One of the most misguided food myths getting perpetuated nowadays, sadly even by some alternative practitioners, is that dairy is unhealthy to consume.
One reason for the popularity of this modern notion is the skyrocketing incidence of dairy allergies. However, in most cases, these problems are due to the processing (pasteurization/homogenization) of the dairy and/or the unnatural GMO feed given to the cows, not to the dairy itself. When people consume unprocessed dairy from healthy cows grazing on green grass, suddenly the “allergies” disappear. For example, 85% of those who are “lactose intolerant” have absolutely no problem with raw dairy!
Could “lactose intolerance” more aptly be described then as “pasteurization intolerance”? I, for one, definitely think so!
Study of history supports the notion that milk matters and the inclusion of dairy in a healthy, well-rounded diet. The fact is that humans have consumed dairy for thousands of years, even before the advent of agriculture.
Julie Dunne of the University of Bristol, lead author of a groundbreaking archaeological study published in Nature, has found the first direct evidence that prehistoric people of the African Sahara used cattle for their milk many thousands of years ago long before the cultivation of plants in this region.
The initial evidence was found in rock art images illustrating domesticated cattle from the Wadi Imha, in the Tadrart Acacus Mountains, Libyan Sahara. Scientists have dated these images at between 5,000 and 8,000 years old. Ms. Dunne had this to say about the discovery:
Milk is one the very few foods that give us carbohydrates, fats and proteins in one go. So being able to use milk like these people did would have made an enormous difference to their health. It would have provided food for life.
Study of traditional cultures around the world shows the same. Milk not just from cows but from many other mammals such as goat, sheep, camel, reindeer, yak, horses, and even water buffalo have proved an important part of the human diet for far longer than almost any other food.
If the history of milk fascinates you as it does me, you will no doubt enjoy this infographic below sent to me from John Kelle from Online Masters of Public Health. There are numerous factoids about the history of milk to skim through. In addition, 10 good reasons for switching to raw milk from store milk are included for those of you just learning about the benefits of unprocessed, full-fat dairy fresh from the farm.
If you’ve been told that milk is not a healthy food for you and your family to consume, know that history stands firm as a strong and convincing counterpoint to this false, modern notion!
Why Milk Matters
An infographic by the team at Online Masters In Public Health
More Information
A1 and A2 Milk: Do Cow Genetics Even Matter?
The A1 and A2 Factor in Raw Milk
Nuts, fruit, plant-based foids. Some chicken and mostly fish. This really is what prehistoric man lived on. I have had improved health of my heart since consuming these and my blood sugar has decreased immensely. I miss dairy
So much but am fearful ofbit and beef and very much fat. I think the key is to eat the foods u suggest inly in balance with exercise as prehistoric man walked and walked and walked including farming. Not the sedentary life style
Of today’s world. Ratio of fats to exercise but much
Or we will pay by the iccurrence of atheroclerosis and elevated blood sugars.
Hi Sarah
Thanks so much for the great information! I have a question. In the country that I live in now, all the milk is ultra pasteurised and you cannot buy farm fresh milk. There are also no Jersey, Guernsey, African or Asian cow milk sold here. So my question is if I cannot get good quality milk here am I better off with no milk? I make my own almond milk and I can buy sheep’s cheese so I have that sometimes (they do sell goat’s milk and cheese but I absolutely hate the taste and it’s just not an option for me). Oh and I do manage to get some decent butter but that’s it.
Is it better to do without the milk?
You are absolutely better off with no milk if you can’t get good milk. I myself went without milk for 10 years until I could get good quality, raw grassfed milk. Remember that raw cheese is quite easily available nowadays via shipping or even at Whole Foods. So, if you can’t get milk you can still get good quality cheese, yogurt, kefir quite readily.
1. Cats are omnivores. Their bodies can naturally handle processing meat. Their intestinal system is short, and the meat is in and out very quickly. This is why you don’t have cats suffering an epidemic of heart diseases and colon cancers.
2. Vegans (plant-based) are the lowest average BMI of any diet group. That is a fact.
3. Meat/Dairy/Egg eaters are the highest average BMI of any diet group. That is another statistical fact.
You compared a digestive system of a creature that is unlike us. That is where you faltered. Put a rabbit and an apple next to a child. See which one the child plays with, and which one the child eats. Even children know what is food and what is not. Do you like your poor argument being used against you? Time to suck it up, and go vegan. It benefits you. It benefits living beings who you won’t pay to have butchered anymore, and it helps the Earth.
Um no. Cats are obligate carnivores. This means that they have lost the ability to make the amino acids and vitamins in their own bodies the way herbivores and omnivores do. HUMANS are omnivores. In other words, cats have an even simpler digestive system than we do. In other words, meat and dairy is easier to digest (that’s why cats HAVE to have it) than plants meaning it is easier to obtain the nutrition from meat and other animal foods like dairy than incomplete plant based protein sources (of which ALL plant foods are incomplete protein in amounts necessary to support human health). You have to be PERFECT at plant protein combining to have a prayer of maintaining health long term. Take the red pill my friend. PC nutrition is just going to cause your teeth to fall out (literally).
//Is the growth of the cow mainly about the genetics that lead them to grow so large, or do the hormones in milk play a part.//
Look at the obesity of humans. Vegetables didn’t cause them to get that way. Fruits didn’t cause them to get that way. Meat and dairy caused them to get that way. People are just as fat as the baby cows that drink milk from a cow. There are many other factors, but it is not hard to put two and two together. We have an epidemic of obesity. Not an epidemic of wellness that comes from fruits and vegetables.
Even a child can observe that a plant based diet makes you fat and eating more quality animal foods slims you down. One of my children observed: “Mommy, why do people say veggies make you thin and meat and milk makes you fat when our guinea pig is so fat and all she eats are veggies and hay and our cats are so slim and they eat just meat and lick lots of cream from a bowl?”
Time to take the red pill my friend.
I’ve read quite a bit about the good about the right kind of milk, but there is one thing I haven’t seen answered about why milk is not bad for us.
I don’t automatically buy the vegan argument that cow milk is made for baby cows, one part of it does make me think it would effect how good it can be.
The argument that milk is made for baby cows to grow to huge cows. Is the growth of the cow mainly about the genetics that lead them to grow so large, or do the hormones in milk play a part.
What effect do the hormones in milk have on us? Is this an issue of amounts being bad? Say if you drink one cup of milk a day that isn’t enough to unbalance hormones, but if you drink five it’s bad?
With hormone balance being so important, and if we assume that hormones are absorbed by us from the milk than does that mean we shouldn’t be drinking much to be at our best?
I think milk is a good nutrition source, but the hormone issue I have not found any good information on. To be clear I’m not talking about hormones added to milk, but those that naturally occur in milk that are for baby cows genetics which may cause problems for us.
Is there a reason they don’t…like humans don’t absorb them…or something?
I am finding these articles very interesting. I recently started exploring raw milk. Most of my life I worked in Public Health, for 11 years in the Health Dept. lab testing milk and dairy foods, then as a health inspector. I was loathe to consider raw milk, coming from that background, especially since I’ve been to the dairy farms and seen how many of them are run, and hey, I’ve done the bacterial tests. There are diseases worse than some of those mentioned here that can be spread in contaminated milk. However, I grew up drinking it and am kind of addicted to dairy products. I started doing a lot of research. I am very lucky to live in an area of California that has an excellent raw milk dairy locally. They share lots of information on their website and on their youtube channel, including recipes. I’ve only found one store where I can buy their products, and it is pricey ($17 for a gallon of raw organic milk). But these folks do more testing than they are required to, and I reviewed all of their information. Frankly I was impressed, and I think I’m pretty discerning at this point for the important issues. I mean for crying out loud, PASTEURIZED milk is allowed to have 10 coliform CFUs per milliliter, 20,000 general bacteria/ml for grade A milk. . ) Anyway, I felt safe trying their milk, especially since their bacterial counts are better than the ‘regular’ dairies, and lo and behold, I did better on it than on pasteurized milk. My problem is not really lactose, it’s some of the milk proteins, which cause me to become congested and phlegmy. The raw milk isn’t doing this. Makes sense, in pasteurized milk, the proteins become denatured, including the enzymes that help to digest it. I wish they sold more products here, but all I can get is milk, cream, sometimes kefir, butter and cream. Very pricey, but I am experimenting with making my own raw milk yogurt. I have a long journey ahead of me to rebuild my health but I was glad to see I should be allowed to continue my dairy addiction. Hopefully the more common it becomes to use raw dairy products, the more affordable it will become.
The reason that there are far more illnesses from eating chicken in this country as compared to illnesses from raw milk is because far more people eat chicken than drink raw milk. Probably 500 or 600 times as many chicken eaters as raw milk drinkers. The ratio may even be greater.
Don Greer, One of the most insidiously Vapid things people do is Speculate on reality and call it fact.
Using the word PROBABLY is just pure BS.
The reason that chicken is causing illnesses is because the chickens are “Grown” in 36 days using steroids and antibiotics.
The main problem is that corporations which run chicken farms also have their own “secret formulas” which are also fed to the chickens.
McDonalds and KFC have specific and exact growing requirements which include everything from the food the chickens eat to the size of the sheds and the heating.
Unless you can supply accurate RAW MILK Drinker Stats, please do not make fantasy statements as if they are facts.