Guest Post by the creator of the Truth About Fat Burning Foods, Nick “The Nutrition Nerd” Pineault
Hey, get ready because the Nutrition Nerd is back with the raw truth for you.
Just poured myself a large glass of fatty raw milk, and I’m so eager to destroy this one particular nutrition myth that I feel like I could rip my shirt and grow a yellow mustache while I’m at it. That’s how enthusiastic this stuff gets me.
Before we address all the B.S. you hear in the media about raw milk’s safety, let’s ask the question: “Why raw milk?”
George Hackenschmidt Knew The Truth…
Raw milk is not only amazing because it’ll bring you back memories of the good ol’ days (when life was as simple as eating, sleeping and staring at boobs).
It’s a nutrition powerhouse that strong men like George Hackenschmidt and Bernarr McFadden used to thrive on. (1)
CLA: Raw milk (from grass-fed cows, which is very common among raw milk farmers) contains conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), while pasteurized milk does not. (2,3)
CLA is a proven fat burner and even offers protection against cancer. You want CLA.
Minerals: Raw milk contains more manganese, copper and iron. (4)
Vitamins: Raw milk contains vitamin C that’s usually destroyed during pasteurization. It also contains vitamin B6 which is very hard to absorb when heated. (5,6)
Vitamin A in raw milk is also more bioavailable, because pasteurization destroys the beta-lactoglobulin (a heat-sensitive protein) that helps you absorb it properly.
Clearly, raw milk is superior to pasteurized milk on a nutritional standpoint.
But what I like the most about raw milk is that everyone (including me) seem to tolerate it better.
Even if there are not formal studies that “prove” that raw milk is easier to digest than pasteurized milk, the amount of anecdotal, observation proof is very solid.
As an example, the Weston A. Price Foundation conducted an informal survey of over 700 families, and determined that over 80% of those diagnosed with lactose intolerance no longer suffer from symptoms after switching to raw milk. (7)
It’s not clear what makes raw milk easier to digest, but it might have to do with the enzymes that are destroyed during pasteurization or the different antimicrobial components in it.
In the end, you’ll have to try it and make up your own. Chances are you’ll feel like a million bucks even if you’re so skinny that you need to go GOMAD.
But Is Raw Milk Safe?
If we listened to the FDA and their anti-raw milk SQUAT force, raw milk is more dangerous than heroin.
But when some really smart people – not me, but functional medicine expert Chris Kresser – look at the facts (8), it’s clear that the FDA either doesn’t know crap about mathematics, or simply have a hidden agenda to bring down raw milk producers…
Here’s the thing.
Considering the fact that raw milk is now consumed by more than 9.4 M people in the US alone (9) and that there hasn’t been a single death related to raw milk consumption since the 1980s – it seems like the raw milk scare is a big mess created by the milk industry and the media.
But what about food poisoning? Is drinking raw milk riskier than playing Russian roulette with a full barrel?
Not at all, if you believe this latest 2008 report by the CSPI (10).
It clearly shows that…
- Seafood is 29X more likely to make you sick than dairy
- Poultry is 15X more likely to make you sick than dairy
- Eggs are 13X more likely to make you sick than dairy
- Beef is 11X more likely to make you sick than dairy
- Pork is 8X more likely to make you sick than dairy
- Produce is 4X more likely to make you sick than dairy
Warning: You Should Stop Eating Food
If you still think that raw milk is dangerous, that’s really what you should do.
Make sure to avoid fruits, veggies, pork, beef, eggs, poultry and seafood.
Also, make sure to avoid driving your car, because you have 750 times more chance to die from a car accident (1/8,000) than to get sick drinking raw milk (1/6,000,000). (11)
That being said, if you choose to opt-out of the raw milk craze and that you happen to live in a state where it’s sold legally… enjoy the nutrition.
To avoid any possible contamination issue, make sure your raw milk is kept ice cold at all times, and that’s it’s mostly grass-fed, and even organic if possible. Your farmer can tell you that.
Now, go pour yourself a “cold one”.