Raw Milk: A Remedy for Lactose Intolerance!

photo via ecoliblog

Lactose intolerance runs in my husband's family.  Like their father, my husband and his siblings all developed lactose intolerance during their teenage years and became unable to drink milk.  This means that their bodies stopped producing the lactase enzyme that is essential for proper digestion of lactose.  If they were willing to take some lactaid pills every time, they could still eat yogurt, cheese, and ice cream, but even then there was always the chance that they hadn't taken enough pills and would end up with digestive problems.

During the early years of our life and marriage together, my husband drank lactose-free milk (which is ultra-pasteurized) and we bought lots of lactaid pills.  In 2005, a co-worker of mine lent me the book The Untold Story of Milk by Ron Schmid, and I was amazed at what I learned about raw milk and disgusted by what I learned about pasteurized milk.  Pasteurization of milk only came about because of bad sanitation combined with cows that were so unhealthy that they could pass on illness to people through the milk.  So long as the cows are healthy, there is no reason to pasteurize the milk, and in fact, pasteurization results in milk that is not very healthy for people to drink. According to the Campaign for Real Milk website,

"Pasteurization destroys enzymes, diminishes vitamin content, denatures fragile milk proteins, destroys vitamins C, B12 and B6, kills beneficial bacteria, promotes pathogens and is associated with allergies, increased tooth decay, colic in infants, growth problems in children, osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease and cancer."

So, what about lactose intolerance?  It turns out that raw milk is wonderful food that naturally comes with the lactase enzymes needed for digestion of lactose.  The act of pasteurizing milk kills the lactase enzymes.  That's right, problems digesting lactose occur when people are drinking pasteurized milk, not raw milk!

Since learning about raw milk, my husband and his family have been able to once again enjoy drinking milk.  His father had not been able to drink store-bought milk for over 30 years, but can drink raw milk with no problem. And, amazingly, it seems that consuming the lactase enzymes in raw milk helps re-populate the gut with lactase enzymes, because my husband and his father have both reported that they can now eat pasteurized cheese, yogurt, and even ice cream with no problems so long as they have some raw milk occasionally.  Of course, in our house we only drink raw or fermented milk, so my husband gets a daily dose of those lactase enzymes anyway.

If you want more info about raw milk, visit the Campaign for Real Milk or read the fascinating book The Untold Story of Milk by Ron Schmid.

This post is part of Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist, Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade, and Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet!