The Low-Down on Dairy
There is a lot of misinformation about dairy. So let’s clear that up.
I never thought I would write a post about raw milk. I was vegan for 5 years. Back when I was in the midst of my healing journey it was the peak for plant based diets. I was studying herbal medicine and obsessed with plants and pushed animal products to the side. I was told that milk wasn’t needed for human health, it was just for baby cows and full of hormones that were dangerous for humans (by vegans of course).
Back when I was travelling in India I wasn’t accustomed to the heat yet and as a PITTA person (Ayurvedic dosha) it got too much for me. I had loose bowels (which was my body trying to release excess heat). I met an Ayurvedic doctor in the South who offered me a glass of raw cows milk straight from his cow out back, he said it would call my fire down and I would feel better, so I gave it a try. With that my gut settled and I cooled down. It was nothing like the milk I had been drinking back home.
When I came back to the UK I forgot all about my Ayurvedic teachings and delved deep into a degree in Plant Science snd Medicine and Veganism as most of my friends were vegan.
I remember my chemistry teacher at university was concerned when I told her I only ate plants (grains, fruit, veg, herbs) She said vegetarianism was ok but veganism was dangerous for hormone health. I was in my righteous years and thought she was wrong. Now I look back and see what she was saying, especially from a very biologically viewpoint. Now I have studied Ayurveda more in depth and Ancestral Nutrition it all makes sense.
I was scared of dairy for some time, after all ‘it aggravated my acne and made it worse’. Later, I realised this statement was so far from the truth, it was the type of milk I had been drinking for 20 years.
Later, after studying herbal medicine for 4 years I introduced Ayurveda back into my life and practice and began eating eggs, raw goats cheese and raw milk.
My acne never came back.
The key thing, is to go with your gut. Try raw milk, if of doesn’t suit you then ditch it. Kapha types do not need dairy as its building. Vata and Pitta can use it as medicine.
Just because it’s good for you and medicine doesn’t mean you need a lot of it. You don’t need gallons of it.
QUALITY
Not all dairy is the same, not all milk is the same.
QUALITY is the KEY & unadulterated by humans.
RAW NATURAL MILK that is UNPASTEURISED & UNHOMOGENISED is the only milk I think is healthy and consumable.
Why?
Because when we change milk, by heating it (pasteurised) or forcing it through a pressurised system (homogenised) it changes the molecular structure of the milk, it denatures it and makes it a completely different product.
This makes it hard if not impossible to digest, which is why so many people are becoming lactose intolerant and have digestive issues.
Once upon a time milk was raw, in glass bottles with cream on top.
Then one day some people decided that cream on top was annoying and they wanted smooth milk so they homogenised it.
People started to panic about bacteria without truly understanding how bacteria works and pasteurised everything, and I mean everything.
Raw milk actually heals the gut. In ancient Ayurvedic medicine raw milk has always been drank with herbs and spices as a digestive aid. Our ancestors consumed it for thousands of years without a problem, especially at times when other fats were scarce.
This same scenario is true or many products, like gluten, gluten not being the enemy, but the way its grown, processed, genetically modified and sprayed with glycosphates… but that’s another newsletter.
You can’t buy raw milk from the supermarket only from farms, I go to Plawhatch or Tableshurst in Forest Row… There are plenty in the UK that sell raw milk.
You can buy Organic Unhomogenised Jersey milk from the supermarket, so that’s your next best option if you can’t access a farm.
HOMOGENISED VS UNHOMOGENISED
In milk’s natural state, cream rises to the top, our great grandparents would skim this off for butter, save it for a scone or add to coffee and tea. My mother said she would have to run outside quickly to get the bottled in after the milkman delivered them as the birds would fly over land on top and start pecking through the foil to get the cream.
HOMOGENISATION - Milk is blasted at high pressure through tiny nozzles, shattering the fat globules into microscopic fragments. The result is tiny fat molecules instead of large molecules. The end result is purely aesthetic, to eliminate the cream line and produce a uniform texture so the milk on store shelves looks smooth and doesn’t separate. Another marketing hack and persuade people into thinking they need something new and different when they don’t.
HARDER TO DIGEST - It is harder to digest Homogenised milk due to the high pressure turning the fat particles into much smaller particles. In normal unadultered raw milk, the molecules are large.
Instead of milk being gradually broken down in the intestines, the tiny homogenised fat globules are absorbed very quickly and often pass through the gut wall partially undigested. This is why so many people have ‘dairy intolerance’. In Ayurveda, homogenised milk creates ‘Ama’ toxins and disease in the rest of the body, raw milk is medicine.
Pasturised vs unpasturised
Pasteurisation is the process of heating milk to kill potential pathogens. It was introduced to prevent disease and kill bacteria in an era that had questionable hygiene standards and little understanding of bacteria and the microbiome.
This process involves heating milk to kill potential pathogens on average to 72°C for 15 seconds
Raw milk is loaded with active enzymes, immune proteins, nutrients and billions of friendly bacteria to feed out body
When we pasteurise milk we essentially sterilise it
Raw milk contains LACTASE, which is removed during pasteurisation. LACTASE BREAKS DOWN LACTOSE. Many people who are lactose intolerant who get bloating, pain and cramps store bought milk report no trouble drinking fresh raw milk from a farm.
Pasteurised milk is one of the most common food allergens, known to trigger sensitivities in many people
Raw milk contains compounds like immunoglobulins and lactoferrin, and diverse microbial flora that some studies suggest can prime the immune system and even correlate with lower rates of asthma and allergies in children
BACTERIA
Can raw cow’s milk make you sick? the question I get asked the most.
Most of the outbreaks on record trace back to milk that was never intended to be consumed raw in the first place: the raw milk that caused deadly outbreaks a century ago in cities came from stables, where sick cows were fed distillery waste, it was a far cry from the fresh, clean milk a farm family would drink themselves.
Unfortunately, the legacy of those “bad old days” has coloured public perception of raw milk ever since.
Yet when raw milk is produced with rigorous standards: clean equipment and healthy cows, the risk of illness is extremely low, comparable to other common foods.
You are statistically more likely to get sick from eating deli meats, seafood, or even fresh produce than from properly produced raw milk.
Misconceptions about raw milk safety abound. One common belief is that raw milk is usually teeming with dangerous bacteria. In reality, high quality raw milk often has a robust population of beneficial lactic-acid bacteria that can inhibit the growth of pathogens. Raw milk, when clean, will sour naturally (think kefir or yogurt) rather than putrefy.
BOVAER
Bovaer is a feed additive that reduces methane emissions from cattle. It's made by DSM-Firmenich and is also known by the chemical name 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP).
It has sadly been approved for use in the UK, EU, Australia, Canada, and the US. It will likely be in all milks you find in the supermarket.
It is essential you buy raw organic milk if you want to consume milk which DOES NOT contain BOVAER.
Dangers of Bovaer:
Inhaling Bovaer may be harmful, according to the EFSA.
Bovaer can irritate the skin and eyes.
High doses of Bovaer could cause tumors.
HORMONES
Yes, raw milk contains small amounts of naturally occurring hormones. HOWEVER, the body breaks down these hormones during digestion, making them inactive.
You are more likley to gain Oestrogen Dominance from XENOESTROGENS - synthetic oestrogen from plastics, pollution and chemicals.
IT IS JUST FOR BABY COWS…
I hear you, mothers milk is for babe…. I thought that too for such a long time. Our ancestors lived in rhythm with the cycles of nature. Eating seasonally, eating what was available, you didn’t have access to everything all the time. At time when meat or fish were scarce or eggs were not being laid, milk, cheese, yoghurt would be essential for life.
We need FAT to survive as humans, it’s biological. It is how we make our hormones!
It is not a coincidence that the places in the world with the highest rates of longevity eat a lot of fat. BLUE ZONES.
Yes, we do not live in these times, but that is exactly what is causing so much disease in our modern era. Eating foods that aren’t local or are not in season and not in alignment with our body is making us sick.
We cover Ancestral Nutrition in detail in THE ART OF WOMAN PROGRAMME and teach you how to remove excess oestrogens from your body using ancient Ayurvedic practices that are backed up by modern science. We discuss what Xenoestrogens are and why they are dangerous for women’s health and easy swaps.
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