Real Milk -- milk that is pasture-raised, full fat and unprocessed—is an inherently safe food. That’s because raw milk contains numerous bioactive components that
- Kill pathogens in the milk (lactoperoxidase, lactoferrin, leukocytes, macrophages, neutrophils, antibodies, medium chain fatty acids, lysozyme, B12 binding protein, bifidus factor, beneficial bacteria);
- Prevent pathogen absorption across the intestinal wall (polysaccharides, oligosaccharides, mucins, fibronectin, glycomacropeptides, bifidus factor, beneficial bacteria);
- And strengthen the immune system (lymphocytes, immunoglobulins, antibodies, hormones and growth factors).
No other food that we consume contains a built-in safety system like the one in raw milk.
Part of that safety system is in the fat in the form of medium chain fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins A and D. In children and the elderly, drinking skim milk results in increased intestinal distress.
Of course, this protective system can be overwhelmed, as in confinement dairies where cows live in incredible filth, often forced to stand in manure. We recommend raw milk only from cows allowed to graze on pasture.
Of interest is the fact that there are no reports of death from fluid raw milk in the medical literature, going back over fifty years; but there have been dozens of deaths from pasteurized milk reported in the literature during the same timeframe. This is all the more remarkable considering that most of the raw milk that people drink is not regulated.
