1. Does freezing damage
raw dairy products?
Freezing puts raw milk products to sleep and has
little effect on the important health benefits that raw dairy
products provide. Enzymes and bacteria are fully active when they
awake after thawing. Some vitamins are reduced by trace amounts
after being frozen. The flavor is sometimes slightly effected by
this and is not always apparent. All Johnson's Acres products may be
frozen. Thawing should be done by placing the frozen product in a
regular refrigerator for a day. Milk should be shaken to mix up the
butterfat after thawing. Warming the product to room temperature
just prior to drinking will also make the fat blend in better with
the milk (if it has clumped or separated during
freezing).
2. Why do you say that “Raw
Milk is Alive”?
Natural raw milk has in it vitally
important living things. These include the following: beneficial
bacteria, enzymes (including lipase, protease. and other), lactase
forming bacteria, and many enzyme based pathogen killing systems.
The common practice of pasteurization inactivates or dramatically
reduces the effects of these important active (living) elements. As
a result, you may be lactose intolerant when drinking pasteurized
milk, but not lactose intolerant when you drink raw milk. This is
because lactase enzymes are being formed when you digest raw milk.
That is why we say, “only living milk brings life…”
3. How much colostrum should I drink each
day?
Remember that colostrum is a health food and not
a drug. You can not overdose (I guess you could go absolutely nuts,
but…) on fresh colostrum. Drink several pints per week to initially
build up your immune system if you are trying to fight a specific
disease process. Once you are winning your battle, then just
maintain consumption of a pint or two per week and drink plenty of
organic raw milk. Organic raw milk has many (not all) of the same
elements contained in Colostrum, just at much lower concentrations.
You can not (chemically) overdose on any Johnson's Acres products;
they are food.
4. Is organic and
raw the same thing?
No. “Organic” is a set of
environmentally sustainable growing and production practices that
are now certified and regulated by the USDA. Raw is the naturally
occurring, unprocessed and uncooked state of any food. All organic
milk starts out with the organic cow and all organic cows make raw
milk. Nearly all dairies take their milk to a creamery that
processes that milk using pasteurization methods. The resulting
organic products are not raw and living, but rather they are “killed
and dead.” In addition, not all organic dairies follow the USDA
organic requirements, which requires access to pasture for their
cows. "Organic" also doesn't mean no soy products. Johnson's Acres
provides pasture 100% of the time and uses no soy products, although
we are not certified organic.
5.
What happens to bacteria in pasteurized milk after
pasteurization?
After pasteurization, bacteria found
naturally in milk are killed. During the high temperature heating
process, cell bodies of these bacteria are ruptured and their
contents are spilled, releasing histamines. This causes many milk
drinkers to suffer allergic reactions. Almost all of these same
consumers can drink raw milk and not have allergies. The high levels
of bacteria permitted in milk intended for pasteurization are still
found in pasteurized milk…they are just dead and not removed by the
process.
6. What is
homogenization?
Homogenization is the process of
destroying the natural butter fat cells found in raw natural milk.
This process uses extreme pressure to break apart the soft buoyant
fat cells, which cause the remaining small fat pieces to blend into
milk and no longer float to the top making the cream line. Some
European countries have studies that show that this process is
dangerous and may strongly contribute to heart disease and arterial
plaguing. Our FDA disputes these findings under pressure from the
strong dairy lobby. Homogenization is not a required step, but
rather a step of convenience to deny the consumer the ability to see
how much cream is actually in the milk they buy.
7. Why is milk
pasteurized?
120-150 years ago many people died
(especially young children) from diseases transmitted in raw milk.
In the 1800’s, many US dairies began commercially producing low
quality raw milk in the inner cities of Boston and New York and
others. These Brewery dairies would feed their cows very poor
quality “brewer's mash.” T he resulting milk was very weak and
nearly blue from lack of protein, mineral, and fat content. This
occurred during the Jamaican rum embargo. During this same time
period, the dairy industry did not use or have access to
refrigeration, stainless steel, milking machines, rubber hoses, hot
water, or chlorine as a sanitizer. TB and Brucellosis was rampant
(not to mention horse manure on the streets, flies, and lack of
public sanitation and sewage) and the cows were milked by hand with
out mechanical machines. The cows stood in manure and there was no
access to pasture (sounds like some factory dairy farms of 2005).
The resulting unhealthy milk from these sources literally killed
millions. The heating of milk to high temperatures eliminated this
horrible blight. During this same time period, milk from the country
side taken from pasture grazed healthy and clean cows was the best
medicine of the day. In fact, the Mayo Clinic used this high quality
country raw milk as a basis for many disease curing therapies. This
was the untold story of raw milk. Because of pasteurization
successes, commercial interests prevailed and all dairies (the good,
bad, and the ugly) then began to pool their milk and no body would
die even if milk quality was very poor. This was great news for milk
mass marketing and creameries created high profits. These
pasteurization practices continue today with the chief benefit being
extended shelf life. These modern dead milk products now cause
allergies and lactose intolerance to huge sectors of the population.
Current (PMO) Federal standards for pasteurized milk permit 100,000
bacteria per ml for milk going to be pasteurized with as many as
20,000 injured or living bacteria to be alive after pasteurization,
and this may include pathogens (this is arguably the reason why milk
is pasteurized). Colorado standards for raw milk require that milk
sold for raw consumption have fewer than 15,000 live bacteria per ml
and no pathogens. Johnson's Acres averages about 500 beneficial
living bacteria per ml (and never a human pathogen). For a great
book on the subject of milk history, please order “The Untold Story
of Milk” by Dr. Ron Schmid ND.
8.
What are pathogens?
Pathogens are disease causing
bacteria and organisms. The three human pathogens that are tested at
Johnson's Acres include Listeria Monocytogenes, Salmonella, and
Ecoli 0157. To date, not one of these pathogens have ever been
detected by any test from Warren Analytical for Johnson's Acres.
In summary, it has been theorized that the combination of grass
feeding, no antibiotics used, no hormones, and low levels of grain
used in diet cause a change in the cows immune system and rumen.
This change in physiology directly inhibits pathogen development in
the milk (actually a transfer from environmental contamination that
does not seem to occur…there are no bad bugs in the manure that
transfer into the milk and the clean raw milk is highly pathogen
resistant).
9. What are
enzymes?
Enzymes are specialized proteins that assist
in the breaking down (hydrolyzing) and digestion of foods into
useful elements that can be utilized, absorbed, or stored by the
body. Enzymes are identified by the use of the ending “ase”
associated with their name. For instance Lipase helps digest lipids
(fats). Lactase helps digest lactose sugar (milk sugar). If your
body does not produce and have available specific enzymes, then you
may not be able to utilize certain food sources, or absorb certain
minerals, etc. Phosphatase, which is key to the absorption of
calcium, is inactivated by pasteurization. In fact, the test for
effective pasteurization is called the “negative phosphatase test.”
Is it no wonder that Americans are suffering from osteoporosis at a
rate higher than ever. It is now considered a US health crisis. A
little trick that is not commonly known is that if you drink plenty
of raw milk, lactose intolerant people can then tolerate limited
amounts of pasteurized milk products, including ice cream. There is
a sharing of required missing enzymes (lactase) and bacteria that
are required in the gut, making a person not intolerant of lactose
containing products.
10. Can
I cook with JA products and will the heat affect the raw nature of
the products?
Yes, you can cook with JA products, but
any heat over about 120 degrees starts to denature enzymes and kill
bacteria. This is okay, but just remember the benefits of raw and
make sure you eat plenty of raw (not heated above 110 degrees) in
your diet for a strong immune system, good digestion, and absorption
of minerals.
11. What are
Immunoglobulins?
Immunoglobulins (antibodies) are
immune system boosting elements found in the blood stream. They
include IgA, IgD, IgE, IgG, and IgM, which among other things
neutralize toxins and counter microbial attack. They are collected
during pregnancy (in the breasts and udders of mammals) and are
transferred to the newborn via colostrum (first milk) after being
born. These essential protective proteins form a big part of the
immune system and respond to disease and infection. Bovine colostrum
contains high levels of these antibodies and can help eliminate
asthma and allergies, as well many other disease processes. They
modulate (adjust and direct) the immune response, which help resolve
many autoimmune disorders; they help the body to recognize what
normal is and to stop fighting itself.
12. Why does colostrum appear pink or yellow
sometimes?
All bovine colostrum contains some blood
cells (RBC and WBC). Sometimes this is visible and sometimes it is
not depending upon the cow and whether she had some red blood in her
first milk. This is normal. JA attempts to limit the amount of
visible blood that is in colostrum, but on occasion the colostrum
may appear slightly pink. The yellow color in the colostrum is
caused by Lactoferrin: Rich vitamin levels and the natural fat color
of milk fat. All of this colostrum is “Nectar of the gods,” is
normal, and completely safe.
13. What can I do with warm or soured raw
milk?
Soured raw milk is still a vitally nutritious
product and should be cultured for optimal flavor and taste. If you
find yourself with a container of souring milk, just put in some
live culture (some yogurt or kefir grains) then set the
product out for 24 hours at 90 degrees. The resulting food is
wonderful, delicious, digestible, and highly nutritious. In most
countries this is how people drink their milk. Our great
grandparents called it Clabbered milk. Other raw milk and raw dairy
recipes are available on the Johnson's Acres message
board.
14. Why will Johnson's
Acres products start to carry a “warning label” that states that the
consumer may be sickened by this raw dairy
product?
Colorado regulations will now require raw
milk to carry a warning label. This came about with the legalization
of cow share programs and because of the ever weakening immune
system of the average America citizen. More and more US consumers
have severely weakened immune systems and can become ill by eating
small amounts of foreign bacteria that their bodies are not familiar
with. It has been estimated that about 70% of the strength of a
healthy immune system is made up of the diversity of living bacteria
found in the intestines. Raw milk provides a perfect source for the
“seeding and feeding” of these diverse populations of living
bacteria. The average American diet is practically devoid of living
bacteria (all killed foods and few bacterial sources). Our immune
systems have suffered as a direct result. Consuming organic raw milk
and dairy products is a high step towards regaining immune strength
and overall health. On occasion a new raw milk consumer may have
some diarrhea from over drinking raw milk for the first time. This
is rare and should be considered very normal. After all, the
intestine has never seen such an incredible introduction of new and
diverse beneficial bacteria and does not have any idea what to do.
It is possible. but highly unlikely, that pathogens may be
transmitted in raw milk just as they may be transmitted in all other
foods. In fact, pathogen killing safety systems are hard at
work, keeping raw milk safe even if it has been contaminated. To
date, there has never been a human pathogen ever detected in any
Johnson's Acres product, or from any test. Because Johnson's
Acres can not predict the future and know what is yet to come, it is
possible that someday a pathogen may be detected in an Johnson's
Acres product. If you are a healthy JA consumer this should have no
noticeable effect. Your immune system will deal with it and you will
probably not even know that a pathogen was in your raw dairy
product. This is evident when reading CDC reports of raw milk
illness. The farm and dairy consumers never get ill; it is the first
time raw consumers (with weak immune systems) that become ill. This
is exactly why all people should drink lots of raw milk. A strong
immune system is a gift of freedom and of health. It is your choice,
and with raw milk (exercise, good hydration, a whole-food diet, and
plenty of love) you need not become ill…ever. Be strong…it is a life
choice.
15. What diseases are
aided by consuming raw milk and raw dairy products?
Johnson's Acres may not make a medical claim or post
cures for any disease process relative to any Johnson's Acres
product. That is a crime under current FDA law. We can recommend
that you visit www.realmilk.com , www.westonaprice.com, or www.mercola.com
, and other
websites that will list literally 50 different illnesses that are
directly, naturally, and positively effected by consuming raw
milk.
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