Milk, it Does a Body Good or Does it?

Do you know your milk? I used to not really care. Whatever was on sale is what I purchased. I would only buy nonfat because someone many years ago said that you might get fat from drinking whole or reduced fat milk. HAH! Now I know better (many hours of research later, I might had).

Why does our country have such a love for milk?? I am not really sure, but milk does provide a good amount of vitamins, carbohydrates and fats. However, conventional milk is seriously lacking in almost all of those nutritional points and many Real-food advocates would argue milk is not even a traditional food. I happen to like the taste of milk and a good latte cannot be made without milkJ. Therefore, my family does drink milk, but we are careful in what milk we choose and we drink it with a purpose-as a nutritional drink.

There are four types of milk and I think it is important to understand each so that you can make a more informed decision when you choose milk for you and your family.

1. Raw-milk: milk from the cow with very little processing. Bought directly from farmer or from health food store.
2. Pasteurized milk: heated at high temperatures to kill any bacteria. All conventional milk sold in your normal grocery store is pasteurized.
3. Homogenized milk: fat globules in milk are forced through tiny holes so that they become smaller and stay mixed into the milk instead of rising to the top of the milk.
4. Un-homogenized milk: often called "cream-top" milk, the milk is still pasteurized, but the fat globules are larger and will separate out when milk is left alone.

Which is better? If you are trying to follow a Real-food diet then Raw is best, however if you are not ready for raw or in some cases it is not available, then there are some better choices to be made. In order to understand the process our milk goes through here is an excerpt taken from Dairy Council of California

Most milk undergoes processing after leaving the cow and before you buy it at the store. The three primary steps include: pasteurization, homogenization and fortification. Pasteurization requires heating the milk to destroy harmful microorganisms and prolong shelf life…After pasteurization; milk undergoes homogenization to prevent separation of the milk fat from the fluid milk. Homogenization creates a smooth, uniform texture. Finally, milk is fortified to increase its nutritional value or to replace nutrients lost during processing.

The above statement all sounds good right? It sounds like all these steps are taken to ensure safety of our milk. Yes and no. Both have consequences, making our milk not nearly as nutritious as it should be. Many nutrients and vitamins are lost during the process of pasteurization, yet pasteurization is necessary in industrial dairies because of their unsanitary conditions. Homogenization is not necessary at all, but rather a convenience and I am all for choosing as little processing as possible.

Here is my milk ranking from better to best choices.

Organic whole milk  >> Organic Un-homogenized whole milk >> Raw whole milk

Whenever possible choose organic, but remember that organic milk is still pasteurized and homogenized. Un-homogenized is still pasteurized, but the fat globules have not been altered and will still rise to the top of the milk (simply stir or agitate a little and it will mix back in), try Straus whole milk. Raw milk is best because it is very minimally processed, which means it has all the nutrients and vitamins. Raw milk can be very safe as long as you get it from a trusted source, so find a local herd share or many health food stores carry Organic Pastures.