Milk in the UK

[Teddy]

I refuse to drink most milk sold in shops in the uk, because of the way the cows are treated and the rubbish that they are fed, injected etc. However, I DO drink organic milk that complies with the soil associations standards I even rang up rachels organic dairy to check how many vaccines/antibiotics their cows were given. I was told that they are all fed on organic grass and only given antibiotics when they are ill (when they do not supply milk). However, I have seen programs on youtube that say that this is illegal. Is this just in the USA? Can I trust organic milk from the UK?

[karen]

Hi Teddy,

 

I don't know about regulations in the UK regarding organic milk, but the more important criteria is that the milk is RAW, not pasteurized. You can take the purest, most organic milk from healthy, grass-fed animals, subject it to pasteurization, and now it's unfit for consumption.

 

So if you can't find raw milk in your area, I would suggest that you don't need to research the issue of whether the pasteurized milk is organic or not. Here in the US we have organic milk that is high heated, and I wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole.

 

Raw milk is totally safe and one of the best health-promoting foods, when the animals are healthy and eating their appropriate diet (grass, not grain). When you talk to the supplier personally, you can be assured about how the animals are treated.

 

You can check www.realmilk.org for sources of raw milk in the UK. Usually raw milk cheese is easier to find than milk, and you'll likely find that in regular food stores especially in Europe.

 

-Karen

Edited February 11, 2009 by karen

[kevin]

Hi Teddy,

 

I don't know about regulations in the UK regarding organic milk, but the more important criteria is that the milk is RAW, not pasteurized. You can take the purest, most organic milk from healthy, grass-fed animals, subject it to pasteurization, and now it's unfit for consumption.

 

So if you can't find raw milk in your area, I would suggest that you don't need to research the issue of whether the pasteurized milk is organic or not. Here in the US we have organic milk that is high heated, and I wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole.

 

Raw milk is totally safe and one of the best health-promoting foods, when the animals are healthy and eating their appropriate diet (grass, not grain). When you talk to the supplier personally, you can be assured about how the animals are treated.

 

You can check www.realmilk.org for sources of raw milk in the UK. Usually raw milk cheese is easier to find than milk, and you'll likely find that in regular food stores especially in Europe.

Teddy, Karen is right, imo. I add my voice to hers in this matter.

 

kevin

[Ian]

I know one or two sources of raw milk in the UK, if these good folks have convinced you. Where abouts are you?

[freeform]

Here's a place that sells organic, unpasteurised goats milk and other dairy products - delivers around the UK.

 

http://www.red23.co.uk/Raw-Unpasteurised-Dairy_c_60.html

[Gerard]

Why humans have to go against the Tao with everything they do. In this case Westerners and their unhealthy habit of consuming animal milk beyond infancy. Do adult animals carry this practice? The answer is simple: No!

 

Why should humans act differently?

 

Just look at our animal brothers and sisters, they can teach us great lessons about the Tao.

 

 

To the OP,

 

Please if you decide to drink milk there are healthier alternatives:

 

1. Soy milk

 

2. Rice milk

 

3. Almond milk (yummy!)

 

4. Coconut milk (excellent if you strictly follow a Thai/Far East diet otherwise in moderation due to its high saturated fat content). Anyway I drank this milk quite often when I was recently in Thailand and it was delicious.

 

 

Cow milk is poison. Look at what it will provide you with:

 

 

1. Pituitary hormones (PRL, GH, TSH, FSH, LH ACTH Oxytocin)

 

 

2. Steroid hormones (Estradiol, Estriol, Progesterone, Testosterone,

 

17-Ketosteroids, Corticosterone, Vitamine D)

 

 

3. Hypothalamic hormones (TRH, LHRH, Somatostatin, PRL-inhibiting

 

factor, PRL-releasing factor, GnRH, GRH)

 

 

4. Thyroid and Parathyroid hormones (T3, T4, rT3, Calcitonin,

 

Parathormone, PTH peptide)

 

 

5. Gastrointestinal peptides (Vasoactive intestinal peptide, Bombesin,

 

Cholecystokinin, Gastrin, Gastrin inhibitory peptide, Pancreatic

 

peptide, Y peptide, Substance P and Neurotensin)

 

 

6. Growth Factors (IGF's (I and II), IGF binding proteins, Nerve growth

 

factor, Epidermal growth factor and TGF alpha, TGF beta, Growth

 

Inhibitors MDGI and MAF, and Platelet derived growth factor

 

 

7. Others... (PGE, PGF2 alpha, cAMP, cGMP, Delta sleep inducing

 

peptide, Transferrin, Lactoferrin, Casomorphin and Erythropoietin

 

 

No wonder why every year young girls' breasts are getting bigger.

 

 

 

 

Edited: lots of typos, lol!

Edited February 12, 2009 by durkhrod chogori

[Teddy]

Thankyou all for your informative repies. Excuse my ignorance, but what actually is the difference between raw and pasteurised milk? Is pasteurisation some kind of irradiation process? Why is raw milk so much better? And what about the pasteurisation process makes milk so bad?? Thanks a lot for your help...

[Ryan T.]

Why humans have to go against the Tao with everything they do. In this case Westerners and their unhealthy habit of consuming animal milk beyond infancy. Do adult animals carry this practice? The answer is simple: No!

 

Why should humans act differently?

 

Just look at our animal brothers and sisters, they can teach us great lessons about the Tao.

To the OP,

 

Please if you decide to drink milk there are healthier alternatives:

 

1. Soy milk

 

2. Rice milk

 

3. Almond milk (yummy!)

 

4. Coconut milk (excellent if you strictly follow a Thai/Far East diet otherwise in moderation due to its high saturated fat content). Anyway I drank this milk quite often when I was recently in Thailand and it was delicious.

 

 

This whole "milk is anti-tao" perspective just doesn't hold water in my book. While I agree that humans should not be so fixated on milk products as they generally aren't needed for good health I really feel to associate us with the animals on such broad terms is an over-simplification.

 

After all humans cook their meat and vegetables. Any other animals do that? So is that against the tao? Not according the TCM. Bringing foods up to a higher temperature for better digestion is something humans do that no other animal does.

 

And the other milks you mention do not exist. They are something that man has created. In fact soy is an inherently unhealthy product that is perpetuated by big agribusiness such as Monsanto, Northrup King and the like. Plus, the phyto-estrogens in soy milk are devastating to anyone except peri- or post-menopausal women.

 

Grain products such as rice or rice milk are patently anti-tao as the ancients were always very wary of this type of agriculture. Grain production absolutely took man out of nature and tethered him to the land in very unnatural ways. In fact most of the modern problems we have are due to this "safe, steady" food supply.

 

So while I agree that humans do not need milk products they are not as patently unhealthy as you have painted them.

 

As for the original question. In the U.S., organic milk cannot be produced using antibiotics or hormones.

 

And yes, unpasteurized milk retains it "healthful" values but people need to make sure they are getting it from a reputable source as it is a living food and is full of bacteria both good and potentially bad. Pasteurization defined.

 

If a person must consume milk, goats milk is probably the best as it is the most structurally similar to human milk.

[Aetherous]

I'm going to go against the norm here and say that milk isn't so bad. People live on it their entire lives, and as long as they keep up a good lifestyle, they're totally fine.

 

I will also say that raw organic milk is the best IF it's not contaminated. Pasteurization gets rid of any harmful pathogens. So if you know of a farmer you trust who has healthy cows, and the milk is known to be good...then drinking raw milk would be the best. There's generally a good reason why the government says "no" to putting raw milk in stores...and that's because many people would get sick from it being contaminated.

 

I don't believe it's such a horrible thing to pasteurize it. It takes away some of the taste, and some of the nutritional value...but it's not poison after that! If you've ever used milk to cook cream of wheat or whatever, then you've pasteurized it. Big deal.

 

Many of us are qigong practitioners...why are we so worried about what we eat and drink? Our bodies are supposed to be healing themselves...if something as simple as drinking milk which mostly everyone does damages us, then what does that say about our practice? The human body is supposed to fix itself...we aren't supposed to be micromanaging it.

 

All that being said...to each their own. If you feel worse as a milk drinker, then follow what feels right to you.

[Ian]

Random milk snippets:

 

Firstly, one thing I've mentioned before: Orphaned animals in zoos are given goat milk. They will refuse cow. Goat seems to have universal applications...so may even be ok for adult humans.

 

Pasteurising is just cooking, Teddy. Kills enzymes. Same debate as the whole raw vs cooked argument generally.

 

I've heard vegan groups claim that up to 3% of mass-produced milk is pus, because of the prevalence of mastitis in dairy herds. Whether true or not, it's a wonderfully grim idea.

 

And Scotty, I generally agree. Everything in moderation, do your practice, don't even think about it...

But then sometimes I think: "What if I had a good practice and a great diet and a healthy lifestyle..."

[Ryan T.]

But then sometimes I think: "What if I had a good practice and a great diet and a healthy lifestyle..."

 

Then you probably wouldn't be on the internets talking about milk and whether or not it's beneficial. You'd be too busy self-actualizing!

[karen]

Here's a good article that describes the major problems with pasteurized milk - way beyond the lack of enzymes. Then there's the issue of factory farming. Factory farmed cows are grossly sick, kept alive and producing milk only because of toxic drugs. Milk from those animals HAS to be pasteurized because the animals are so sick.

 

Look at the pic here of a commercial dairy cow..

 

Milk: It Does a Body Good?

Edited February 12, 2009 by karen

[Tactile]

Why humans have to go against the Tao with everything they do. In this case Westerners and their unhealthy habit of consuming animal milk beyond infancy. Do adult animals carry this practice? The answer is simple: No!

 

Why should humans act differently?

 

Just look at our animal brothers and sisters, they can teach us great lessons about the Tao.

To the OP,

 

Please if you decide to drink milk there are healthier alternatives:

 

1. Soy milk

 

2. Rice milk

 

3. Almond milk (yummy!)

 

4. Coconut milk (excellent if you strictly follow a Thai/Far East diet otherwise in moderation due to its high saturated fat content). Anyway I drank this milk quite often when I was recently in Thailand and it was delicious.

Cow milk is poison.

 

I'm suprised that you would rank rice and soy milk above real raw milk as they are both industrial products. Surely the most natural food is food in a natural state without any processing (the single key element of a succesful diet). Raw milk fits this criteria perfectly and there have been many native tribes, most notably the masai, which have thrived with raw milk a big part of their diet. In todays world of agriculture, milk is rarely obtained in a fresh state, so that's a different issue.

 

OTOH, I have to agree that coconut milk is good for you. You don't even have to care about the saturated fat, it's really not bad for you (off topic but regarding coconut fat you can check http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009...background.html )

[Gerard]

Answer is lactose intolerance plus all the junk that cows are fed with.

 

Anyway I don't understand about the West's obsession about taking animal milk? Why is it necessary.

 

I have stopped taking animal milk 6 years ago and never felt better in my life. My stomach was constantly bloated because of cow milk and; I experienced rumbling sounds in the lower belly; flatulence as well as good dosis of phlegm every morning.

 

Here's a pic of myself proving I am not trolling this thread (and let alone for ego purposes):

 

 

 

 

Healthy looking individual that doesn't consume animal milk.

 

 

I repeat one more time: There is no need to consume animal milk for an adult human. Same goes for vegetable milk, no need either. Personally I consume soy milk simply because it gives a better taste to the fruit shakes I prepare every day.

[karen]

About soy milk, there's a lot of sound information to the effect that soy milk is detrimental to heatlh. That includes other industrially processed soy products like tofu, soy protein powders, etc. My article on that is here, and you can also search on soy dangers and find more info.

 

Modern soy products are made from the industrial waste from the manufacture of soy oil. This is very different from traditionally fermented soy foods like tempeh and miso, which are wholesome foods.

 

The "obsession" with commercial milk is largely a function of the dairy industry. Raw milk isn't good politics for the pharmaceutical-industrial complex, so it's been marginalized.

 

-Karen

[Desert Eagle]

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