Raw / natural milk is the best choice . . . If it is obtained from healthy, grass- fed cows in a reasonably clean environment

RAW milk is a COMPLETE food.   Raw milk is rich in protein, vitamins/minerals, and enzymes necessary to digest milk. One could live exclusively on clean, raw milk if necessary, since it contains:

- More than 60 digestive enzymes - essential for a healthy digestive system, including those required to digest the milk itself, and which are destroyed by pasteurization - making the milk harder to digest; pasteurization also destroys phosphatase,  an enzyme that helps your bones absorb calcium. Do you see the irony here?

- Growth factors and immunoglobulins (i.e. antibodies)

- Beneficial raw fats

- Amino acids / proteins - in bioavailable / 100% digestible form in raw milk are denatared by pasteurization.   Even more so when milk is ultrapasteurized compared to standard HTST method;

- Vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K - in highly bioavailable form

- MInerals.    Balanced content, including calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and iron; and their absorption is enhanced by the live lactobacilli in the raw milk;

- Good bacteria

•    Raw milk contains beneficial lactic acid-producing bacteria that protect against pathogens (such as harmful bacteria).  Unfortunately, the inherently protective organisms are destroyed by pasteurization, as are the beneficial bacteria which naturally sour the milk. These organisms produce a clabbered milk typically consumed by most of the world's population. Without these bacteria, pasteurized milk simply putrefies as it ages.

Is Raw milk Safe?

Raw milk kills pathogens

•    Disease-causing bacteria in milk are largely a result of industrial farming practices.  These may lead to disease-riddled animals and contaminated milk. The milk from clean, healthy cows does not need pasteurizing. Factory farmed animals are raised in concentrated feedlots rife with dangerous bacteria and viruses. They are also fed an unnatural grain diet, which creates a much higher level of acidity in the animal's stomach needed for E. coli bacteria to survive.

Raw milk boosts body's "in- house" production of the antioxidant glutathione.    Raw milk, and also whey, raw eggs, and uncooked meat, contain the pre- cursor amino acids for production of glutathione, one of the body's most powerful antioxidants protecting every one of your cells and their mitochondria from oxidative and peroxidative damage. These amino acids are almost entirely absent in pasteurized dairy products. Different to other antioxidants, glutathione is actually inside the cells. It also maximizes the activity of all the other antioxidants, including vitamins C and E, CoQ10, alpha lipoic acid, and those in fresh fruits and veggies. The aging process reduces your body's ability to produce glutathione.

How to obtain raw milk?

Some states allow the purchase of raw milk at the farm.    However, be sure to check out the hygiene protocol in the farm's milking parlor. By executive order, it is forbidden to transport raw milk across state lines. In Florida, raw milk can only be bought when labeled "For Pet Consumption Only"  - - - meowwww! :) In reality, raw milk is hard to come by, unless you know a farmer, who pastures his animals, uses good milking hygiene, and who is willing to sell you raw milk, or you can join a co- op and own part of a cow (hopefully the milk- producing part!). Raw milk can even be shipped frozen from California if you can afford the delivery costs (de- thawing affects milk consistency a little). Health food stores usually have more organic and grass- fed offerings, and sometimes even raw milk for your "pets"

Locate a raw milk source near you at Campaign for Real Milk.

Find out the legal status of raw milk in the U.S. state or country where you live.