Raw Milk Health Benefits

Raw milk is unprocessed. That means it is not pasteurized or homogenized.

Pasteurization is sterilizing milk by heating it. A process required by law in many states and provinces. To sell unprocessed milk to a consumer could very well result in jail time for the farmer.

Homogenizing is a violent process to break up the fat. It's what gives the milk an even consistency with out the milk fat floating to the top.

Confined cows are fed a high protein feed to increase milk production. They are kept in un-hygenic conditions and are prone to illness. With illness they need antibiotics. These drugs get into their tissues and into the milk.

Any hormones given to the animals to speed their growth or production would also get into the milk.

Pesticides used on the farm, get into the animal and then the milk.

When the animals teats get infected and pussy, the puss would also transfer into the milk.

This certainly doesn't sound like milk you should be drinking raw. And it isn't.

Raw milk can be obtained legally by purchasing a share of a cow or a share of a herd (opens a new window to realmilk.com). This method is legal because the payment made is not for the milk. It is for the care, feeding and milking of the cow. Any milk you drink is your own, from your own cow. A contract with the farmer would state what services are provided for the payment.

This milk is alive. Reportedly, many people who can't tolerate the processed stuff have no difficulty with the raw form.

What To Check In A Cow-Share Farm

1. Cows graze on pasture. No pesticides are used.

2. In cold weather the cows are housed in a barn and fed hay and silage.

3. The animals are tested and are free of TB and brucellosis

4. The milking area is clean and neat. This shows care and an orderliness is present.

5. Milk is kept cold in stainless steel tank(s) or smaller containers.

6. If a machine is used in milking, the teats of the animal are washed first.

7. Milk is regularly tested to make sure it has no pathogens to humans.

Section targetingRaw milk is loaded with nutrients because they have not been destroyed through processing. This milk has affectionately been called real milk.

There is sufficient reason to stay away from commercial milk. Raw and organic provide you with alternatives.

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