It’s a controversial topic, but I’d love for you to join the conversation! Did you know that milk may actually be bad for your bones? Learn the difference between raw & pasteurized milk and the best way to build bone strength, boost your immunity, and lose weight!
Raw Milk: Is it Good or Bad?-Episode #014
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Our family has been drinking raw milk from a local Mennonite farmer for the past 4 years. It is not pasteurized or homogenized. It stays fresh much longer than store bought, and it tastes SO much better! What’s the highest temp the milk can be heated to (to make yogurt) without killing the health benefits?
Typically you want to keep it below 118 degrees. That is the point at which many of the probiotics and enzymes will be destroyed.
Thank you!
Great video on the raw milk Dr. Axe. My family and I have been buying raw milk and butter for 1.5 years now and we love it! Store bought organic milk does not compare to raw milk. I will share this video with some of my extended family and hopefully they will try it.
Dr. Axe,
Hey, I was wondering if you would share where you get your raw dairy from in Nashville? I actually need to gain about 10 pounds and would love to be able to use raw dairy to help, but want a tried and true farmer. Thanks
Ashley Sweeney (wife of Ben Sweeney…I think you guys met at the last conference :))
Hi Ashley,
You can check out http://www.realmilk.com to find a great list of reputable farmers with raw dairy products.
I am diabetic so I try to keep an accurate count of my carb intake. I make a smoothie with raw milk every morning, and I was wondering if there is any difference in the carb count of pasteurized milk and raw milk. I think pasteurized whole milk has somewhere around 11g.
Shelby – the carb count will be about the same, but it will be less damaged for lactose and will have more enzymes and other nutrients, so it won’t affect your blood sugar as much as pasteurized.
Our Nashville Whole Foods stores have “minimally pasteurized”/non-homogenized organic milk from a local dairy in College Grove….what are your thoughts on that? Thanks!
Great question… I’m very interested to hear this answer!
Christie – The organic non-homogenized flash-pasteurized is a much better option than conventional. So Raw is best but some people may do OK on that :)
I really love to hear a medical doctor actually talk about true health and how to have it! Thanks for your work, Dr. Axe. I have been drinking raw milk now for over five years, and I believe it was one tool in helping me overcome thyroid, adrenal and other health issues. I am not there yet, but have come a long way in healing. I use my milk to make kefir, and also to blend with raw eggs (from a farm) for a milk “shake” among other things Can’t beat raw milk!
My little 5 year old sister was recently diagnosed with a very serious fungal infection behind her eye she was hospitalized for several weeks and underwent 3 surgeries. The fungus is one that they say is everywhere and usually people with sick immune systems get this. NOT healthy people. She is Healthy and they say that this was just a fluke!
HOWEVER, my family drinks raw milk….
and since her sickness, my father has banned raw milk from the house. He is a biologist, and he says that hes afraid that she got the fungal infection from the rawness of the milk?
Is this possible??? Thanks, Chirstah
Christah – You can’t get an infection from the rawness of the milk. However if it wasn’t handled properly like many foods it could have bothered her system.
Raw goat’s milk is great! I make raw cow’s milk yogurt too.
I am allergic to milk. I have been drinking Almond milk for a while now. I was drinking soy milk for years but a few years ago found out that was not that good for me, so I switched to almond. ANYWAYS…. would raw milk be easier to digest for me than the regular milk that I have been allergic to since I was little? I can tolerate yogurt so I was thinking maybe the probiotics in the yogurt is what makes the difference?
Probably. We know several people who were severely lactose intolerant, and our kids were allergic to dairy, who can tolerate raw milk just fine. Our children are doing great on raw milk. It’s worth a try, as it’s clearly less processed and has all those beneficial enzymes! Try it (if you can get access) and find out!
THANKS! I live in Nashville I’m pretty sure they sell it at the farmers market downtown.
Liz – Often times people who are allergic to pasteurized milk do great with raw milk. Another option is raw goat milk, goat yogurt, and goat cheese which are very easy to digest.
Thank You Dr. Axe.
What are your opinions on powdered goat’s milk? We use it for our toddlers. The one we have used seems wholesome. myenburg.com
I just started drinking raw milk and I admit was a bit hesitant to try it since I have been taught that raw was bad for us. I think it tastes amazing compared to other milks out there. I order my milk from westwindfarms.com
They open orders on Sunday and close them on Thursday. You can pick them up at the Franklin farmers market on Saturdays. There are other ways for delivery but they are costly.
Also, the milk is labeled for pet use only. I guess they have to do this to protect themselves since it is illegal to sell raw milk for human consumption.
We have been drinking raw milk for about two years now. I was lactose intolerant before but I have no problems drinking raw milk. Both of my daughter’s had eczema before we started drinking raw milk keiffer. I love being able to make my own butter, yogurt, and cheese. My husband finds it amusing that I look at someone giving my children pasteurized milk, the same way I would look at them trying to give one of my kids a cigarette.
Thank you, Hallie. You made me laugh! I get that same feeling when I see what people put in their cart at the grocery store.
Hi – I am just confused why there havent been so many health issues if drinking milk is that bad for you? So skim milk is like drinking sugar and oil? Why haven’t I gained 75 pounds and developed heart disease? I’m so glad to know this now. What about organic milk? Still the same? And Soy Milk too? Can you speak to the calorie/fat count in real milk? Is it considered good fat? Because i read on realmilk.com that they don’t recommend skim raw milk. Sorry for all the questions I just want to be sure I do the right thing considering I drink milk multiple times a day!
Preach it! Why do people insist on trying to make “God food” better? We quit milk awhile ago because it just seemed nasty. I’ve always hoped to taste real, raw milk. You’ve encouraged me to start the hunt.
Thanks for your info on raw cows milk. I talked to another health doctor who believed raw goats milk is better for you than raw cows milk. I milked goats for years and hate the taste of goats milk so I never drank/drink it. Raw cows milk is a different story, tastes much better. Glad to know it is very healthy. Thanks
Great video, very informative. I may show it to our patients. We have been enjoying raw milk and use it to make homemade raw butter, cheese, kefir, and yogurt. I also love personally knowing the farmer from whom we get our meat and dairy.
This is great, Dr. Josh! We are on a farm right now and get to drink fresh, raw goat and cow milk every morning! Yum! Plus, we hear from the farmers that drinking the milk of a cow or goat is akin to drinking a concentrate of whatever they eat. Raw milk as the new greens drink? :P
Great informative video. Love raw milk! After nursing my three sons, who more or less weaned themselves around 10 mos. of age, i switched them directly to raw milk from our own Jersey milk cows. Instead of giving them synthetic formula which does nothing to promote a healthy body ecology, i know i am helping nourish their bodies. As a side note, they are ages 4, 3 and 1 and have never been on an antibiotic which i attribute to their real food diet and colloidal silver/dmso applications for any infections that do occur. I especially enjoy making and consuming kefir from raw milk, which amps up all of raw milk’s nutritional values.
I’ve recently been diagnosed with Celiac Disease and have been gluten from since June 21. What gluten free alternative of Berry Greens can you recommend? Thanks.
My family switched to raw milk a little over a year ago. You can’t beat the taste and my self, husband and teenage son all love it. We all feel great and have no problems with any of it. We now have a milk share with West Wind Farms which milks Jersey cows which have the richest milk! We also visited the farm to see how the cows were kept on their sustainable organic farm.
I was curious and interested in how you went about getting a milk share at West Wind Farm? I would be interested in it for me and my family. I’d appreciate any info. Do you specify that you want a raw milk share to them when you contact them. Thank you so much.
Sherwood
Go to http://www.westwindfarms.com
Look at pet milk. All raw milk in TN is labelled for pet consumption only. Their phone number is also on their website.
Dr. Axe, I grew up on a farm many years ago and drank raw milk. Only one major problem – it made me feel so sick to my stomach every time I drank it. As I got older and we moved from the farm, we began to purchase pasteurized milk. I didn’t feel as sick drinking it. Yet, I still can’t drink anything more than 1% milk. By the way, we skimmed the fat off the raw milk. So, I don’t think it had anything to do with that. What do you suggest?
I love raw milk!!!!!! My daughter is actually allergic to all (pasteurized) milk products except those made using raw milk. Our Dr said that she is probably allergic to the antibiotics in the (pasteurized) milk products.
I’ve been drinking raw milk for about 6 weeks now, with a handful of blueberries and an egg yolk. And I am feeling better!
We have been drinking raw milk for the past 6 months now, and love it! I purchase from a co-op, because it is difficult to find. Fortunately we live in an agricultural area. I visited the farm, and was very impressed by the cleanliness. Also, they are inspected 2X per month! I wonder how many times per month farms that pasturize get inspected? I have been making many diet and lifestyle changes over the last year, after I was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease. I feel so much better! It is definately worth the extra effort and expense to buy raw.
Dr. Axe, will the fat content in raw milk hurt a person who has gallstones and is having gall bladder attacks? And, on that subject, is there anything that you would recommend to help heal gall bladder trouble? I’ve done a cleanse, and am now juicing a mixture of carrot, cucumber, and beets twice a day. I’m trying to keep from having surgery.
First of all, thank you so so much for covering this!! My good friend only uses raw goat’s milk, but I read that using raw milk is dangerous because of bacteria from the animal getting into the milk. So I just gave up and became vegan. If raw milk is good for the body though and I can find it at a farm that is good to their animals, I would be up for replacing my soy milk with raw milk. So how about raw goat’s milk? Is it just preference or is goat’s milk better than cow’s milk or vice versa? I have easy access to raw goat’s milk. So I would love to know! Thank you!!
Our entire family drinks raw milk.
Been drinking raw milk most of my life. The few years that I drank pasturized, I was always sick. My children have been raised on raw milk, both cow and goat. Turns out I am allergic to goats, sadly, so can’t milk my own any more for myself, but we have a wonderful source of raw cow milk available to us now. Probably a good third of our daily calories come from dairy here, at our place, primarily in the form of raw, whole milk from Brown Swiss cattle.
I am thinking about doing the Maker’s Diet to try to regain my health and I am wondering if it would be ok to do raw cow’s milk istead of the goat’s milk that is required in the book as I already have a wonderful source for the cow’s milk and am already purchasing it. Thanks a million. Just been introduced to your website and it is my new favorite!!!
I have been drinking raw whole milk from Organic Pastures in Fresno, CA. Today, I noticed that they also sell skim milk. I purchased it just to try it. I know this is a reputable company for raw milk and the treatment of animals. So I trusted their skim milk, as it is not processed.
However, after reading some of your articles, I’ve had second thoughts. Should I go back to purchasing raw whole milk? I want to ensure I’m getting all the benefits of the milk and none of the bad stuff. Should I be drinking whole raw milk?
My family has been drinking raw milk now for 2 years and I will not drink pasturized milk even if that is the only option somewhere. We feel great, my husband has been drinking it even after he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. His blood sugars are under control and he has come off his metformin. We love Raw Whole Cow Milk.
My husband and I are trying to lose weight.We have recently added raw milk to our diet and love it.My question is what should be our daily intake of raw dairy, especially raw milk?