Organic Milk:
Milk: Organic Is Not Enough
by Karen Railey
Author of the popular "How to" guide, How to Improve Fading Memory and Thinking Skills with Nutrition.
It is believed by many that organic milk is the answer to the milk issue and as long as milk is organic it will be a healthful food. While it is true that organic dairies must feed their cattle with organic feed and they cannot use antibiotics or growth hormones, there are still many health issues associated with milk that is pasteurized and homogenized though it is organic.
Let’s look at some of these issues and compare the nutritional aspects of raw milk and pasteurized, homogenized milk.
1. In raw milk all the enzymes that occur naturally in milk are intact. These enzymes facilitate the digestion and utilization by the body of the nutrients, proteins, sugars, and fats contained in the milk.
Pasteurized milk contains less than 10% of the original enzymes causing the milk to be largely indigestible. Consuming this milk places an enormous strain on the digestive system.
2. Raw milk contains 22 amino acids, including 8 that are essential. Because they are in a whole, unaltered state, they are completely bio-available for use by our bodies.
Pasteurized milk provides very limited metabolic availability of the protein complex due to the adulteration of the amino acids, which is caused by the heat used in the pasteurization process. An ample supply of each amino acid is necessary for these proteins to be used properly by the body. If even one is missing or damaged, the rest cannot function properly.
3. Raw milk contains unaltered fats that provide valuable fat-soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids, which are all completely metabolically available. The fats and the nutrients within them are necessary for absorption of the protein and calcium in the milk.
Pasteurized milk does contain some fatty acids, however, depending on temperatures used in pasteurization, they may be drastically altered. Also, due to the destruction of the enzyme lipase, which is necessary for the digestion of these fats, they cannot be properly metabolized. This will also impact the body’s ability to absorb or utilize other nutrients.
The homogenization process also alters the fats, making them indigestible and virtually unusable by the body. There is evidence that this practice produces substances, in the milk, that cause damage to heart and arterial membranes.
4. When consuming raw milk, the lactose is absorbed slowly into the bloodstream.
Tests indicate that once pasteurized, the carbohydrates in the milk are less bio-available. Pasteurized milk has been associated with blood sugar imbalances and diabetes (www.mercola.com).
5. Raw milk contains all of its innate fat and water-soluble vitamins and they are metabolically available to our bodies for health and growth.
Heating at high temperatures for pasteurization results in the loss and/or adulteration of vitamins A, D, and E. Up to 60% of these fat-soluble vitamins are lost. Vitamin C loss is upwards of 50%. Vitamins B6 and B12 are completely destroyed and destruction of other water-soluble vitamins ranges from 38% to 80%. Synthetic vitamin D is added to most commercial pasteurized milk, further unbalancing the nutrient profile. The synthetic form of this vitamin promotes the calcification of soft tissues and softening of hard tissues such as bone.
6. All minerals are 100% available in raw milk and have a synergistic effect in the body. These include calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and sulfur, as well as essential trace minerals.
The heat used in pasteurization decreases calcium availability by 50% or more and other minerals are adulterated as well. Due to this adulteration and the loss of enzymes, the minerals that are left cannot be effectively metabolized.
7. Raw milk contains beneficial bacteria, which is advantageous for the digestive tract and the immune system. The beneficial bacteria will inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria in the milk itself. Recent research has proven that pathogenic bacteria placed in raw milk could not thrive. Raw milk will sour and is still usable in that state.
Pasteurized milk contains no beneficial bacteria as the pasteurization process kills all of it. If this milk is contaminated, pathogens will proliferate. After pasteurization, milk doesn’t sour naturally, but will become rancid and rot.
8. Raw milk contains a cortisone-like factor in the cream, which aids in combating allergies.
Pasteurized milk has lost this constituent due to the heat used in pasteurization. (Thomas Cowan, MD, Michigan State Medical School)
Even if organic milk is from grass-fed, pastured cows, then pasteurized or ultra-pasteurized and homogenized, it will not be a healthful food as revealed by the comparisons above.
Chet's Comments
Karen Railey, the author of the article you just read, writes some of the best and most detailed articles and "How to" guides in the Natural Health Movement. If you liked the article of Karen's you just read, click here to learn about her:
How to Improve Fading Memory
and Declining Thinking Skills with Nutrition
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