by Angela Harris

Created on: July 17, 2010

Before the mid 1900s, people all around the world drank raw milk daily.  If you've never tasted raw cow's milk, you don't know what you're missing.  Fresh cow milk tastes sweet and very different from milk that you buy in the store.  Other than superior taste, what are the additional benefits of raw milk?

Raw milk fresh from the cow is naturally loaded with many different nutrients.  Being one of the few whole foods available in nature, raw milk produced by grass fed cows can provide a person with enough nutrition to survive on just milk for a long while.

Pasteurization is a process named after its inventor, Louis Pasteur.  The process briefly heats milk to 161 degrees Fahrenheit. Pasteurization was developed to kill dangerous bacteria present in milk.  But along with the harmful bacteria, pasteurization also destroys and reduces many of the natural nutrients available in raw milk, including calcium.

Pasteurization was a good idea when it was first developed. People, especially the elderly and babies, would sometimes become sick from the bacteria present in the milk. At the time, dairy farms and milking equipment were not as clean or regulated as they are today. Proponents of raw cow's milk claim that pasteurization is no longer needed.

One of the most obvious benefits of raw milk is that it is more nutritious. Without pasteurization, raw milk contains more vitamins and minerals, including calcium, iron, vitamin C, vitamin E, and other minerals. Raw milk has a much higher B vitamin content than pasteurized milk. Pasteurized milk contains no vitamin B6 at all, as pasteurizing the milk destroys this essential nutrient. Raw milk also has twice the iron content as pasteurized milk.

After raw milk has been pasteurized, all of the enzymes are also destroyed, along with the previously mentioned healthy components of raw milk. These enzymes allow the body to absorb higher amounts of calcium and iron.

A particular milk enzyme called lactase helps lactose to be digested easier. Lactose intolerance, once virtually unheard of, is now quite common. Many people who can't drink pasteurized milk switch to drinking raw milk. The claim is that they can consume raw milk with very little or no digestive troubles.

The milk fat that is naturally present in raw milk is actually a very nutritious component of milk. Drinking low fat milk has not been proven to stop weight gain or to promote weight loss. As a matter of fact, the fat in milk can actually help reduce belly fat. And just like raw milk's enzymes, milk fats make calcium and protein in milk more bio-available to the body. Not only that, but milk fat has essential fatty acids which possess natural antimicrobial features to help fight off harmful bacteria and pathogens.

It is pretty obvious that the benefits of raw milk are many. It is legal to sell raw milk in most states in the USA. If you get lucky enough to find raw milk in your area, try it. You will be amazed at the taste difference. And now, you will also be aware of some of the benefits to your health as well. If you worry about the health consequences of drinking raw milk, know that in a study that lasted longer than ten years, drinking raw milk caused less than 1% of food-borne illnesses. Eating fresh produce accounted for almost 20% of sicknesses during the same time period.

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