I question how possible it would be for the rare politician who truly appreciates philosophies that contradict mainstream belief to have enough financial support to actually win an election. Either way, consumer demand can be a very influential force that should certainly be considered as well, if not instead.

According to The Untold Story of Milk, there is evidence of humans consuming milk as far back as 30,000 years ago which is about three times as long as we’re believed to have been consuming grains.

Although I agree that dairy and grain were an unlikely factor in our evolution, the work of Dr. Weston A. Price has convinced me that they can both be part of a diet that promotes optimal health. As Jason says below, there is both anecdotal and scientific evidence supporting numerous health benefits associated with raw milk. However, I also think it’s important to keep a balanced perspective and realize that dairy and grain are two of the most problematic foods in the modern diet. While some of this may be the result of modern farming and processing practices, this isn’t the case in regard to problems like A1 beta casein and gluten sensitivity, and these are important issues that shouldn’t be overlooked.

If you’re not covinced by googling the following:

“humans evolved milk” (NO QUOTATION) = 8,040,000 hits

nothing will.

What would be a compelling reason to drink raw cow or goat milk? Spend a few weeks reading the posts by real people with real health problems that end up being eliminated or drastically reduced. Just google “raw milk”. Then, try it yourself. No one thing is for “every-BODY”. My body responses negatively to huge abouts of vegetable matter. I found this out through many many years going against my genetic heritage and gut instincts (literally and figuratively). Know thyself – read, study and see how it fits.

Your point on “grains” can also be easily addressed if you research how cultures for centuries learned how to properly prepare grains, seeds and nuts to eliminate or reduce enzyme inhibitors and other elements that allowed them to be digested and all the nutrients assimilated.

Jason

However, I’m not convinced that humans should be drinking the milk of other animals raw or otherwise. I haven’t done a lot of research on the issue but I believe that people have only been doing it for the last 9000 years or so, which seems to be roughly the same amount of time they have been growing and consuming grains, some of which are definitely bad for your health. Is it a coincidence that both came about at the same time or a natural consequence of farming? If consuming grains can be bad for your health isn’t it reasonable to suspect that drinking cow’s milk also might also be unhealthy? What is the compelling reason to do it?

Just came across your site on Google Search by accident. Very nice site. I can tell you put a lot of hard work into every article you write. Great information too! Nice job on everything.

What do you think about vat pasteurization? I have been looking for raw milk from local farmers for a little while around my area. I haven’t had much luck, but I have found milk that has been vat pasteurized. Do you know anything about this?

Thanks again Vin. Keep up the great work.

Warm regards,
Josh

Thanks for your support and especially for sharing your story about being a vegan. While I respect the choices of those who follow such a diet, I agree that it’s very difficult to support optimal health without protein and fat from animals. Raw dairy is an especially good option for those who are willing to abandon their vegan diets but are still unwilling to eat meat or fish.

Congratulations on making such a great recovery! Metabolic Typing has made a significant difference for me too. It sounds like you must be a protein type! That’s usually the case with people who have a lot of trouble with a vegan or vegetarian diet.

Being a vegan for over 13 years almost wrecked my health permanently. It wasn’t until I realized that not a single human on this planet can live a healthy and long life without eating somekind of animal protein and fat – be it fish or land animal. At the very least eat eggs and raw milk. My recovery is the result of a base diet of raw eggs and raw goat/cow milk. My body soaked it up like a sponge. No more colds (and no more feeling cold), no more cold sores, no more skin problems, better eye sight, stronger body overall. I do a morning kettlebell routine I wouldn’t have had the energy to do while restricting animal proteins from my diet. My metabolic type is clearly not centered around huge amounts of vegetable matter (moderate/lite only). I only wish I’d found out about metabolic typing 13 years ago.

I definitely agree that the quality of soil and the resulting quality of the forage are key issues. Not just for the energy requirements of dairy cattle, but for farming in general. Having read Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, I know that Weston Price himself was definitely an advocate of the importance of soil quality, especially relating to the rapidly growing spring and fall grasses that he associated with his discovery of “Activator X” (now believed to be vitamin K₂).

I also agree that A1 beta casein is an important issue to consider. Devil in the Milk by Keith Woodford is a great resource on this matter.

Very clear and articulate. I enjoy reading what you write. Here are a couple thoughts.

The number 1 way to increase the health of lactating cows, goats etc. is to increase the brix reading of the forages when harvested. This goes back to a proper fertility and amendment program for the soil.

When forages are at 16 brix or higher the milk quality has a phenomenal taste. You have to taste it to really understand the immense improvement in flavor as compared to dairy animals eating 12 brix forages. With high brix forages the need for grain (concentrated energy) is negligible since the energy requirements are being met by the forages. The weakness of the WAPF approach to raw organic milk is the absence of an objective standard to measure forage quality such as a brix reading.

The second aspect to consider when talking about cow’s milk is the issue of A1 vs. A2 milk. If you contact http://www.acresusa.com and ask them for a reprint of their recent interview on that subject it will be quit enlightening. This is an issue that needs to be discussed and offered to the discerning public.

Keep up the good work Vin,

Jon

I’m glad to hear that I’ve inspired you to do some reading! I can’t help wanting to share a lot of what I read about, so it’s always nice to know when it makes a difference.

Although I think there are a few exceptions, I completely agree about it being best to consume food in it’s raw and unaltered state. It’s what nature intended, and to me, it’s a voice of reason to balance the technical flaws, politics, and conflicts of interest that often influence research.

When I soak nuts, I put them in a glass bowl, fill it with filtered water, add some sea salt, and let it sit overnight. The next day, I drain all of the water out of the bowl, use whatever nuts I need to prepare meals, and store the rest in the refrigerator.

I’d say that homogenization is definitely worse then pasteurization from the perspective that it’s totally unnecessary. It’s primary purpose of preventing the cream from separating in milk is just a matter of convenience.

I don’t know of any good reason to consume milk separately from other foods. I don’t believe in the food combining concept except perhaps for people who need to do it because of compromised digestion. I’d be happy to read more into it if you have any good resources to recommend.

As you can see from my response to Bill Marler below, I agree that this can be a complicated issue, and the politics behind all of it certainly doesn’t help. There’s even more to consider in regard to beta casein which I’ll be writing about soon.

Thanks for the book recommendation, I added it to my reading list.