Forget about marijuana, I just want to know if we should legalize milk (raw milk, that is). What is this, anyway, that stores are not allowed to sell raw milk. Where does that come from? Why such a law?
Off top, it seems the silliest of little laws. I grew up on a farm. We would go to a neighboring farm where raw milk was raised, and buy the milk. Never did us any harm. Not that I know of.
So, as I sat down tonight, having determined I would write about raw milk, I, off course, decided I better study first. And, a little study has flipped my opinion almost completely on end. Raw milk contains pathogens -- dangerous microorganisms that bring serious health risks.
Salmonella, E. coli, etc. -- you want them? Tuberculosis? Yes, raw milk can cause that. I reflect on how there was a day when there were so many diseases. Am I conjecturing too much, to wonder if in that day and age, with everyone drinking raw milk, the raw milk was a cause that brought much of the disease?
Then, along comes Louis Pasteur, and we start heating the milk for a brief moment, killing all the germs, and the world has been a healthier place ever since. Of course, we should do this. Of course, raw milk should be outlawed.
I do have some reservations. I read of an Idaho dairyman, who fed one set of calves pasteurized milk, and the other raw milk. After a week, he said, those on raw milk just looked better, healthier hair texture and all.
Two things I learned are myths: One, pasteurization kills the nutrients. It doesn't. Two, raw milk does not have bacteria that benefit gastrointestinal health. So, no, raw milk is not a probiotic.
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