Raw Milk: Why Add Raw Milk to your Diet?
Monday is my milk day. I’m not talking about running up to the local store to buy a gallon of pastuerized, homogenized, low fat milk to pour over my cereal in the morning. I pack up my 1 gallon glass jars and make a trip each week to a local dairy farm for fresh unpastuerized, non-homogenized and “full of good fats”, raw milk. I have been doing this each week for about 5 years now and I must say, at no one time have I ever had a negative reaction from drinking raw milk.
I know what you are thinking…”Really, how safe is raw milk?” Personally, I feel that raw milk is safer and much healthier to drink than the pasteurized and homogenized milk that is found on most grocery stores shelves. Although, please keep in mind, I choose to purchase my milk from principled organic farmers that fullfill a certain criteria that I will share with you in a couple of paragraphs.
I know what else you might be thinking…”what about those deadly outbreaks of Salmonella and E. coli?” Yes, there are the occaisional headlines that seem to tactically appear on the evening news portraying raw milk as this dirty villain out to destroy you. Yet, what I have found couldn’t be further from the truth.
First, let me say this; Milk in its raw state contains a wealth of natural enzymes, minerals and beneficial bacteria along with important proteins, carbohydrates and fats. When you buy milk from the grocery store shelf, typically, the milk has gone through an elaborate form of filtration and processing (pastuerization and homogenization). The resulting high temperatures from these processes kill essential nutrients and quickly destroy the health properties associated with raw milk. In other words, the milk is nutritionally deficient.
You have to ask yourself, “Does cooking your milk really do a body good?”
After researching a lot of information on raw milk, I’ve concluded that one way to ensure that I am getting quality milk is to know my farmer So, that’s what I have done! It’s not uncommon for me to spend a couple of hours at the farm talking with and observing my new farmer friends. Through this experience, I have gained tremendous insight, knowledge and respect for the small local dairy farmer community…believe me, much more than I would have gotten from any government health official or corporate croney. I figure, the chances of an outbreak are much less and the nutritional benefits I get from drinking raw milk much greater when the milk is coming from healthy animals that are carefully raised and handled and mainly fed an organic grass diet.
So here is that short list of the criteria that I use when seeking out a farmer who offers raw milk:
* Cleanliness – is the equipment clean and kept clean? Does the farmer take extra steps to make sure things are kept clean?
* What are the cows being fed? I prefer the cow to have a diet of mainly organic grasses. Some farmers may incorporate small amounts of grain during the winter months when the cows may have limited time in the pasture. Absolutely no GMO’s!
* The size of the herd – I prefer the small farmer. For 2-3 workers a herd of 35-40 dairy cows is manageable. Beyond this, the potential to be mismanaged is greater. I feel, large corporate dairies are just too big to maintain the kinds of healthy standards that I insist on.
* The average age of the cow ? healthy cows can be milked for 12-15 years on the average. On big corporate dairy farms the average dairy cow milks 3-4 years. Obviously something is wrong here.
* Bacteria count – the PI count (pre-incubated) seems to be important to the shelf life and taste of the milk. In the state of California, the PI count is required to be under 15,000 per ml in order to sell raw milk. My farmer prefers it to be under 5000 per ml.
* Growth hormones, antibiotics…does the farmer misuse unnecesary drugs on his dairy cows? Some farmers who use antibiotics on their cows will not allow the milk to be used until after some pre-determined time, when they’ve cleared the cow’s system. Antibiotics shouldn’t be used often anyway.
* Does the farmer drink the raw milk from his own dairy cows? You might be surprised. There are some farmers who buy their milk off the shelves. What a shame.
There is so much more information that I could share with you. Perhaps, another time. If you really want a good book to read that is full of valuable information, read, The Untold Story of Milk: Green Pastures, Contented Cows and Raw Dairy Products by Ron Schmid ND. It’s one of my favorites. Also, you can go online to: Natural Healing Tools.com, realmilk.com or westonaprice.org for more information. Thanks for your interest.
Dr. James P. Urban
http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/raw-milk-why-add-raw-milk-to-your-diet-116433.html
Organic Skin Care – Reasons To Seriously Consider It
“When natural way is easily available why do anything unnaturally” – is the principle on which organic skin care is based. Taking care of your skin the organic way is the best way. From the moment the man first realized the need and importance of taking care of his skin, he has been using organic products which were freely available. And also gentle on the skin. If used properly, organic skin care products can avoid skin infections and also give you a healthy, glowing and a younger looking skin for a longer time.
Skin care routines with organic material mostly use fruits and vegetables. For example, fruits and vegetables like cucumber, turmeric, apple, papaya, and ginger are a few commonly used ingredients in a wide range of skin care regimen. These organic ingredients apart from being natural have a very rejuvenating effect on your skin. Almost all skin care books/guides give a special segment on organic skin care giving details of effect of various vegetables and fruits on your skin. Choosing the right ones most suitable according to the skin type you have is the key. You can come to a final conclusion after experimenting with a few as to which one suits your skin type the best and then make it a part of your daily skin care routine. This is the best way as normally there is no side effects hence experimenting with different ingredients is quite safe. Use only the fresh fruits and vegetables and not rotten or over ripe ones whose place is in garbage bin.
Milk has proved to be a good cleanser and many skin care products contains “milk” as an ingredient. A blend of milk and ground oatmeal has a superb cleansing quality. Ground oatmeal is a commonly used ingredient in skin care routine and is especially good for oily skin. It works well in preparing facial packs with egg, honey, milk and fruits in different blends
Another ingredient rich in Vitamin E is wheat germ is commonly used in organic skin care products also for its exfoliating and moisturizing qualities. Wheat germ is blended with different organic material for preparing face packs for dry and normal skin types. Wheat germ oil is another extract used in these skin care products.
Sour cream and yogurt are some other ingredients used for their moisturizing and exfoliation qualities.
Another well known organic skin care ingredient is honey known for its moisture retention and glowing skin qualities.
Lavender water as well as rose water is good toners used in these skin care regimen. Different blends of organic ingredients complementing each other and enhancing effectiveness of each other are used in these skin care products. Not only that these blends also help in preventing damaging effects if any of different organic ingredients that form them.
Organic skin care is an art, if mastered well, will not only give superb results but will be very cost effective too.
Abhishek Agarwal
http://www.articlesbase.com/skin-care-articles/organic-skin-care-reasons-to-seriously-consider-it-739560.html
Make Yours an Organic and Eco Baby
Organic and Fairtrade Baby Food
organic baby food has been around for decades and fairtrade baby food has only recently been launched. Why feed your baby with chemicals, additives and possibly genetically modified ingredients when you can feed them fresh, organic and healthier food? By buying fairtrade it also enables you to put something back into local communities where the ingredients originated from, so that they can look after their families better due to being paid a fair price for their food and hence they are able to reinvest the funds into their community and families.
Organic and Eco Friendly Baby Care
Babies have extremely sensitive skin that requires a mild and gentle touch – which is why it makes sense to treat them with products made from the purest ingredients. The skin is the largest part of the babies body and is often prone to sores and nappy rash in the early days. Minimise the amount of chemicals coming into contact with the babies skin by buying organic or natural baby care products.
Organic and Fairtrade Baby Clothing
A babys skin is thinner than that of an adult, so make sure the clothes against their bodies are free from harmful pesticides and chemicals by buying clothing which are made from organic or hemp fibres which are made with the minimum or no chemicals in the production and processing. By buying Fairtrade or ethical baby clothes from companies such as HUG ensures that other babies in developing countries may benefit as well from the clothes that you buy. Cheap, brand new clothes from supermarkets etc. are often made in China in low cost production facilities where workers are paid the minimum wage and where the term sweatshops originated from. Buying second hand or using donated clothes is the ultimate form of recycling and is cheaper too at this expensive time of life.
Environmentally Friendly Cloth Nappies
Cloth nappies can be washed and reused hundreds of times. Millions of disposable nappies are used throughout your country and you can imagine what size of landfill is needed to bury them all! Cloth nappies can reduce nappy rash and have no suspect chemicals. By washing them with your normal clothes, you again minimise your babies impact on the environment.
Breast feeding
Breast milk is very economical, constantly available at the right temperature and if your diet is organic then so is your milk which is therefore better for your baby. If you have to buy formula we wary of buying Nestle as an International Nestle Boycott is in effect in 20 countries. The boycott will continue until Nestle ends its irresponsible marketing of breast milk substitutes world-wide and abides by the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and subsequent Resolutions in policy and practice.
Looking for more information on baby milk action or organic things for babies then see GuideMeGreen.com.
Davinos Greeno
http://www.articlesbase.com/women’s-issues-articles/make-yours-an-organic-and-eco-baby-92694.html
The Benefits of Organic Milk or is it Just Plain Hype?
The government, producers, suppliers and retailers then began the shift towards going organic and the result of this activity was a surge in the number of farmers converting to organic production. The supply of organic milk increased rapidly in response to market demand and financial support to convert to organic farming methods that do not use artificial pesticides (insecticides, fungicides or herbicides) on pastures where cows graze.
Organic cows are not fed GM cattle feed. This means that there is no possibility of GM or solvent residues being found in organic milk. It has been estimated that in the UK and the USA, our bodies contain traces of at minimum 300 potentially harmful chemicals absorbed from our food. Eating organically grown food and drinking organic milk is an easy way for people to avoid these chemicals.
The popular press is going cow-wild over research that supposedly proves organic milk is healthier than conventional milk. Lets look into this a bit deeper….
Organic milk has all the nutritional goodness of non-organic milk but due to the cows more natural diet, it also has some additional health benefits such as higher levels of vitamin A, E and antioxidants.
The main issue that the organic milk industry is advertising is the high content of omega-3 fatty acids, found abundantly in oily fish (such as salmon, herring and cod) and walnut and fish oil. Omega-3s have been thought to protect against cancer and heart disease. This high content is great news as most people in the UK are deficient in Omega 3 fatty acids, which are also essential for maintaining supple and flexible joints, healthy growth and strong bones and teeth.
But are these benefits just empty nutritional superiority claims? Many commentators argue that the amount of Omega 3 is that small that people should eat fish at least once a month instead, and that buying organic milk for this purpose is nonsense.
The British Food Standards Agency says it will review the matter but has yet to be convinced that organic milk is any more nutritious than non organic milk. The lack of conclusive scientific research on the nutritional benefits of organic milk could lead to negativity in the overall organic market.
My thoughts are this….you pay an organic price premium but you could be getting extra Vitamins, Omega 3, non-GM contaminated milk plus supporting your green lifestyle and a traditional way of farming. On that, I for one am prepared to pay extra and will continue to drink organic milk.
To buy organic milk or to read more organic related articles go to the Organic Directory in GuideMeGreen.com
Davinos Greeno
http://www.articlesbase.com/wellness-articles/the-benefits-of-organic-milk-or-is-it-just-plain-hype-83691.html
Does organic milk taste different than non-organic milk?
I was having this debate with my friend. Do you think that organic milk tastes different, or is it all in your head?
I think each brand of milk tastes different regardless of whther it’s organic or not. I don’t see any reason why organic would taste better by default though. You might feel more at ease drinking it but it’s just milk.
Organic milk – trying to avoid estrogen due to fibroid tumors?
I know organic milk companies say that they don’t add hormones to their milk but what about hormones from pregnant cows. If the milk is still from pregnant cows, won’t I still be getting estrogen? Is there any other alternative.
try soya milk or rice milk
Searching for a dairy that has organic milk product?
I am searching for a very organic, free of chemicals, free of antibiotics milk, from cows that are allowed to roam free. Does anyone know of a dairy farm who distributes milk and milk products like that?
Where do you live? Most organic dairies distribute only locally. If you have a natural food store or farm market in your community, they may have what you’re looking for, or be able to point you in the right direction.
Otherwise — try the magic of Google.
Organic milk 2 months past sell by date?
I have a carton of organic milk that’s two months past the sell by date. It smells fine and tastes fine, but will I get sick from it? I only opened it this morning.
I wasn’t sure if the fact that it was organic would make a difference.
I don’t need to bake anything with it, I want to know if I can drink it.
Organics generally have shorter shelf lives. What you have there is a Science Fair Project.
Whys is Organic Milk’s expirations date is much higher than normal milk ?
I have bought organic milk which expires end of May, but normal milk its difficult to get past two weeks.
Perhaps it is treated with ultra high heat processing (Like Parmalat). This is the treatment used for milk products sold in the boxes. It is also used for tomatoes and some other products.
—cay’s response (right below me) is the exact opposite. You’re saying that organic has a expiration date one month away whereas regular milk is 2 weeks at best. How can the ABSENCE of preservatives make milk last longer? And if it did, WHY ARE WE USING PRESERVATIVES
What’s the best organic milk to buy and what does it cost?
By best I mean price, organic quality, and availability… Please list a few options so I can cross-check with what my grocery store offers. Also, I don’t want Soy milk. i want real, organic milk. Thanks!
I buy Horizon, look for "triple pasteurized" milk which means that more, blood, mucus etc have been removed. Organic milk always costs more, just a bit more though. Possibly close to twice the price of regular milk.