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Last year, Paula Jager, owner of Crossfit Jaguar in Tampa Florida, wrote a series of riveting posts about her 15 day raw milk fast. This series on The Milk Cure sparked much interest from readers from around the world who became interested in reviving this age-old remedy for improving vitality, bodily cleansing and even reversal of serious illness as practiced in the early 1900s by the Mayo Foundation, a forerunner of the famed Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota.
At the end of Paula’s raw milk fast last year, she said that she was so pleased with the results (she had the best bloodwork of her life at the conclusion of the fast) that she vowed to do a raw milk fast every year around the beginning of Spring.
A few days ago, Paula told me that she planned to start her annual raw milk fast very soon. What’s more, this year she asked me to do it with her.
My immediate and knee jerk response was, “Uh, fasts don’t really work for me. I don’t want to lose any weight either, so I think I’ll pass.”
Paula, being her persistent and tenacious self, continued to work to convince me.
Yeah, you guys think I’m such a hard nose, but the truth is, on most things I’m very much “go with the flow”. That cooperative middle child thing, you know?
Paula assured me that I needn’t lose any weight on the fast unless I tried to. One of the benefits of raw milk from pastured cows is that it is a complete food, a perfectly balanced elixir of highly digestible, nutrient-dense fats, protein, and carbohydrates. If you consume an adequate amount of ounces and calories for your body weight each day, no weight loss should occur.
She also assured me that she experienced no hunger or cravings during her fast last year, once again, a strong testament to the complete nature of pastured raw milk, known as “white blood” to physicians that have used it therapeutically.
Still unconvinced, I talked to my husband about it hoping to get a bit of moral support for my decision not to do the raw milk fast with Paula this year.
Sigh.
I got no help from hubby.
As soon as I told him the story, he says, “Hey, what a great idea! I’ll do it too!”
At that point, I started to get a teeny weeny bit excited about the fast. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if hubby joined in too. My biggest concern was cooking all this delicious, traditional food day in and day out for the kids and not eating any myself.
Talk about torture!
But, if what Paula told me is true, I shouldn’t feel hungry at all.
At that point, I was willing to give it a go.
Then, it hit me. Why don’t we do this together as a group for anyone who wants to join in? I know that a bunch of readers would like to do a raw milk fast based on emails I’ve received about it over the past year, so let’s do it as a 10 day raw milk challenge!
The Milk Cure (aka Raw Milk Fast)
Here’s how The Milk Cure 2012 will work …
Paula and I will start our raw milk fast on March 1, 2012.
Any of you who wish to join us should plan to start on that date as well.
The fast will go for 10 days and will conclude at midnight on March 10, 2012.
The only thing you are to consume on this fast is pastured raw milk. Water of course is fine too, but no other food or liquids but raw milk.
The reason I’m putting this post up a full week before the fast starts is to give those of you who are going to join us a chance to prepare and stock up on your raw milk. You may even need to freeze some if necessary if you don’t have access to weekly pickups.
You will need anywhere from 2-5 quarts of raw milk per day per person depending on your current height and weight. If you are trying to lose weight, then drink less. If you don’t want to lose any weight, drink as much as you need to stay satisfied at all times.
Paula drank 3 – 3 1/2 quarts per day last year. She is 5’3″ and 117 lbs.
Please read her 15-day Milk Cure diary from last year to prepare if you plan to join the challenge.
If you’re considering something less rigorous, this journal of a 3-day raw milk fast may prove helpful to your decision.
What worked for Paula was a pint of raw milk every 2 hours or so which translates to approximately 2,000 calories per day (if your raw milk comes from Jersey cows with tons of cream). If you drink raw milk from Holstein cows, you probably should think about adding some additional raw cream to each glass. A cup or so every hour or even a few ounces every 30 minutes works fine too – just adjust the amount and timeframe as it works best for you.
Also, please read about The Milk Cure and how it was used to cure very sick patients at the Mayo Foundation by clicking here.
I plan to drink closer to a gallon a day. I am just shy of 5’7″ and 124 lbs. I do not want to lose any weight so am shooting for 2,500-3,000 calories per day.
Feel free to stop the fast at any time if you choose to join in and discover that it isn’t working for you. I told Paula that if I start to lose weight after a few days, I plan to drop out. I lost 8 lbs on GAPS 2 years ago and although GAPS did me a world of good, I don’t want to go there again. My digestion is really good right now and I don’t have any health issues that I am addressing at the moment, so if this rocks the boat for me too much, I plan to drop out.
Why You Might Want to Fast With Us
I am attempting this raw milk fast primarily as a seasonal cleansing.
You might choose to join in to lose some weight. Perhaps you have some digestive or other health issues you want to turn the corner on and start to heal from.
Perhaps you might want to do it for spiritual reasons. Fasting is encouraged by many spiritual disciplines and that may appeal to you.
Whatever reasons you choose to join in are yours and yours alone. You can choose to share them with the rest of us or not.
Each day during the fast, I will post an update on how Paula, my husband, and I are doing. My hope is that any of you who are joining in will update all of us with your progress in the comments section.
The goal for this 10-day journey is to have available to the world a written diary of the experiences and observations of hundreds of people of various backgrounds and health challenges while on a raw milk fast.
Will this happen? I don’t know.
Maybe it will just be Paula and me and my husband.
I do hope at least a few of you will join us though!
If you do join in, please be sure to check with your doctor first before undertaking this fast particularly if you are doing it to help resolve any health issues.
Also, do not attempt this milk cure fast with pasteurized or even low temp pasteurized “cream top” milk.
Milk becomes a completely different food once it’s pasteurized and many vital nutrients and enzymes are either totally lost or significantly reduced. Pasteurized milk is not a complete food like raw milk is.
Please indicate in the comments section below if you plan to join us! If you want to add your reasons for joining in, that would be cool too but is not necessary.
10-Day Milk Cure Series
Below are links to each day of the Milk Cure 10 day raw milk fast so you can follow along and track our progress!
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Breaking the Fast
Sarah, I have a question about the quality of milk. All the raw milk producers in my area fed small amounts of grain to the cows. Is that okay or do I need to steer clear?
There is a 100% grass fed farm that uses an old pastureization technique that heats milk to 150 degrees. Im going to assume that can still kill benefical things in the milk.
I know not everyone agrees with me on this, but I am ok with small amounts of grain fed to primarily pastured cows (for example, a bit of grain at milking time only). I would choose the raw milk from cows fed small amounts of grain to 100% grassfed that is pasteurized.
agree.. we have three local farms.. two do light grain while milking and the other is grass fed only.. all three taste great.. of course we are still looking for land so we can have our own jersey cows and use our separator to get fresh ultra heavy cream.. mmm..
modern day homesteaders at heart,
-jason and lisa-
I grew up on raw milk and our cows got a small amount of grain at milking time. Never had problems and me and my siblings all had great health!
We get our raw milk from cows who get a small ammount of grain, and have still seen HUGE improvments to our health.
Ditto on not having access to raw milk here in Ontario. But one day I will have my own cow and I will certainly join in.
Weren’t you just on the GAPS diet?
I stay away from dairy products, as they irritate my bowels and my respiratory system. I can get away with butter and a little cheese now and then, but stay away from cow milk, yogurt, etc.- I am afraid to drink milk, but would raw milk give me the same problems?
For many people, even pasteurized milk that is not homogenized is MUCH easier to digest… The way the fat is in the milk is something usable, digestible and recognizable by our bodies. I would assume that raw milk is even more so!
After reading this and all of the comments I now remember why I ended up finding WAPF and wanting to just eat real food, real food, not a diet or a fast. What is wrong with us Americans anyway? Are we the only people on the planet that jump on every new diet and food fad or what? I agree with Michael Pollan. We have a National Eating Disorder and yet another fad. I am reminded of some from the 1960’s. Anyone remember the grapefruit and egg diet? How about the banana and milk diet? It wasn’t raw milk, but maybe this raw milk fast fits into those? Have fun, but I’m out. I lost 14 pounds over several weeks just changing to real food and have kept it off eating real food and exercise for over five years.
Mikki, pastured raw milk IS a real and complete food. It gives you everything you need just the same as eating a meal. I am not a fasting fan either and have never done a fad diet not even once in my life. I do understand the danger of staying away from fads. Remember though that The Milk Cure was used by the Mayo Foundation as a way to rest the digestion of very sick people to heal them. This is not something that just got made up yesterday.
It is not a “diet” or a “fad”. It is a cleansing for the body. An ideal time is spring for many reasons just as you may clean out your house and rid it of excess clutter in the spring. By resting our digestive system and allowing it to rid ourselves of some toxins accumulated in the winter. This practice has been around for centuries.
I’ll have to re-read again. I think I missed what you were going to do it for, cured of what? Yes, I remember the milk cure from reading, like for asthma, severe gut issues. Did the GAPS diet not work for you? I pondered it, but geeze, 1-2 years and no eating out?? I do need some sort of social diet! 😉 At least the milk cure is for only 2 weeks, not 2 years! I sure do like drinking the bone broth daily though, one good thing I got out of the GAPS diet, though never went on it. I’ll be following your progress then, but not joining you.
Hi Sarah,
If raw milk is a real and complete food, why couldn’t a nursing mom do this? Especially if the child is over a year old and able to eat food? I have been wanting to do this fast myself but wanted to wait until the cows are eating fresh grass. I am still nursing my 16.5mo. Either it is a real and complete food or it isn’t. Why wouldn’t it be safe for older children to do the fast for the same reason? I think it would be a great way to transfer to a new way of eating. I have yet to investigate much on the GAPS diet. I do know that our family has dietary/health issues but how to solve them when Doctors don’t know anything except to prescribe a drug.
I’d like to do the fast but I’m up in Wis. and there’s no pasture here yet. Our family is a member of Vernon’s group and love raw milk. I’ll be going to his workshop on Thursday and taking the children to the court house on Friday with signs a blazing in support of Vernon and raw milk.
Raw milk boiled?
Thank you Sarah! Thank you! I will be talking to my hubby tonight!!!
This is my kind of fast! The reason I struggle with fasts or losing weight is having to consume less milk. I love my raw milk. Thanks for the challenge!
Hi Sarah,
I’m on the full GAPS diet right now, but because of adrenal fatigue and thyroid issues, have had no luck whatsoever with weight loss. Do you think it would be wise to take a little ten-day break from it for this fast? My digestion is quite good at the moment.
I really don’t know Jade. That is entirely up to you.
And by fat, I mean *fast. Sigh.