so I can spread it around to as many people as possible here in NSW. Thanks in advance, Melissa
Oct 12th, 2006 at 2:19 pm
hi i am in teh process of trying to figure out how milk becomes butter as i have to teach year three students teh process. i was wondering if you could help me in any way…
Oct 12th, 2006 at 9:27 pm
Leeanne
Try these links from
Mother Earth News
and Cooking for Engineers.
Blessings
Joanne
Oct 25th, 2006 at 2:34 pm
Hi There, I am a WAPF Chapter leader in PErth WA. I am also a veterinarian involved in sustainable agriculture and animal nutrition. There is no raw whole milk legally available in WA unfortunately, however, I am committed to trying to help do something about this. Just need to correct the original dialogue in this website intro for the Australian audience - The use of Bovine growth hormone in dairy cattle in Australia is illegal - therefore dairy cows in this country are not given growth hormone. HOWEVER
Oct 26th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
After reading about the benefits of raw milk & ill-effects of processed milk (among other things) in a book by Jordan S Rubin, I discovered your website in my search for information & it has been extremely helpful & insightful. I’m trying to buy organic as much as possible. It wasn’t easy finding a distributor of raw goats milk in my area but I finally did.
However, cream, sour cream and butter is another matter. I’m still buying these products pasteurised, but as basic as possible (ie, no gums, thickeners, etc) but after re-reading the article on Real Milk & especially the paragraph about additives in cheese & colouring in butter (how would I know when it just says pasteurised cream + water?), I’m wondering if you have any information on the best products in this category. Being in the city, availability & cost obviously comes into it. I also buy goats yoghurt from the health shop, but I’m pretty sure it is pasteurised. A lot of these ‘health shops’ are not as healthy as they seem. I’d appreciate anything you could tell me & wonder if most people just buy commercial butter & cream, & is this ok? Thanks.
Oct 26th, 2006 at 8:02 pm
Joanna
We need to know where you are before we can help you. Try the Wise Food Pagesfor recommendations for various cities in Australia:
http://www.nourished.com.au/articles/where-to-buy-wise-foods-whole-foods-and-real-foods-in-australia
Oct 31st, 2006 at 3:49 pm
I looked at the where-to-buy guide and I will contact those outlets for sure. Thanks for your feedback. I live in the southern suburbs of Sydney however, so if anyone knows of any outlets or markets in the Cronulla ie, southern area, it would be most helpful. I’m relatively new to the area and I don’t know if there are any such markets here. Cheers.
Nov 20th, 2006 at 5:45 pm
Good job, Joanne for this great website.
I am into raw foods but will incorporate raw dairy. I live in Artarmon,Sydney. My concern is the same with Joanna. Where can I buy organic raw goats’ milk & other raw dairy?
Thanks for your help.
Nov 20th, 2006 at 7:25 pm
Maria
Check out the wise foods page http://www.nourished.com.au/articles/where-to-buy-wise-foods-whole-foods-and-real-foods-in-australia. You’ll find heaps of wise food outlets and links at the bottom of the page to wise food lists for various cities in Australia. We are redesigning the site at present and are working on a page where you can recommend wise foods and practitioners.
Good luck finding raw milk. It really is the most amazing health food.
Blessings
Joanne
Dec 18th, 2006 at 4:44 pm
Joanne,
My kids and I started to use Cleopatra’s Bath Milk. We love it except my 3 year old who wants the Kooyang Goat Milk but if she doesn’t know that it’s Cleopatra, she likes the taste of Cleopatra. I also eat the Gympie Farms cultured butter and other dairies. I have ff. concerns if you can help me. I tried calling them (Cleopatra’s & Gympie Farms’) to ask but no avail. I want to know if Cleopatra’s Bath Milk is heated. If heated, at what temperature? How about the temperature in storing them for transporting, how much temperature are the milk chilled or cooled? With regards to Gympie Farms, same with those 2 concerns plus, if the dairies are organically produced?
You can email me if you want it confidential. Thanks a lot for your help.
Dec 19th, 2006 at 12:34 pm
Cleo’s milk is straight from the cow, chilled immediately and transported chilled. I’m not sure where their certification is but they farm organically.
Dec 19th, 2006 at 4:59 pm
Thanks, Joanne.
The reason I ask the chilling temperature is when milk and milk products are stored below 7C, this as well affects the good bacteria, enzymes and other nutrients. But I think I would have no choice because our raw milk must be stored and chilled between 1-4C. Also, there are no other sources except Cleopatra or Kooyang. Anyway, if these are not the best, they are still better than the pasteurized one.
Thanks, again.