The New Yorker magazine carried an article about a community gardener and herbalist who was in the process of committing a crime. She had arranged for a Mennonite farmer in Pennsylvania to ship raw, unpasteurized, unhomogenized milk and other dairy products to a basement on Manhattan's west side. A small group of raw dairy aficionados were individually contacted and invited to purchase the illegal goods.

Why illegal? Because only California and Georgia still allow the sale of raw dairy products in stores. Elsewhere, you can only purchase these products directly from local dairy farmers. And while NYC has nearly everything, you won't find a working dairy farm in Manhattan. But if you know someone who knows someone who knows a certain community gardener, you might be able to pick up a gallon of raw milk that's been illegally transported across state lines.

We can thank the milk industry for turning consumers into criminals. Over the years, representatives of the industry convinced the public and federal regulators that unpasteurized, unhomogenized raw dairy products pose a serious health risk.

But HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., has a much different view of the situation: "The politics of running the certified raw milk dairies out of business is as sickening as the 'modern' milk we're now forced to drink. It was consistently shown that there were fewer bacteria in raw milk than the pasteurized variety! The problem is, it takes far more care and procedural hassle to pull it off, and the 'big boys' weren't into that. That's why the wonderful, certified raw milk from Alta Dena, Mathis, and other dairies is a thing of the past."

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Processing, processing, processing

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So what's the problem with commercial milk? Here's more from Dr. Spreen:

"Pasteurized, homogenized milk does not qualify as food in my opinion. And the homogenization process breaks up an enzyme (xanthine oxidase), which in its altered (smaller) state can enter the bloodstream and react against arterial walls, causing the body to protect the area with a layer of cholesterol.

"Pasteurization also destroys enzymes through its heating process. The skimming process makes the remaining nutrients more difficult to absorb. For one thing, the calcium is better absorbed in the presence of milk fat (though the high amount of fat in whole milk is for very-fast-growing baby cows, not baby people)."

Nevertheless, there are at least two baby people who may have benefited from the nutritious contents of raw milk. One of the Manhattan customers of the contraband raw milk sale told The New Yorker that he purchases the milk for his two- year-old twins. So far, neither one of them has ever been sick, "Not even a cold."

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That questionable moustache

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In an e-Alert I sent you some time ago ("Get All the Calcium You Need...Without Milk" 8/9/01), Dr. Spreen explained that cultured products (kefir, yogurt) and enzymatically altered products (cheese, etc.) are acceptable in moderation. But he listed several additional reasons why highly processed milk is unhealthy, including:

* Calcium in milk is not well absorbed (and even less so once homogenized). * There isn't enough magnesium in milk. * There's evidence that the antibodies the body makes to digest milk are closely related to the antibodies that destroy islet cells (insulin producers) in the pancreas in cases of juvenile diabetes. * Milk contains pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and Bovine Growth Hormone.

But what about the "strong bones" claims you hear from America's Dairy Farmers and Milk Processors (the milk moustache people)?

A 12-year Harvard study of 80,000 nurses showed that a high intake of commercial milk appeared to actually increase the risk of bone fractures. Other studies have shown mounting evidence that milk may play a role in a variety of health problems, including prostate cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, anemia, MS, and leukemia. And just last week, in the e-Alert "Rocket Food" (12/14/04), I told you about a recent study that found an association between milk consumption and ovarian cancer.

For more detailed information about the highs and lows of milk, Dr. Spreen recommends Dr. William Campbell Douglass' book "Eat Your Cholesterol!" (previously titled "The Milk Book"), in which Dr. Douglass (in his typical lively writing style) explains the many nutritional differences between pasteurized milk and raw milk.

Like Dr. Spreen, I also highly recommend "Eat Your Cholesterol!" - available from Rhino Publishing, S.A. (rhinopublish.com).

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