RAW versus PASTEURIZED MILK

The topic of raw milk has become a hot topic. You may have heard that this past November Ontario farmer Michael Schmidt’s home and farm were raided due to his legal distribution of raw milk.

Yes, I’m writing legal, not illegal. He knew of a “loophole” in the law and was able to provide anyone requesting raw milk from his farm with a share in one of his dairy cows. In other words, the person buying a share, then, in part owns the cow from which raw milk is received. This avoids any issues with unlawfulness. This is a pretty clever way to gain access to a product that many people have been raised on, have thrived on and could no longer easily gain access to as the selling and distribution of raw milk is illegal in Canada. Many people who are advocates of raw milk believe that raw milk’s benefits far outweigh that of commercially pasteurized milk.

As a Holistic Nutritionist my belief is that our food should be minimally, if at all, processed and/or refined – keeping it in from its whole natural state as nature intended. The same applies to dairy products. Some people argue that dairy has only been consumed as a regular food staple for roughly 1000 years and the evolution of our digestive functions cannot bare the load of digesting such foods. Actually there are Indian epics such as the Mahabharata that outdate these claims by possibly tens of thousands of years, in which is discussed the clarification of butter into ghee.

Regardless, raw milk requires the least of our health safety attention. There are many cultures that have subsisted quite well on many forms of milk products from various livestock such as goat, reindeer, buffalo, llama and sheep and so on. So, quite frankly, I’m inclined to trust statistics (a well-respected, well-recognized science) and traditional knowledge over modern technology and corporate bias – “always consider the source” my statistics professor used to exclaim.

Call me old-fashioned but I think we have to have a source we can trust or what do we have? The misinformation on the raw milk issue can be compared with the whole “saturated fats cause heart disease and high cholesterol” issue. The fact that we’re still blaming saturated fat for these ailments when its consumption has declined inversely with the rise of Heart Disease and bad Cholesterol is preposterous. Consider that for a moment. Were you aware of this?

Where are we getting the majority of our health information from? More often than not it’s from the very sources that are steering us toward products to treat the diseases we develop. In other words, our health is usually not their number one priority. My intention is not to demonize anyone but we need to take responsibility for how we make our choices and take our actions. Unfortunately, we seemed to have taken a big “distraction pill” from what is truly a Canadian priority: our health and that of our loved ones and the health of our planet.

So getting back to the raw milk issue I see it as symbolic of a much bigger question to consider:
Whose choice is it as to what we feed ourselves?

Should someone else, with a clear “distraction” from our health as a priority, be deciding for us?

Another issue to consider is that people who want legal access to raw milk as a free choice – simply want to exercise a basic human right (Section 7 of the Charter of Human Rights says: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.”). These same rights allow us to choose to eat chicken or broccoli for dinner. Both of these foods, by the way, have a higher chance of giving us E.coli than raw milk does. Raw milk consumers are not asking for mass changes in the distribution of milk as it is presently. They are simply asking for a right to a choice in the matter.

“It’s such an ancient law. I’m not saying that everybody should drink raw milk, but I’m saying people should have a choice.” – Ontario Farmer Michael Schmidt Yet another valid point was voiced recently on the web: “the so-called health experts say that raw milk can contain dangerous bacteria (e-coli, salmonella, etc.), however, the statement should be qualified by saying that this is only true if it is handled un-hygienically as it certainly does not naturally contain these organisms. For that matter, any food item which is handled improperly or comes into contact with germs poses a risk if consumed, as in the recent case of Hershey’s chocolate and Taco Bells. Do you see these companies being raided and threatened with legal action as the Ontario farmer was? And this farmer has never in almost 20 years encountered a single complaint of health issues related to his raw milk distribution. He clearly is being made an example of, for the benefit of those opposed to distribution of raw milk.

RAW MILK AVAILABILITY OUTSIDE OF CANADA
Except for a brief hiatus in 1990, raw milk has always been for sale commercially in California, usually in health food stores. There was even a period when it was sold in grocery stores. Millions of people consumed commercial raw milk during that period and although the health department kept an eagle eye open for any possible evidence of harm, not a single incidence was reported. During the same period, there were many instances of contamination in pasteurized milk, some of which resulted in death. Raw milk has been distributed legally in 30 states and throughout Europe for many generations, without any major health issues.

RAW MILK VERSUS PASTEURIZED MILK NUTRITION
Raw milk is an excellent source of nutrients including beneficial bacteria such as lactobacillus acidophilus and various vitamins, minerals, fats, carbohydrates, proteins and enzymes:

Enzymes: All available; including lactase, galactase etc.
Proteins: 100% available, all 22 amino acids, including 8 that are essential.
18 fatty acids: all metabolically available, both saturated and unsaturated fats.*
Vitamins: all 100% available, including B vitamins, vitamin A, C, D, E & F.
Minerals: All 100% metabolically available. Major mineral components are calcium, chlorine, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and sulphur. Vital trace minerals - 24 - or more, are 100% available.
Carbohydrates: Easily utilized in metabolism.

Bacteria growth in Raw Milk increases very slowly, because the friendly acid-forming bacteria (nature’s antiseptic) retards the growth of invading organisms (bacteria). **

All this and it tastes absolutely like pure, creamy, delicious goodness! How can you go wrong with a happy, wide-eyed, sunshine gazing, grass-eating jersey cow (or sheep or goat)? Unless you are a strict vegetarian or it is against your religion to consume milk, (organic) raw milk is an excellent whole, natural, nutrient-packed, sustainable food that will contribute to your good, lasting health.

Pasteurizing milk entails heating the milk to a temperature of 145 degrees to 150 degrees F, keeping it there for at least half an hour and then reducing the temperature to not more than 55 degrees F, which completely changes the structure of the milk proteins, denaturing it into something far less than healthy. While this process has the potential to certainly destroy germs and bad bacteria, it also destroys the milk’s beneficial bacteria along with many of its nutritious components.

Enzymes: most are destroyed, maximum 10% remaining.
Vitamins: mostly diminished (i.e.: Vitamin B12, B6 and most of Vitamin C are destroyed).

Minerals: either diminished or their activity is greatly reduced (i.e.: Calcium altered and no longer as well metabolized and therefore affecting the effectiveness of other minerals present)
Carbohydrates: heat makes them less metabolically available.
Milk proteins: become denatured (re-arranged DNA)
Beneficial bacteria: kills them and promotes pathogens (pathogenic bacteria growth will be geometrically rapid after pasteurization and homogenization).

Immune components: denatured or destroyed. This is why raw milk will eventually curdle and sour if allowed to sit at room temperature. ***

Pasteurized milk, not having any beneficial bacteria or enzymes, eventually rots. So the irony of pasteurization is that it actually destroys the germicidal properties of milk. Experimental animals deteriorate rapidly on pasteurized milk. For instance, calves fed pasteurized milk die within 60 days, as shown by numerous experiments.

So why do we pasteurize milk?

1) It extends the shelf life of milk from five days to several weeks

2) It enables the farmer to have lower standards of cleanliness. The standards for certified dairy herds and milk handlers of raw milk are considerably higher than for herds whose milk is to be pasteurized. Pasteurized cow’s milk is one of the most allergic foods, associated with a number of symptoms and illnesses including:

    * Diarrhea
    * Cramps
    * Bloating
    * Gas
    * Gastrointestinal bleeding
    * Iron-deficiency anemia
    * Skin rashes
    * Allergies
    * Colic in infants
    * Osteoporosis
    * Increased tooth decay
    * Arthritis
    * Increased tooth decay
    * Growth problems in children
    * Heart disease
    * Cancer
    * Atherosclerosis
    * Acne
    * Recurrent ear infections in children
    * Type 1 & II diabetes
    * Rheumatoid arthritis
    * Infertility
    * Leukemia
    * Autism

Raw milk, on the other hand, is not associated with any of these problems and even people who have been allergic to pasteurized milk for many years can typically tolerate and even thrive on raw milk.

HOMOGENIZATION
Homogenizing milk has been linked to the rise in arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and heart disease. The culprit is an enzyme in milk called xanthine oxidase (XO) which partly survives pasteurization (40 percent). When the cream in milk is in its natural state, the fat globules are too large to go through the intestinal wall and into the bloodstream. Homogenization changes that by straining the fat through tiny pores under great pressure. XO attaches to the fat molecules (now reduced in size but increased in amount a hundred times) which are now small enough to get into the bloodstream and do its damage and be recognized as an allergen. Scientists have discovered that a significant amount of XO is present in areas of hardened and blocked arteries. XO is not present in human milk. In clean, raw cow’s milk XO is not absorbed by the intestines.

Then there is the issue of the antibiotics, pesticides and growth hormones and the fact that nearly all commercial dairy cows are raised on grains, not grass, which they are designed to eat. This will change the composition of the fats in the milk, especially the beneficial Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), content. Conjugated linoleic acid is unique because it is only present in food from animal sources (500 % higher in pasture fed cows), and its anticancer and weight-loss / muscle-gaining efficacy is expressed at concentrations near human consumption levels.

LOW-FAT SEEKERS & CHOLESTEROL-WATCHERS BEWARE...
The butterfat of commercial milk is homogenized, subjecting it to rancidity. Even worse, butter-fat may be removed altogether. Skim milk is sold as a health food, but the truth is that butter-fat is in milk for a reason. Without it the body cannot absorb and utilize the vitamins and minerals in the water fraction of the milk (i.e.: Calcium and vitamin D) along with valuable trace minerals and short chain fatty acids, butterfat is our best source of preformed vitamin A (bioavailable, non toxic). Synthetic vitamin D, known to be toxic to the liver, is added to replace the natural vitamin D complex in butterfat.

*Synthetic minerals that are added to fortify products should not be considered as optimal nutrients.

Non-fat dried milk is added to 1% and 2% milk. Unlike the good kind of cholesterol in fresh milk, which plays a variety of health promoting roles, the cholesterol in dried milk (powder) is oxidized and it is this rancid cholesterol that promotes heart disease. And like all spray dried products, dried milk has a high nitrite content. So, if you want to lose fat or high cholesterol drink raw milk – there are plenty of studies that show it improves these conditions, unfortunately these studies don’t get a lot of press (check out informative links below)

BONE HEALTH
Your bones are a mineral bank for your body storing 99 percent calcium, 85 percent phosphorus and 60 percent magnesium. When mineral levels are low in the blood, osteoclasts break down bone to free up these minerals and deposit them in the blood. Excessive animal protein intake increases the need for calcium to neutralize the acid formed from digesting animal protein. This indicates that the drinking of processed milk destroys bone in the process of digestion -- the opposite of what the Dairy Farmers” Associations, Agricultural Boards, the Food and Drug Administration and Health Canada have been telling the public for generations. *Raw milk acts very differently from pasteurized milk and contributes to healthy bone density.
Vegetarian? It’s possible to obtain all your calcium from dark green vegetables (where do you think the outdoor free range cows gets theirs from?) and sea vegetables. The darker the greens, the better; cooked collard greens, kale, wakame, hijiki and kombu are especially high in a multitude of minerals, not just calcium.

ALLERGIES/INFECTIONS
Ear specialists frequently insert tubes into the ear drums of infants to treat recurrent ear infections. It has replaced the previously popular tonsillectomy to become the number one child surgery in our country. Unfortunately, most of these specialists don’t realize that over 50% of these children will improve and have no further ear infections if they just stop taking in pasteurized and homogenized dairy products. Regardless of whether or not you have health challenges, it is my strong recommendation that you discontinue you and your family’s intake of conventional milk products. If you find this difficult, I would recommend you begin these products for several weeks and evaluate how you feel. This includes all dairy, including skim milk, Lact-aid milk, cheese, yogurt and ice cream. If you feel better after 6 to 8 weeks you can attempt to rotate in small amounts of one form of milk every four days, preferably raw or fermented forms such as ygourt, kefir or aged raw milk cheeses.

POLITICS
“If you want to engage in the mass distribution of milk to millions of ...people on a daily basis, the very best and safest way to do that is to ensure that it’s pasteurized.”- Premier Dalton McGuinty, last year as a response to raw milk availability demands.

The Ministries of Health create fear by quoting old opinion and old science and not statistics. Statistics in the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report put out by the CDC, US) state that food borne illnesses associated with both raw milk and pasteurized milk combined is substantially lower than food borne illnesses associated with salads, fruits and raw vegetables. The real issue for the government is not a health issue, but the protection of the present supply management and marketing board monopolies (this is big money). Conventional chicken and egg boards are also applying pressure, because they fear that if raw milk is legalized it threatens them as well.

MICHAEL SCHMIDT’S RELENTLESS, INTEGROUS EFFORTS
For over twenty years of Michael Schmidt’s raw milk operation in Durham, Ontario, there have been NO cases of illness from his milk. The current situation is very disconcerting and is perpetrated against a man (Michael Schmidt) of exceptional moral integrity and diverse talents who promotes the humane treatment of animals, responsible stewardship of the land and is fully committed to providing safe nutritional products to the community (his web site: www.glencoltonfarms.com). You can read more on this exceptional farmer and his family and his new way of syndicating his cows to provide lawful raw milk and what has happened to him at www.realmilk.com/real-milk-canada.html

The basic premise of innocent until proven guilty has been challenged and I urge everyone to write the Ontario Health Department and demand them to give all of Mr. Schmidt’s and his cow-share member’s property back and to reimburse him and his members for their losses. It is wrong of any government agency to take away personal property without true cause. Mr. Schmidt is representative of all of us who also want some sort of resolution to this matter. If we don’t stand up for these issues we may be sending a message that we don’t care when, in most cases, people do care and want their basic human rights recognized. So much more is at stake than just having the ability to drink farm fresh milk. It is about our freedom to choose a healthy lifestyle, to have rights to our own property and protection from unlawful seizure of our property.

Special thanks to Bill Murdoch, MPP, for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound (the riding in which Michael Schmidt lives) who took the initiative and opportunity to read a 1000+ signature petition for raw milk into the Ontario legislature on December 6th, 2006 (which unfortunately on December 7th was denied any resolution).

The following are some links where you can learn more and take steps toward positive action:
www.glencoltonfarms.com
www.realmilk.com
www.realmilk.com/real-milk-canada.html
www.westonaprice.org
www.naturalmilk.org
www.mercola.com

RESOURCES & PERTINENT READING:
The Untold Story of Milk; Green Pastures, Contented Cows and Raw Dairy Products by Ron Schmidt ND

Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Mary Enig

Lisa Marie Bhattacharya (Whitaker) is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist (RHN.) who is passionate about whole, natural foods, as nature intended, for herself and her clients. She is an active member of the Vancouver foodie community and can be reached at 604-714-4065, spreadvitality@yahoo.ca and www.lisamariewhitaker.com