Raw Milk

(source)

My coworker at the florist I work at has been talking a lot about the benefits of raw milk lately.  She is not a raw foodist, but subscribes to traditional food magazines is really interested in making a lot of her and her husband's food in order to cut out the preservatives often found in store-bought food.  

During our lunch break today I was reading one of her traditional food magazines and the entire first section was filled with testimonial letters that told stories of children or grown-ups riddled with ADD, bipolar, schizophrenia, etc., who found no help in conventional medicine.  However, after a couple months of drinking a quart of raw milk a day, their systems were readjusted and they functioned normally.  

In reading the wikipedia article on raw milk, I am reminded a little of why many states ban the stuff.  However, my coworker points out that until the industrial revolution, the entire world drank raw milk.  True enough.  She has also said that the pasteurization process (heating up the milk so as to kill anything living) kills all useful bacteria and critters that help our system digest the milk.  

She buys raw milk directly from a farmer - which is the only way she can legally get it, as stores are prohibited from selling it in the state of Missouri.  The only thing close to it is buying raw cheese (aged for 60 days) from the Whole Foods down the street.  I might have to take a gander.  

Amazon: Nourishing Traditions:The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats