This says it all! The Raw Milk Debate by Mark and Erin Harrison

A friend of mine sent me this article early this morning. I think it sums it up really well... now I just have to find a good source of milk but I can't wait to switch my family over!!
Raw Milk DebatePosted by Mark and Erin Harrison on January 31, 2011 at 3:03am in Uncategorized
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So many of here are already reaping the benefits of using raw milk, but it doesn't hurt to give even more facts on the subject. The information I will copy and paste today will strengthen your convictions on the matter. Why do we want to avoid store bought pasteurized dairy products...



David Gumpert makes two very important points in this video that bear repeating:

Louis Pasteur, father of pasteurization, was researching ways to kill pathogens in wine, not milk, when he developed his heat treatment process. Pasteur did not experiment with the heat treatment of milk!
While you have been led to believe pasteurization significantly reduced childhood illnesses like tuberculosis and typhoid, the process came into prominence in the late 1800’s-early 1900’s, simultaneous with the building of sewage systems and improvements in the cleanliness of our water supply. Given this timing, it’s quite likely the benefits of pasteurization alone have been greatly exaggerated.
Pasteurization Kills All the Benefits of Milk

The FDA would have you believe pasteurization of milk protects you from deadly pathogens contained in raw milk. The fact is, however, that if cows are raised as nature intended (free-range and grass fed), there is no need to process the milk these healthy animals produce.

The journey that turns healthy raw milk into a dead, white liquid full of allergens and carcinogens begins with modern feeding methods.

Cows are raised on high-protein, soy-based feeds instead of fresh green grass. Instead of free range grazing, they stand in feed lots and manure all day.

Breeding methods produce cows with abnormally large pituitary glands so that they produce three times more milk than normal. These cows need antibiotics to keep them well. Needless to say, the antibiotics they are given wind up in the milk you and your family drink.

Pasteurization transforms the physical structure of the proteins in milk, such as casein, and alters the shape of the amino acid configuration into a foreign protein that your body is not equipped to handle. The process also destroys the friendly bacteria found naturally in milk and drastically reduces the micronutrient and vitamin content.

Pasteurization destroys part of the vitamin C in raw milk, encourages the growth of harmful bacteria, and turns milk’s naturally occurring sugar (lactose) into beta-lactose. Beta-lactose is rapidly absorbed in the human body, with the result that hunger can return quickly after a glass of milk – especially in children.

The pasteurization process also makes insoluble most of the calcium found in raw milk. This can lead to a host of health problems in children, among them rickets and bad teeth. And then there’s the destruction of about 20 percent of the iodine available in raw milk, which can cause constipation.

When pasteurized milk is also homogenized, a substance known as xanthine oxidase is created. This compound can play a role in oxidative stress by acting as a free radical in your body.
Why is Government So Fiercely in Favor of Pasteurization?

When the FDA equates drinking raw milk to “playing Russian roulette with your health,” I assume they’re referring to the milk that comes out of most commercial dairies (the same ones they recommend as good sources for your milk).

The following is a brief description from The Humane Society of the United States (whose undercover video also recently prompted the largest beef recall in U.S. history) about what these factory-farm dairies are really like:

“Factory farmed dairy cows are typically kept in indoor stalls or on drylots. A drylot is an outdoor enclosure devoid of grass. Cows raised on drylots usually have no protection from inclement weather, nor are they provided with any bedding or a clean place to rest.

Drylots can hold thousands of cows at one time. Because these lots are only completely cleaned out once -- or at the most, twice -- a year, the filth just keeps building up. Such conditions are not only extremely stressful for the cows, they also facilitate the spread of disease.”
It’s true if you were to drink milk from these cows prior to pasteurization, you could indeed be risking your health.

And when state regulators also get in on the act, it is simply inexcusable government intrusion on the freedom of choice of American consumers.

There’s also the matter of very powerful dairy industry lobbies. What would happen to the majority of the dairy industry if raw milk really caught on? They’d be forced to clean up their acts. Raise healthier cows. Give them access to pasture. As only healthy cows are the ones that you would buy raw milk from.

And this would cost them money … lots of money.
Raw Milk is Health Food

Raw milk from clean, healthy cows bears no comparison – in taste or nutrition – to pasteurized milk. High quality raw milk will always win out over the pasteurized variety.

It’s important to know that the milk you drink will only be as healthy as the cow that produced it. Make sure to source your raw milk from a clean, well-run farm that gives its cows access to pasture.

Raw milk from grass fed cows is full of things that your body will thrive on, including:

healthy bacteria
raw fat
cancer-fighting conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)
It’s not uncommon for people who drink raw milk to report improvement or disappearance of troubling health issues – everything from allergies to digestive trouble to skin problems like eczema.

As David Gumpert mentions in his video, after years of consuming highly processed foods, we are experiencing skyrocketing rates of chronic, debilitating conditions like asthma, obesity and diabetes.

Pasteurized milk was the very first processed food we were exposed to, and countless numbers of people are experiencing all kinds of health troubles, from digestive upset to perhaps even autism.

This is why even organic milk, which should be from relatively healthy cows, is STILL not a healthy choice for milk, as it is still pasteurized.

Yet, many people thrive on raw dairy. As with nearly any food, the closer you consume it to its natural state, the better. And this is also true for milk.
Are You Ready to Join the Raw Milk Revolution?

Fortunately, no matter how far public health officials go to discredit the benefits of raw milk, a growing number of Americans are choosing natural dairy sources, even though they may be technically breaking their local law.

If you’re still on the fence, I suggest you talk to people in your area who drink raw milk and eat raw dairy products. I assure you there are more raw-milk drinkers around than you may think.

And you don’t have to stop with milk. Most raw-milk providers also offer other wonderful raw dairy products like cheeses, sour cream, kefir, yogurt, butter, and fresh cream. The flavor of these dairy products is incomparable -- rich, creamy, sweet and incredibly fresh.

Visit RealMilk.com for sources of raw dairy products near you.

You might also consider getting involved with organizations like the Weston A. Price Foundation and the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund who are working toward true freedom of choice for American consumers

Highlights from my fav book Nourishing Traditions

In no period of our history as a nation have Americans been so concerned about the subject of diet and nutrition. Yet if we accept the premise that what we eat determines our health, then we must add the observation that in no peroid of our history as a nation have Americans eaten so poorly, a statement that the most cursory survey of current statistics can prove.
Although heart disease and cancer were rare at the turn of the century, today these two diseases strike with increasing frequency, in spite of billions of dollars in reseach to combat them, and in spite of tremendous advances in diagnostic and surgical techniques. In America, one person in three dies of cancer, one in three suffer from allergies, one in ten will have ulcers and one in five will is mentally ill. Continuing this grim litany, one out of five pregnancies ends in miscarriages and one quarter of a million infants are born with a defect each year. Other degenerative diseases-arthritis, multiple sclerosis, digestive disorders, diabetes, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's, epilepsy and chronic fatigue- afflict a significant majority of our citizens, sapping the energy and the very life blood of our nation. Learning disabilities such as dyslexia and hyperactivity afflict seven million young people. THESE DISEASES WERE ALSO EXTREMELY RARE ONLY A GENERATION OR TWO AGO.
...MOST tragically, these diseases, formely the purview of the very old, now strike our children and those prime in life.
Americans spend one dollar out of every fourteen for medical services, or over $800 billion yearly - more then than the national deficit, the food bill and the profits of all US corporations combined-yet we have little to show for this tremendous drain on our rescources.
...Chemical sensitivities and problems with the immune system abound. We have almost forgotten that our natural state is ONE OF BALANCE, WHOLENESS AND VITALITY.

Gluten-Free Bountiful Banana Bread!
20. Apr, 2009 Categories: Eat Well, Recipes by Joy McCarthy 0 Comments



This banana bread is fluffy as can be (even with brown rice flour), full of flavour and bursting with nutrition!

◦Bananas are a source of vitamin B6 and C, potassium and manganese (for the knees).
◦Brown rice flour has protein, is gluten free and lower in the glycemic index than most other flours
◦For a sugar-free option substitute the sugar for Stevia
Ingredients

1 cup of mashed bananas

3/4 cup sucanat sugar

1 tsp natural vanilla

2 eggs

1/4 cup organic melted butter

1.25 cups of brown rice flour

3/4 tsp aluminum-free baking powder

1/2 cup pecans, walnuts or pumpkin seeds

Option: 1/3 cup of organic chocolate chips (this makes it VERY decadent)

Method: Combine banana, sugar, vanilla and melted butter in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Mix both batches of ingredients together and stir well. Grease a medium size loaf pan and pour mixture into it. Sprinkle cinnamon, sugar and oats on top for a little crunch! Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Cool for about 10 minutes before you remove it from the pan. It tastes amazing with some honey whipped butter!

Enjoy

Joyous
** this is a recipe I found on Joyous Health by Joy McCarthy and my family loves it! I used Xylitol instead of sugar or Stevia

Some changes that we are working on...

Here is my list of things that I want to work on...

We are looking at looking at joining some co-ops. I am really excited about this. Reasons being that I think it will be a great way to save some money, meet some people on the same journey of healthy eating and get some great food!!
Learning that meat, butter, eggs and the like (grass-fed and free-range) is really good for you has opened a world of new recipes and food for our family (check into the Sally Fallon cookbook Nourishing Traditions if you have heard and believed otherwise) Even the small amount of these foods that we have added back into our diet so far have made a difference in the way we feel. The anger I feel against those doctors who tell you to switch your kid to low fat diets!!! We are looking to switch the whole family over to RAW milk soon! We are looking for some good Jersey cows and the freshest milk possible just like 'back in the day'. Check realmilk.com if you are on the same journey.
We are looking for organic produce, free range eggs and grass fed meat as well. I want to add more wild fish to our diet. mmmm! dedicating the next few days to finding, buying and picking out food and recipes... I can't wait to get started cooking!
and last but not least we are looking at sproughting/soaking and graining our own grains!!
Where do you get your favorite fresh whole food? I would love to hear!

New Beginnings!

I feel like this is the beginning for me. After figuring out that food has the awesome power to heal and destroy I have done my best in trying to feed my family better. I have done great at taking out the bad but not so well at adding in the good. I have been busy watching kids and keeping up with life itself and I now know that taking charge of mine and my family's health need to be #1! And so now with the new baby on the way (due in June!) my husband and I have decided that its a good time to stop watching kids at my home and focus on our family. I do wonder how my 3 year old will handle it... I mean, I am the one who gets really ill from certain foods and sugar so that means my husband and child get it more then me. He is still used to certain things. I want it to be a fun journey. One that we can all do together and learn and grow from. So now I have 3 days left of watching the kids and next week I start on some new ways of living, of growing and of healing and I can't wait!