Got milk?
Ehhh, not so much.
I hate pasteurized milk.
To each their own, but I prefer real coconut milk/almond milk/raw milk to pasteurized milk.
I also prefer cold pressed juice to pasteurized orange juice.
Ok let’s back up though, first thing first: WTH is pasteurization?? Because it’s a big scary word ( in my opinion ) & kinda scary. I’ve teamed up with Jordan from Volkalize to bring you guys everything I know about pasteurization.
Ahem!
Let’s start with milk. According to Natural News, “the popular milk campaign has been very successful in reversing declining milk sales in America over recent years. Common teaching is that milk is a ‘perfect food,’ for building strong bodies in children and preventing osteoporosis as we age. The modern dairy products that are available in most supermarkets are nothing like the unpasteurized, unhomogenized milk of yesteryear however. Today’s milk looks the same, but it is not the same product. Pasteurization was discovered by Louis Pasteur in the mid-1800s. Pasteurization compromises your milk. It destroys vitamins and interferes with calcium absorption. When you boil a liquid, you kill any bacteria and make that food sterile. In the process, you can’t help but affect the taste and nutritional value of that food. Pasteurization is the process of heating a liquid to a high enough temperature to kill certain bacteria and disable certain enzymes. Milk can be pasteurized by heating it to a temperature of 145 degrees F for 30 minutes or 163 degrees F for 15 seconds (called flash pasteurization). Ultra High Temperature (UHT) Pasteurization completely sterilizes a liquid. This process is utilized for the “boxes of milk” that can be shelved at room temperature. For UHT Pasteurization, milk is heated to 285 degrees F for a second or two. Many studies have linked consumption of pasteurized milk with lactose intolerance, allergies, asthma, frequent ear infections, gastro-Intestinal problems, diabetes, auto-immune disease, attention deficit disorder and constipation. During a period of rapid population growth, the market for fluid pasteurized milk has declined at 1% per year for the past 20 years. Fewer and fewer consumers can tolerate pasteurized (and ultrapasteurized) milk.”
Ouch…so basically pasteruization destroys vitamins & minerals and is linked to many health issues. Interesting.
We’ll dig deeper though: a lot of people don’t want any bacteria touching their products so in many cases they prefer their food/drink pasteurized. On that note, this article states: “if heating something can destroy the bad bacteria, you better believe that it is going to destroy the good too. What does that leave us with then? Perhaps a miniscule amount of nutrients, but only because most juice manufactures acknowledge this travesty, and attempt to “fortify” their juice with “vitamins”. Hey! On the bright side, 100% juice products are, at least, not chemical ridden, and full of additives, like regular and diet soda pops. When juice is pasteurized, it is heated to a high temperature for a short period of time. Pasteurization destroys bacteria, molds, and unwanted micro-organisms, that might be lurking in the juice. Pasteurization also prolongs shelf-life, making it a much more cost-efficient product.”
Aha!
There’s the billion dollar word: MONEY.
A lot of the reason pasteurization is so popular is because it saves companies money.
Naturally.
So back to the article: “after the pasteurization process, the brightly packaged juices, the ones that can sit for an eternity on the shelves of every market, are about as rich in nutrients as a pack of “natural” gummy worms. And that ain’t saying much. In other words– we are left with sugar. Lots and lots of sugar. Fructose, the kind of sugar that is found naturally in fruit and vegetables, is fine in moderation when consumed R-A-W. This is because the live enzymes and nutrients that chaperon the sugar, offer the body much needed nourishment, and help the body to break down and assimilate itself, all the while, nourishing the body. Fruit and vegetables juices, that are freshly pressed, are quite possibly one of the most hydrating, nourishing and healing drinks you can consume.”
YES.
That’s what I like to hear: hydrating, nourishing, & healing…all these words have absolutely nothing to do with pasteurization.
Now here’s the deal: do what works for YOU. For me, I never drink pasteurized shit & I’ve never been sick from it; in fact, I’ve never felt better ESP after drinking a cold pressed juice. YUM.
& when it comes to milk, I avoid it like the plague. My favorite raw milk ( & products ) are by Organic Pastures. Remember when I talked about raw butter?
More on why I hate pasteurized milk here.
Pretty much “the bottom line is that today’s milk may contain assorted drugs and antibiotics, pesticides from treated grains, bacteria from infected animals, and genetically engineered growth hormones ( nasty-ass GMO’s ), in addition to being chemically altered into something that is incompatible with our bodies ( source ).”
Yuck.
Ok, so what’s your take? Would love to hear your opinion in the comment section below. Also, if you want to engage in a debate regarding pasteurization head over to Volkalize & share your opinions.
{ Check out my last collab with Volkalize on the dangers of BPA here }.
I have always had pasteurized milk as a kid but when became lactose intolerant I found almond milk and haven’t turned back. I find it so much richer in taste and the health benefits are amazing!
Great post 🙂
Hannah xx
I drink a lot of skimmed milk, mainly in my protein shakes. I want to drink better and healthy versions, however I’m allergic to nuts, seeds and coconut! So it only leaves me with oat milk.. Any advice? It’s a right pain being allergic to things that are so good for you!
Thank you! Xxxx
Have you given rice milk a try? Also try a sit down with a nutritionist. Sometimes your regular doc can over-diagnose allergies. You may have more options than you think. (I’m hoping you do!) Careful with skim milk because after processing it basically becomes sugar water. Best of luck to you and your health journey!
Does the same go for organic milk? Is that pasteurized too?
Yes, even organic milk has been pasteurized unless it says “raw” or “unpasteurized” on the bottle. But there are definitely “raw organic milk” companies around and shouldn’t be hard to find
I can’t even drink milk from being lactose. But I’ve been trying different healthier milks so I can enjoy my museli and things like that. Thanks for giving me more reason not to drink milk again! 😀
I totally agree with you. I used to be an AVID milk drinker growing up. I would have like 3 glasses a day. And for the past 2 years I have ONLY drank almond milk, and haven’t touched pasteurized milk with a 12-foot pole and I have never felt better. Thanks for getting this information out there!
http://www.hotdogfoodblog.blogspot.com
I do find this debate quite interesting. It is funny how for the sake of convenience, shelf life, and cost (aka we want things easy) we have created practices such as pasteurization without thinking/understanding the ramifications this would have on the nutrients in food and our bodies ability to tolerate such methods.
With that said, it makes me happy that conversations like this are happening more frequently! Thanks for bringing this up. Definitely food for thought.
LOVE this post. I have been discovering how important clean eating is. My energy and skin have improved so much! I am even trying to kick coffee and alcohol, wish me luck ;). This is why so many people are sick and/or overweight. Companies package things that are “healthy” but are really packed with crap that make you feel like crap. Pay a little more now for the good stuff, and you won’t be knee deep in medical bills later. Thank you Lauryn for educating people, I am so thankful for the day I found your blog.
XOXO,
Stefana
pasteurized milk is nast. ALMOND MILK, of course, rocks! great article Xx
Yick, I hate milk too (it’s kinda of a thing, black people don’t drink a ton of milk anyways, and it was no different in my home), and even reading this article kinda made me gaggy! No milk for me! I stick to my almond milk thank you!
we have the same thoughts as you!! We prefer juice in the raw form as well milk, although we do not drink that much. Occasionally will have raw goat’s milk.
I’ve been following a vegan diet for a little while, and recently decided to go back to being an omnivore. Even though I’m eating animal products again (eggs and meat in moderation), I’m still completely avoiding dairy! At least when I’m at home. (At restaurants I’ll be a liiiittle more relaxed.) But if I WERE to buy any dairy products, they’d be raw from Organic Pastures. I love that you love them! My local co-op carries their products. But just in general, dairy sucks. It benefits us in no way whatsoever. That’s my belief, anyway. Raw organic (and full fat!) dairy has some cool things goin for it, but it still aint going in my cup of tea. Great post. Thanks for sharing!
It seems the milk you posted is only available in CA, are there any other brands that you can recommend that are available elsewhere in the United States.
It’s quite difficult to have un-pasteurised in Australia. It’s illegal for any un-pasteurised milk or cheeses to be sold. There are a couple of loopholes though like owning your own cow or becoming a “Shareholder” of a cow.
Hi,
I do use Milk in moderation (in my coffee & tea) but I go organic. It is pasteurised.
There have been some cases here in Finland that people have got sick from raw- un pasteurised milk, so I dont feel it would be safe to consume.
About cold pressed juices. I hope you would consume the whole fruit, not just a juice. The whole fruit has dietary fiber in it which makes the sugar in a fruit absorb slower. If you drink only the juice and leave out the fiber, it´s same as if you would go for Coke. Juicing vegetables is a different deal. I prefer just Water and eat my fruit and vegetables separately.
I would love to drink raw organic milk, but in small towns its so hard to find. Especially when there’s only one grocery store. Personally, I used to drink milk like crazy when I was young. But now I have many of the problems mentioned above. 🙁
PS regular old pasteurized milk/other dairy makes me break out like crazy! I get acne on my face and the rest of my body as well as eczema on my legs. I notice a huge difference when I don’t consume.
The issue with unpasteurized milk is that it contains some really dangerous bacteria.
So unless you want to take the (high) risk of getting sick you should at least cook your milk if you get it straight from a farmer (if theres even the possibility to do so since it’s pretty restricted by law).
I also found out during my research that – yes – some vitamins die, but that’s only a very very small amount. And (what I found especially interesting) you have a bigger loss of vitamins when you buy milk straight from the farmer and cook it than if you would buy pasteurized milk.
So I guess the only big difference concerning the nutritional aspect is the fact that pasteurization kills lactase which makes it impossible for lactose intolerant people to drink pasteurized milk.
However, milk has many advantages due to calcium and vitamins (prevents osteoporosis, obesity, high blood pressure, heart attacks) so I will still use it a lot.
Still interesting article, as always! I really enjoy blog and am always looking forward to your posts 🙂
(I would post my sources but I guess it wouldn’t really help since they’re all in German. It might also be different here than in the US.. Germany is usually more on the natural side with food compared to the US (talk about GMOs and such things) and Germans are pretty big on dairy :D)
Julia, I appreciate all you’ve had to say. I really hate all the demonization of some big corps because some things are just better. I remember when I was younger that the older generation just thought it was awful if you didn’t do your own fruit and vegetable freezing. I came to realize that the way the companies do it are way better because the food is harvested and flash frozen so it keeps a lot more of the vitamins and nutrients as opposed to you picking your own garden or going to a farmers market because you don’t really know how old that stuff is. I always worked my produce up as fast as I could when doing my own garden, but I have heard where some of the produce at markets can have sat out for at least 3 days. There goes your nutrients. Sometimes I wonder if people come out with all these claims to break the bank of companies and to steer folks to buy their products. I guess we will never know for sure. Smiles.
Shawna, that’s very true. Thank you for pointing it out and making the comparison.
I guess in the end nothing is really “only bad” for you.
What a great post! The thought of milk just gives me an upset stomach. More people need to be educated on this!
I struggle with this topic. Buying any over the counter milk, dairy-free or not drives me to create a pros and con list. It is against the law to sell unpasteurized dairy products in NY state so your options are limited and organic is the best bet. For awhile I stopped using dairy milk entirely but taking a look at the ingredients of almost all nut and coconut milks is pretty scary. Almost all have additives including sugar and even scarier carrageenan, a thickening agent allowed in organic products that has been linked to cancer.
Short of buying a dairy cow (which isn’t going to happen in Brooklyn) or making my own nut milks every three days I think all choices are pretty much a losing battle. Since I’m not lactose intolerant, I primarily use skim milk and substitute non-dairy milks in smoothies or other recipes where using a dairy alternative just tastes better.
You honestly need a PhD to eat food these days. Thank you Lauryn for bringing up these important topics and not being judgmental!
Coconut milk & almond milk taste like heaven. I prefer it 1000x over milk!!
I might be wrong but I’m pretty sure all milk is pasteurized in Canada? I don’t drink it anyways, and stick to almond milk but it’s interesting to know the motive behind the pasteurizing campaign.
My grandparents used to have a dairy farm and they always drank raw milk and actually preferred it. Once pasteurization laws came into effect though, the dairy side became unprofitable so they switched to crops and cattle for beef only. I’ve been looking for raw milk sources near us so we can try it. My hubby grew up on skim milk, drinks a ton of it and sees nothing wrong with it so it’s been a little difficult to persuade him to try something else. I grew up on 2% and whole milk (gasp I know lol) but don’t drink as much anymore. I did find a non homogenized, small batch, low temp pasteurized, locally produced brand available at Whole Foods that I like. It’s JD Country Milk if anyone’s interested and it’s produced in Western KY and sold in KY and TN.
I work in the public health field and I think Pasteurization is great! During the milk making process (from udder to bottle) there are just too many ways bacteria can contaminate a milk supply, even in the cleanest conditions. There are so many things that can be transmitted through milk such as undulant fever, tuberculosis, parasites, brucellosis, etc!
Yes its true that pasteurization can destroy vitamins. But do you know that a lot of producers add back in Vitamin D (and I’m sure other vitamins too) after the pasteurization process? I just feel like milk is just wayyyy too risky to not be pasteurized. I’m sure we have a lot more food borne illnesses and deaths if it weren’t for pasteurized milk.
I only drink almond milk, are there things I should look out for there, too?