Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My husband is well aware of the pros and cons of raw vs. pasteurized. He grew up in BFE South Dakota- his best friends family owned their own dairy farm. He grew up drinking raw milk and pasteurized. He is fine with drinking either
I've never heard of raw milk helping with thyroid issues, and I wouldn't trust that as a solution to that problem. I have thyroid problems also, have taken medication for it since I was a young child, and have been able to live and function quite well with a few adjustments along the way. I also had to take calcium supplements as a child because I hated milk, along with vitamin d supplements. I don't take them anymore, but try to get them from other sources in my diet. But I will always be required to take thyroid meds for the rest of my life, and I've never once heard an endrocinologist suggest raw milk.
Whatever your reasons are for wanting to make the switch is totally up to you. Personally, I don't see how the benefit is worth the risk, especially with children, but I suppose if it can truly help with a chronic condition such as yours, that's a benefit for you. But as far as your health and thyroid problems go, perhaps you could talk to other doctors or look further into how raw milk helps thyroid problems. I would be very interested to see if it works for you. Good luck.
What I am wondering though, since my young son has only had pasteurized milk (me as well, but not worried about me), will making a 100% switch over cause any stomach issues? Should we do it half and half for awhile at first? Does it really need to be cultured with a tablespoon of store bought buttermilk first and fermented before allowing him to drink it like I have heard some people say elsewhere?
Thank you for any tips if you have made the switch for you and your family
Didn't you say your doctor has OK'd raw milk for you?
This is a question you should be asking him. Or your son's pediatrician.
BTW: I've known people who KNOW dairy farming (Amish) and they wouldn't drink raw milk unless they knew the farmer, how he milks his cows, how he handles the milk (post-cow) what he feeds his cows, where he milks them, how he milks them, etc. Your milk is only as good as the farmer's ability to give you a safe, quality product.
What I wanted to ask was parents who made switch over to see if they just went 100% over, or did half & half (regular milk with raw) and just to ask how things have gone for them since the change. I have found people who made the switch now and I have appreciated them sharing their experience with me
Didn't you say your doctor has OK'd raw milk for you?
This is a question you should be asking him. Or your son's pediatrician.
BTW: I've known people who KNOW dairy farming (Amish) and they wouldn't drink raw milk unless they knew the farmer, how he milks his cows, how he handles the milk (post-cow) what he feeds his cows, where he milks them, how he milks them, etc. Your milk is only as good as the farmer's ability to give you a safe, quality product.
It really all does come down to the treatment of the cows. The issue with cows in general is that they're mainly fed corn, which their stomachs are simply not designed to digest. But corn is cheap, so it makes up the bulk of the diet. This causes all kinds of health problems like ulcers and liver disease. So the cows are pumped full of antibiotics to try to avoid this.
But it isn't as simple as switching to grass-fed dairy either. What most people forget is that cows don't produce milk unless they have a calf. But how long they continue to produce milk after birthing is a product of breeding. Dairy breeds are selectively breed to continue producing milk for much longer than you would see in the wild. They're also breed to grow faster to fit in more pregnancy cycles. So the cows are pregnant and producing milk for most of their lives without a break, in a way that doesn't really resemble a 'natural' cycle. This has health consequences of its own with the immune system, making the cows more apt to catch infections including mastitis.
And that's the part of it that I don't think just switching to grass-fed milk avoids...the cows are still dairy cows, breed specifically to produce milk much longer than they should.
Raw milk? No thanks. Pasteurization was invented for an extremely good reason: it makes milk safe to drink while extending shelf life. Homogenization is a cosmetic thing, so who cares.
Quote:
Proponents of unpasteurized milk make the argument that if milk is obtained from humanely raised cows that are grass fed and handled hygienically, then there is little problem with disease.[10] However, raw milk can become contaminated in a number of ways: by coming into contact with cow feces or bacteria living on the skin of cows, from an infection of the cow's udder, or from dirty equipment, among others. Improperly handled raw milk is responsible for nearly three times more hospitalizations than any other foodborne disease outbreak, making it one of the world's most dangerous food products.[11]
It really all does come down to the treatment of the cows. The issue with cows in general is that they're mainly fed corn, which their stomachs are simply not designed to digest. But corn is cheap, so it makes up the bulk of the diet. This causes all kinds of health problems like ulcers and liver disease. So the cows are pumped full of antibiotics to try to avoid this.
But it isn't as simple as switching to grass-fed dairy either. What most people forget is that cows don't produce milk unless they have a calf. But how long they continue to produce milk after birthing is a product of breeding. Dairy breeds are selectively breed to continue producing milk for much longer than you would see in the wild. They're also breed to grow faster to fit in more pregnancy cycles. So the cows are pregnant and producing milk for most of their lives without a break, in a way that doesn't really resemble a 'natural' cycle. This has health consequences of its own with the immune system, making the cows more apt to catch infections including mastitis.
And that's the part of it that I don't think just switching to grass-fed milk avoids...the cows are still dairy cows, breed specifically to produce milk much longer than they should.
It doesn't matter what the cow is fed. Milk is sterile before it comes out of the udder. What matters is if there is bacteria ON the udder, in the collection can, on the hands of the milker, on the milking equipment, etc.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
