Epidemiologist Ellen Doyle on raw milk
Convince Me to Drink Raw Milk
By Hilltown Families Guest Writer, Ellen Doyle
Actually, I don’t really need convincing. I’m already in love. I tried my first glass of raw milk, or real milk, a few weeks ago and it was divine. The milk was so fresh and light and delicious, with absolutely no aftertaste. How wonderful to drink milk that had come from the cow that very morning!
What is raw milk?
Raw milk is milk straight from the cow, with no additional processing. It isn’t heated (pasteurized) to inactivate pathogens, nor is it blended to keep the fat that naturally rises to the top in suspension (homogenized).
We’ve been told that pasteurization is necessary to protect us from all kinds of food-borne diseases that can be passed through milk — a belief that stems from a system gone awry back in the 1800’s, when urban dairies were over-crowded and filthy. The cows ate a diet of industrial waste, mostly from the distilleries. These unwell cows harbored dangerous pathogens that could be passed to humans who consumed the milk. Pasteurization was instituted in the 1920’s to guard against TB, infant diarrhea, and other diseases.¹,²
These days dairies that produce milk meant to be consumed raw have much stricter cleanliness standards than those that make milk destined to be pasteurized.
Our Story
I chose the title of this post because of something a raw milk farmer said to me while I was looking into different farms and actually did need to be convinced that raw milk from their farm was safe to drink. The farmer told me that they “were not in the business of convincing people to drink raw milk.” Unfortunately, that attitude kept me from trying raw milk for another year.
Okay, let me back up. I live in Massachusetts, where it is only legal to buy raw milk straight from the farm. As a former infectious diseases epidemiologist, I had been reluctant to drink raw milk for a couple of reasons. First of all, most of the other epidemiologists I worked around considered it close to insane to drink milk that hadn’t been pasteurized. As investigators of disease outbreaks, they were a cautious bunch. Secondly, I found it very hard to obtain the information that I needed to make an informed decision about the safety of Massachusetts raw milk. What, exactly, was required of certified raw milk farmers? Massachusetts made me dig.
Luckily, my family and I recently found a very patient farmer who was willing to answer all our questions and explain his milking process. After leaving his beautiful farm, I was convinced we had made the right choice to buy his milk. One thing he said sticks in my mind: When his first child was born he knew he needed to buy a cow to give that child a good source of milk. See, many (if not all) raw milk farmers are just as wary of pasteurized milk as much of the public is of raw milk!
Why drink raw milk?
I could wax on for ages about this topic, but I’ll just touch on a few of the reasons why I wanted to drink raw milk from cows that eat grass.
NOFA Massachusetts states that raw milk contains:
* High levels of calcium and other minerals, and the enzymes necessary to metabolize these minerals. Those enzymes are destroyed in the pasteurization process.
* An abundance of beneficial bacteria that can rebalance a digestive system unable to process many foods, and can restore the immune system. These good bacteria help produce and assimilate vitamins and minerals, fight off illnesses, and regulate bodily processes. Pasteurization destroys all bacteria in milk.
* Water- and fat-soluble vitamins, two-thirds or more of which are destroyed during pasteurization. Vitamins B6 and B12 are almost entirely destroyed during pasteurization. More than 50% of milk’s Vitamin C value is lost to pasteurization as well. Milk from grass-fed cows is higher in Vitamins A and D and has more omega-3 fatty acids (“the good fats”) and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA).
* A level of fat necessary for the body to absorb milk’s calcium and protein. Pasteurized reduced-fat or skim milk is an ineffective source of calcium. [See my post explaining why I don't drink low-fat milk.]
* The enzymes phosphatase, essential for the absorption of calcium; lipase, which aids in the digestion of fats; and lactase, which helps with the digestion of lactose. Pasteurization, however, destroys all three of these enzymes.
* Amino acids, essential to the body’s ability to repair tissue, metabolize protein and generate energy. Pasteurization renders these acids useless.³
In addition, I wanted to give raw milk a try because:
* I’ve heard amazing anecdotes about the dental health of people who drink raw milk. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, by Weston A. Price, is a fascinating book that deals not only with dental health, but with the overall health of different cultures eating traditional diets. Here’s an online version that’s in public domain in some countries. Also, watch this clip of a dentist/mom fighting to keep raw milk accessible.
* It’s not processed. Both pasteurization and homogenization (forcing milk through small holes at high pressure to break up the fat globules) change milk drastically. What are the unknown health effects from drinking such a processed food?
* When raw milk sours, it can still be used in cooking. Pasteurized milk putrefies and can’t be consumed safely.
Still Cautious
Of course I’m still cautious. I know that there are very strong feelings on either side of the pasteurization issue. I think it’s best to know as much as we can about everything we eat. I’m convinced that raw milk from a clean, trustworthy source is a fantastic food. The bottom line is that there are good and bad sources of all foods. We could get sick from eating anything contaminated, including raw or pasteurized milk.
In my perfect world, information about state regulations, testing requirements, milk processing and cow husbandry would all be free-flowing and easily obtained — for both raw and pasteurized milk. Wouldn’t it be great if we could know the provenance of all of the food we consume?
Where can I learn more?
Here are a few really good resources to start you on your own investigative journey:
* A Campaign for Real Milk
* Hartke is Online!
* NOFA Massachusetts Raw Milk Network
* The Bovine
* CREMA – California Raw Milk Association
* Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund
* raw-milk-facts.com
* Laws regarding the sale of raw milk vary greatly from state to state. (Here’s a list of the current laws in the United States.)
Please, do your own research!
Just as is the case with anything we eat, there are safe and unsafe ways to produce raw milk. No one should ever have to convince you to drink raw milk. That responsibility lies with you alone. The first farmer I approached did answer some of my questions, but made me feel bad about having asked them. Find a farmer who is willing and happy to help you learn more. Visit the farm and see the cows. Ask questions about cleanliness. Find out how the milk is collected and bottled. Do the cows eat grass, hay, or maybe some grain in the winter? Are they out roaming freely in the pasture? Is the dairy certified? While raw milk farmers don’t need to convince anyone to drink their milk, they do need to convince us their farms are clean and their cows are healthy.
Ellen Doyle lives with her husband and son in Williamsburg, MA. She holds degrees from Stanford in biology and international relations, and a master of public health degree from Boston University in epidemiology and biostatistics. In previous incarnations, Ellen has worked as a research scientist in molecular biology and, most recently, as an infectious diseases epidemiologist. As a stay-at-home-mom, Ellen’s current passion is conducting independent health and environmental research for her blog, BodyEarth
hilltownfamilies.wordpress.com
crossposted at
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