Tag: best milk

There are so many controversial threads going on nowadays regarding milk. Hence, we decided to write this blog and make a stance on what we believe in. You will see some of our recipes are intentionally using milk to boost the nutrient load of what we eat. You will also see, that we believe in diversity and balance, hence eliminating milk from our diets may not be the best option. Finally, we think goat, camel, sheep milk are great milk options. We suggest to include cow, sheep, camel and plant milk in your diet for balance and diversity. Each milk has its own unique properties, hence when you vary them we believe you will get different nutrients which you won’t get if you stick to just one milk (i.e. cow). Read more Here about milk in fat, and plant based milk options.

In this blog, we will explain why milk is good for you, why pasteurized milk is best, compare goat and cow milk, and provide some information regarding camel and sheep milk.

Animal Milk Is Good For You

We believe that milk is a nutrient worth consuming. Check out our blog about milk and its fat contents for more specifics on the nutrients in cow’s milk. In a nutshell, calcium, protein, omega-3 fats, enzymes, vitamins, and minerals are all found in milk. If you are not allergic (lactose intolerant), and milk doesn’t cause any stomach issues for you, then I don’t see a reason why eliminate this nutrient from your diet. Goat milk and camel milk have lower levels of lactose, so maybe try and see if you can handle those animal milk.

I am aware of the tales that the dairy industry intentionally created hype around milk and wanted more people to buy milk. But at the end of the day, if a nutrient is good for you, why eliminate it from your diet regardless what the myths out there are?

Raw Milk Or Pasteurized Is Better For You

There has been an ongoing debate about whether raw milk or pasteurized milk is a better option. You can read online tons of articles arguing one way or the other. I do care a lot about the choice of milk I make for my home. We consume quite a bit of milk having 3 kids at home. After reading books and articles, I decided to settle for the least danger.

First, I am going to trust our CDC (Center for Disease and Control) website. After all, that is the main website our physicians use all the time when giving us health advice. The CDC recommends drinking pasteurized milk. Read more here. They even wrote a blog about busting common myths.

Second, we live in California by choice. I do not want to move to live anywhere else in the world because I love my state and my hometown for over 15 years now. California Department of Public Health also issued a similar notice regarding raw versus pasteurized milk. They recommend using pasteurized milk. Read their article here.

Thirdly, even if I don’t trust the US government and my beloved California state, I do trust the people’s generation of wisdom. I grew up in Bulgaria where I had the privilege to milk goats and cows with my own bare hands. After we collected the milk, the first step before drinking or using it was to boil it. Boiling the milk is exactly that – pasteurizing it. That means when the milk reaches certain temperatures all the bad bacteria get killed. Bulgaria was founded in 681. I do think Bulgaria’s people have collected tons of wisdom over the years and trust their ways of consuming milk.

Lastly, it is still a debate about how much more nutrients are there in raw milk versus pasteurized. Healthline is a website I often read, and according to their findings, it is still a gray area of which milk has more nutrients (read more here). In addition, I won’t even go into details about what a nightmare you can get yourself into trying to buy raw milk…

In conclusion, it sounds to me that the benefits don’t drastically outweigh the drawbacks when it comes to nutrients in raw vs pasteurized milk. Hence, at my home, we continue drinking pasteurized, grass-fed, organic milk.

Now, if you are a die-hard raw milk fan who knows where to buy raw milk (I heard California offers options), then go for it. However, maybe consider boiling it. In Bulgaria, we would boil the milk to see if it is good. If it turns into cottage cheese (see our recipe for cottage cheese which we make by curdling the milk with yogurt) that means the milk you bought is bad. It is just an extra safety step you can do to ensure your raw milk is good. And yes, you are practically pasteurizing the raw milk, but there aren’t that many “good” enzymes and bacteria that are killed by the heating anyway.

Goat vs Cow Milk

This is the final debate we are going to tackle. So far, we shared with you that we believe milk is good for you. We also think is best to buy pasteurized milk as opposed to raw. Now, we are going to tackle goat vs cow milk.

• Digestion – if cow milk is hard for you to digest, then try goat milk. Goat milk is much gentler for your tummy (especially if you are feeding an infant/toddler). The human body digests goat milk much easier.
• Nutrients – goat milk has more nutrients than cow’s milk. For example, goat milk has more calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and almost twice Vitamin A than cow’s milk.
• Nutrient absorption – because the human body digests goat’s milk better, our body absorbs more fat and protein from goat milk than cow’s.
• Cleanliness – for what my word is worth, I was taught as a kid that goats are cleaner animals than cows. Hence, their milk is much cleaner from the cow’s milk. For example, goats will climb on trees to eat leaves while cows will eat grass.
• Taste – goat milk does taste different. If you are used to cow’s milk, it might be a change for your taste buds. However, it all depends on what you like. For example, some people don’t like goat’s milk taste while some think it is much better than cow’s. If you are one of those who don’t like goat milk’s taste, then use it in recipes to mask the taste.

In summary, we suggest that non-allergic individuals who don’t have issues with milk consume organic, grass-fed, pasteurized milk. It might make sense to drink more goat milk than cow but that decision is all on you. Now, you would ask, how about plan-based milk? Well, let us write another blog!

Sheep and Camel Milk

We feel it is worth mentioning camel and sheep milk as an animal milk options. We do use camel and sheep milk in our kitchen. Sheep milk is high in fat and that is why in Bulgaria we make sheep cheese and butter from it. If you enjoy the taste, try drinking it. If not, just combine it with other ingredients to make it more pleasant in a smoothie, or oatmeal.

Camel milk is more accessible in stores. It is also Keto friendly as opposed to other dairy milk such as goat, cow, and sheep milk. Camel milk does have low lactose levels so might be a good options for individuals that have issues with cow’s milk. It is also very nutritious milk. Again, our recommendation is to try the taste and see if you like it. Also, there is always the option if you don’t like the taste of the milk to just use it in recipes and mask the taste that way. In a nutshell, we suggest to try and include milk in your diet.

* Information and statements made by be Healthy be Happy are for education purposes only and are not intended to replace the advice of your doctor. be Healthy be Happy does not provide medical advice, prescribe, or diagnose illness. The views and nutritional advice expressed by be Healthy be Happy are not to replace conventional medical service. Any choices and decisions you are making are at your own risk. If you have a medical condition or health concern, contact your physician.