Milk: The Untold Story

[Dash007]

I had to write a report for my health class this week and I thought it might be an intresting read.

Milk has been drunk through out the history of our civilization. Milk can come from many sources such as goats, cows, and even produced from female humans to feed their infants. Milk contains many of the nutrients needed for the development of infants to young adults. This is why mothers produce milk, to feed their young so they grow to be healthy. In the 1970’s the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began a campaign to investigate the sanitation of drinking milk fresh from the cow due to small-contained outbreaks of salmonella and traces of S. Dublin found in raw milk. Their campaign was basically unsuccessful until 1982 when they joined with the Public Citizen’s health research group (HRG) and the American Public Health Association (APHA). Through petition, in 1984 they forced the FDA to implement a ban on the selling of unpasteurized milk due to raw milk being “unsafe”. In 1986 Federal Judge Norma Holloway Johnson ordered the US Department of Health and Human Services to ban interstate shipment of raw milk, and raw milk products. Now, in the majority of the states, it is only legal to sell milk if it has been pasteurized, and selling of raw milk is banned unless with a special permit, which is only available in a few states.
Pasteurization is the act of heating milk to kill any bacteria, good and bad, and hormones that could pass through milk into the human body and to lengthen shelf life of the milk. This can be done one of two ways, the most common is but heating milk to 161 degrees F for 15 seconds, or to heat the milk to 145-150 degrees F for a half hour, then to reduce it to no more then 55 degrees F. Pasteurization is undoubtedly a great way to kill any bacteria that might be in milk, but it also could be killing many beneficial bacteria that help the immune system and healthy fats the promote a healthy heart. Many people push that raw milk should be a drink at your own risk product due to some facts:
· Unpasteurized milk has the enzyme phosphataze that allows the body to absorb the calcium from the milk. This allows for the digestion of lactose.
· Milk before pasteurization is rich in colloidal minerals and enzymes, which are necessary for the absorption and utilization of sugars and fats in the milk.
· When milk is heated it becomes precipitated with minerals that cannot be absorbed, contributing to osteoporosis, as well as sugars that cannot be digested and fats that are toxic.
· Unpasteurized milk has a cortisone-like factor in the cream, which is heat sensitive. This aids in combating allergies.
· Unpasteurized milk has beneficial bacteria and lactic acids, which implant in the intestines and contribute to a balanced immune system.
§ Thomas Cowan, MD - Michigan State Medical School
Also many argue that pasteurization kills bad bacteria that only get into the milk due to cow being sick or unhealthy, but it kills many beneficial traits of milk basically making the milk an empty product that has to have vitamins added back to it to make it good for you. Experts claim that pasteurization affects six milk constituents with known nutritional benefits. Three vitamins for which milk is a minor source (thiamine, B12 and C) are reduced about 10%. About 6% of the calcium is rendered insoluble and 1% of milk protein is coagulated and some fat globules are dispersed. Paul M. Fleiss MD also states, "I have a very busy pediatrics practice, and many mothers tell me that their children do better on raw milk. Some dairies are heating milk far beyond the heating required for pasteurization-they're sterilizing it. This destroys some important nutrients. And you can taste the difference." He also claimed that immunoglobulins and enzymes such as lactases and lipases are destroyed by sterilization. "Raw milk contains lipase, free fatty acids, which when absorbed help the body utilize fat better," he explained. "This is why some allergies might be due to pasteurized milk." Also farmers who sell their milk from their farm usually sell if for $2-2.50 per gallon, compared to the typical $2.80 at groceries stores, but when they sell if from their farm they can keep all the money, but when its sold at a store they only get about $1 a gallon back. So not only is raw milk healthier, if you buy locally your supporting your local economy.
Raw milk may have a higher fat content, but it has been proven that fat is very beneficial to overall health. Fat consumption is a very touchy subject due to the media craze of the 70’s saying that fat is what makes you fat (much like the Atkins/low carb craze of current times). Our media-induced fear of fat in this country has created a market for over 15,000 reduced-fat products. These products completely fail to live up to their claims, not to mention that they don't even taste good. Have you ever had a fat-free product that tasted better than the original? The fact is that when they remove the fat, they have to put something back in, and that "something" is usually more sugar, sodium, artificial flavorings, binding agents and other chemicals. So consumption of foods in their natural, or as close to natural as it can be state can be very beneficial to health. People will argue that if you eat a higher fat product you will gain some weight do to higher calories in these products, but high (or natural level) fat products consumed in moderation can be very good for your health, as long as you don’t consume a calorie surplus or fat or any other food.
Now even though drinking raw milk can be good for you, there is still a chance of contracting food born illnesses, just like consumption of any food. When the FDA forced milk to be pasteurized it was to keep the product safe to be eaten. However they completely failed to solve the problem from where it started. They didn’t touch on the conditions of the cattle that produced contaminated milk. Many cattle farms were crowded and filthy, and this lead to cows being sick and contacting disease. Since the milk ban, many farms have cleaned up their act and now regularly get their cattle shots, and pay close attention to overall health of the cows. One of the most interesting facts I found when researching this was that it depends on the cows diet to how good of milk you get. Cows that are grass fed, as opposed to grain fed, their milk contains as much as 5 times more Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), also grass fed cow’s milk contain over twice as much omega-3 as omega-6, where grain and soy fed cow’s milk contained more omega-6 then omega-3. Now these benefits of grass fed cows compared to grain fed goes further then just the milk, the meat is lower in fat, contains less calories, and contain a lower risk of E. Coli. There is also word that grass fed cattle products are linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes, depression, asthma, and autoimmune disorders. (www.eatwild.com)
Now if your interested enough to go out and try raw milk for yourself, you need to look for a few things. Ask the farmers what the cows are fed and look for grass fed over grain and soy. Ask when the cattle received their last shots, and when they are planning to get a booster. Check the housing conditions of the cattle, make sure stalls are kept clean and there is no overcrowding. Also make sure any milk you get is fresh, because raw milk has shorter shelf life, and the containers holding the milk are regularly cleaned. There are risks of disease when drinking raw milk, however if the milk comes from healthy cows the risks are very very slim. Also using raw milk in cooking and baking adds more flavor and many bacteria are killed during the cooking process, making it safe and tasty.

Sources:
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=349312
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3341603
http://www.greenpasturesdairy.com/healthbenefits.htm
http://www.realmilk.com/
http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/hea...Guide/Milk.htm
http://www.notmilk.com/
http://www.quackwatch.org/01Quackery...s/rawmilk.html
http://www.eatwild.com
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=611614

Its kinda long but its a good read. When I start bulking I'm gonna try raw milk as my main source of fat and see how that works. Also I live around many many farms so I have access to it. Take what you can from it and I hope you learned something from it

[muirsy88]

Originally Posted by Dash007

I had to write a report for my health class this week and I thought it might be an intresting read.

Milk has been drunk through out the history of our civilization. Milk can come from many sources such as goats, cows, and even produced from female humans to feed their infants. Milk contains many of the nutrients needed for the development of infants to young adults. This is why mothers produce milk, to feed their young so they grow to be healthy. In the 1970’s the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began a campaign to investigate the sanitation of drinking milk fresh from the cow due to small-contained outbreaks of salmonella and traces of S. Dublin found in raw milk. Their campaign was basically unsuccessful until 1982 when they joined with the Public Citizen’s health research group (HRG) and the American Public Health Association (APHA). Through petition, in 1984 they forced the FDA to implement a ban on the selling of unpasteurized milk due to raw milk being “unsafe”. In 1986 Federal Judge Norma Holloway Johnson ordered the US Department of Health and Human Services to ban interstate shipment of raw milk, and raw milk products. Now, in the majority of the states, it is only legal to sell milk if it has been pasteurized, and selling of raw milk is banned unless with a special permit, which is only available in a few states.
Pasteurization is the act of heating milk to kill any bacteria, good and bad, and hormones that could pass through milk into the human body and to lengthen shelf life of the milk. This can be done one of two ways, the most common is but heating milk to 161 degrees F for 15 seconds, or to heat the milk to 145-150 degrees F for a half hour, then to reduce it to no more then 55 degrees F. Pasteurization is undoubtedly a great way to kill any bacteria that might be in milk, but it also could be killing many beneficial bacteria that help the immune system and healthy fats the promote a healthy heart. Many people push that raw milk should be a drink at your own risk product due to some facts:
· Unpasteurized milk has the enzyme phosphataze that allows the body to absorb the calcium from the milk. This allows for the digestion of lactose.
· Milk before pasteurization is rich in colloidal minerals and enzymes, which are necessary for the absorption and utilization of sugars and fats in the milk.
· When milk is heated it becomes precipitated with minerals that cannot be absorbed, contributing to osteoporosis, as well as sugars that cannot be digested and fats that are toxic.
· Unpasteurized milk has a cortisone-like factor in the cream, which is heat sensitive. This aids in combating allergies.
· Unpasteurized milk has beneficial bacteria and lactic acids, which implant in the intestines and contribute to a balanced immune system.
§ Thomas Cowan, MD - Michigan State Medical School
Also many argue that pasteurization kills bad bacteria that only get into the milk due to cow being sick or unhealthy, but it kills many beneficial traits of milk basically making the milk an empty product that has to have vitamins added back to it to make it good for you. Experts claim that pasteurization affects six milk constituents with known nutritional benefits. Three vitamins for which milk is a minor source (thiamine, B12 and C) are reduced about 10%. About 6% of the calcium is rendered insoluble and 1% of milk protein is coagulated and some fat globules are dispersed. Paul M. Fleiss MD also states, "I have a very busy pediatrics practice, and many mothers tell me that their children do better on raw milk. Some dairies are heating milk far beyond the heating required for pasteurization-they're sterilizing it. This destroys some important nutrients. And you can taste the difference." He also claimed that immunoglobulins and enzymes such as lactases and lipases are destroyed by sterilization. "Raw milk contains lipase, free fatty acids, which when absorbed help the body utilize fat better," he explained. "This is why some allergies might be due to pasteurized milk." Also farmers who sell their milk from their farm usually sell if for $2-2.50 per gallon, compared to the typical $2.80 at groceries stores, but when they sell if from their farm they can keep all the money, but when its sold at a store they only get about $1 a gallon back. So not only is raw milk healthier, if you buy locally your supporting your local economy.
Raw milk may have a higher fat content, but it has been proven that fat is very beneficial to overall health. Fat consumption is a very touchy subject due to the media craze of the 70’s saying that fat is what makes you fat (much like the Atkins/low carb craze of current times). Our media-induced fear of fat in this country has created a market for over 15,000 reduced-fat products. These products completely fail to live up to their claims, not to mention that they don't even taste good. Have you ever had a fat-free product that tasted better than the original? The fact is that when they remove the fat, they have to put something back in, and that "something" is usually more sugar, sodium, artificial flavorings, binding agents and other chemicals. So consumption of foods in their natural, or as close to natural as it can be state can be very beneficial to health. People will argue that if you eat a higher fat product you will gain some weight do to higher calories in these products, but high (or natural level) fat products consumed in moderation can be very good for your health, as long as you don’t consume a calorie surplus or fat or any other food.
Now even though drinking raw milk can be good for you, there is still a chance of contracting food born illnesses, just like consumption of any food. When the FDA forced milk to be pasteurized it was to keep the product safe to be eaten. However they completely failed to solve the problem from where it started. They didn’t touch on the conditions of the cattle that produced contaminated milk. Many cattle farms were crowded and filthy, and this lead to cows being sick and contacting disease. Since the milk ban, many farms have cleaned up their act and now regularly get their cattle shots, and pay close attention to overall health of the cows. One of the most interesting facts I found when researching this was that it depends on the cows diet to how good of milk you get. Cows that are grass fed, as opposed to grain fed, their milk contains as much as 5 times more Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), also grass fed cow’s milk contain over twice as much omega-3 as omega-6, where grain and soy fed cow’s milk contained more omega-6 then omega-3. Now these benefits of grass fed cows compared to grain fed goes further then just the milk, the meat is lower in fat, contains less calories, and contain a lower risk of E. Coli. There is also word that grass fed cattle products are linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes, depression, asthma, and autoimmune disorders. (www.eatwild.com)
Now if your interested enough to go out and try raw milk for yourself, you need to look for a few things. Ask the farmers what the cows are fed and look for grass fed over grain and soy. Ask when the cattle received their last shots, and when they are planning to get a booster. Check the housing conditions of the cattle, make sure stalls are kept clean and there is no overcrowding. Also make sure any milk you get is fresh, because raw milk has shorter shelf life, and the containers holding the milk are regularly cleaned. There are risks of disease when drinking raw milk, however if the milk comes from healthy cows the risks are very very slim. Also using raw milk in cooking and baking adds more flavor and many bacteria are killed during the cooking process, making it safe and tasty.

Sources:
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=349312
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3341603
http://www.greenpasturesdairy.com/healthbenefits.htm
http://www.realmilk.com/
http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/hea...Guide/Milk.htm
http://www.notmilk.com/
http://www.quackwatch.org/01Quackery...s/rawmilk.html
http://www.eatwild.com
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=611614

Its kinda long but its a good read. When I start bulking I'm gonna try raw milk as my main source of fat and see how that works. Also I live around many many farms so I have access to it. Take what you can from it and I hope you learned something from it

I hope you haven't handed that in yet because it's littered with grammatical errors.

A good read nonetheless.

[Dash007]

ha, no i didnt turn it in yet. I'm no english major and the teacher who only teaches health and gym classes only care for information.

[muirsy88]

Originally Posted by Dash007

ha, no i didnt turn it in yet. I'm no english major and the teacher who only teaches health and gym classes only care for information.

haha...right on.. Good old gym teachers

[Dash007]

bump

[Dash007]

last bump just so everyone that wants to sees it

[Sylva_Dragon]

Good report.

[SinewySam]

good job, I wish I knew how to get my hands on some raw milk..

[Kiwi_Fella]

The more studies that come out regarding milk the worse it gets.

I've read some alarming reports from University

[Dash007]

Originally Posted by Kiwi_Fella

The more studies that come out regarding milk the worse it gets.

I've read some alarming reports from University

What type of things have you heard? I havn't turned it in yet so more information never hurts.

[Kiwi_Fella]

Originally Posted by Dash007

What type of things have you heard? I havn't turned it in yet so more information never hurts.

Dont have much time at the moment to write but check the journal of cardiology and the journal of internal medicine.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...&dopt=Abstract

[AniMaLizTik]

i AlwaYs DrunK milk. IT bE guud Fur me. I is HAppiE

[nads786]

you cant drink unpasterized milk, there is a reason they pasturize it, if you drink it raw it can cause serveral diseases

[Dash007]

I'm not trying to say that everyone should go out and start drinking raw milk. Like I said there are risks involved with food bourn illnesses. But check the sources at the end, I have sites with pro raw milk and con raw milk. Its basiclly weight the pro's and con's and decied for yourself. But however, I think using raw milk for cooking would be safe, as long as its cooking with heat, because that would kill any bacteria that MIGHT be present.

[Chuckdiesel99]

What about organic milk? Anyone have a view on that subject? Is it any better/worse for you?

[Dash007]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/...-08-cows_x.htm - just an article
http://www.notmilk.com/horizon.html - very bias thought, seems to list raw milk is bad for ethics more then health benefits though
http://organicstyle.com/feature/0,80...32-344,00.html - how organic milk is made
http://www.mercola.com/2004/apr/24/raw_milk.htm - lists why raw milk can be good
http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/food/584 interesting read on FDA forcing growth hormone being required to be injected into milk cows (to raise milk production)
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily...4/a15op732.htm more info
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0915/p16s01-wmcn.html dean milk company buying a small farm so they can market organic milk
http://www.omsco.co.uk/index.cfm/org...rganic.Reasons probably the one you should read if you don’t read any other ones
http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/seven052505.cfm 7 reasons why to choose organic milk
http://www.proliberty.com/observer/20040611.htm more positive organic milk reasons
http://www.mercola.com/2003/mar/26/pasteurized_milk.htm good read on raw milk, best quote "the human race existed long before Pasteurization was heard of."
http://www.saga.co.uk/health/article...FFD.asp?bhjs=0 - benefits of organic

That’s just a short search on info on organic milk, from what I’ve got from it all it seems organic is a good choice but a bit on the pricey side. But there’s the info, read up and decide.
But with whatever choice you make, there is no miracle product out there, make sure you work hard in the gym and just as hard on the diet.

[Ba-60]

reading that got me thirsty. I want milk now lol

[CitadelArmyJAG]

Great paper topic, and nicely done work.

Everybody should remember that not all Milk is created equal....

Raw organic milk from healthy cows is a lot different from just raw milk from the a nasty warehouse cow thats part of farm run by an agro-corporation.

Pastuerized and especially homogenization kills all the bad stuff in milk, but it ALSO KILLS ALL the good stuff, rendering the milk a MUCH less healthy product.

Great job Dash007.... reps on the way

[Chuckdiesel99]

Mooo *Thanks for the links Dash* Mooo

[CitadelArmyJAG]

Originally Posted by Kiwi_Fella

The more studies that come out regarding milk the worse it gets.

I've read some alarming reports from University

Your missing the point.... MILK itself isnt bad for you.... its just the way that it is currently being sold and consumed by most people.

[Dash007]

Originally Posted by Chuckdiesel99

Mooo *Thanks for the links Dash* Mooo

np, if you want to read some intresting agruements, check www.notmilk.com and www.realmilk.com
the not milk its against raw milk, and some of the claims are funny suchs as, if you children drink raw milk, they will die, and other comical statments (to me at least). But I'm glad everyone is enjoying it.

[Chuckdiesel99]

a really funny one is milksucks.com Its run by PETA which should tell you its a joke. I love animals and everything but PETA is waaayy to extreme.

[Dash007]

I had a math class once, and this redneck kid in the class (college class) was talking about how a buddy of his had a farm and the bull was being to aggressive and had to be put down, he goes on in the story to talk about how they shot it in the head with a gun and butchered it, then made a joke about PETA. The next thing the teacher said was he was in PETA. Then the kid just goes looks like I can just give up in this class then. But the teacher was a guy and a better example of what PETA should be. But it was pretty funny.

[CitadelArmyJAG]

Originally Posted by Dash007

np, if you want to read some intresting agruements, check www.notmilk.com and www.realmilk.com
the not milk its against raw milk, and some of the claims are funny suchs as, if you children drink raw milk, they will die, and other comical statments (to me at least). But I'm glad everyone is enjoying it.

"You drink raw milk you will die," huh?!? Lol... thats the stuff they use to try to scare people away, as raw milk SERIOUSLY would cut into the profits made by the dairy industry (but not the farmers).

The stupid part is, some people actually believe that garbage, completely ignorant of the fact that man has drunk raw milk since the begining of time, and that pastuerization is a new, and failing process.

Even Louis Pastuere later came back out and recanted... stating that the process made milk less healthy, and only masked the REAL problem (sick cows due to the nasty conditions in which they were kept) rather than solving it....

If anybody has ever read Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle, we are talking about that kind of unclean environment where the cows were being kept and milked.

[Dash007]

I really wish I could find a link to a site I read while making this that said they did an experiment with calves to find out if feeding them pasturized milk as opposed to drinking it from thier mother. They said that the calves in the pasturized group ended up growing up unhealthy and basicly sickly while the breast fed group grew normal and healthy. Aslo I dont know if i mentioned it enough in the first post but when pasturization was first impliment it was to clean up milk itself, where if they would of made the farmers keep the cows healthy there wouldnt of been a problem with disease in milk. Which farmers now know how important the health of their lifestock is and the new medicens this isnt much of a problem. Last point is in the organic milk post, one site stated that when a cow is discovered to have a disease that would make its milk unsafe, it is treated by a vet and kept in solitude until its better, however even after it's cured the previously sick cow is never allowed to be returned or graze with milking cow group, nor is it allowed to be milked again. But the not milk site is a really funny site, some of the claims are simply amazingly i dont even know how to describe it, I wouldn't be surprised to see a title "Raw milk killed my father, and raped my mother"

[Kiwi_Fella]

Originally Posted by CitadelArmyJAG

Your missing the point.... MILK itself isnt bad for you.... its just the way that it is currently being sold and consumed by most people.

Not missing any points. I just didnt go into any details about the studies.

[aves]

SHOT has a great post about the bad effects of milk in adults somewhere around here. I haven't read it in awhile, but I think I remember it saying that because of the pasteurization process getting rid of all the benifits of milk along with the risks, it wasn't worth drinking. Like I said I haven't read it in awhile, but he is a smart guy and it could have some good info for your report. Which was a good read by the way. I have alot of dairies in my area, but the farmers are too poor already to not use drugs and not feed soy. Another reason to get a few acres of hay and a barn, if you ask me.

[CitadelArmyJAG]

Originally Posted by aves

SHOT has a great post about the bad effects of milk in adults somewhere around here. I haven't read it in awhile, but I think I remember it saying that because of the pasteurization process getting rid of all the benifits of milk along with the risks, it wasn't worth drinking. Like I said I haven't read it in awhile, but he is a smart guy and it could have some good info for your report. Which was a good read by the way. I have alot of dairies in my area, but the farmers are too poor already to not use drugs and not feed soy. Another reason to get a few acres of hay and a barn, if you ask me.

I gotta agree with there.... in this day in age, the only way to ensure that what you are eating is REALLY good for you is to raise/produce it yourself. Thats my eventual plan anyway...

[Dash007]

Originally Posted by aves

I have alot of dairies in my area, but the farmers are too poor already to not use drugs and not feed soy. ...

Just another reason to buy a gallon a few times a week from the local farms. I'll have to search for that post by SHOT and see what it gets me