Baby, I Like It Raw!...and My New Raw Milk Adventure

Granted, most of us raw milk fans don't need to be reminded of why we have such a strong attachment to our milk. But sometimes it helps to remember the "why" behind choosing real milk (or at least avoiding the conventional stuff!), especially when you're talking to others about your choices. Mark McAfee, founder of Organic Pastures (who produces a lot of the wonderful raw milk available in California), did a very comprehensive interview with Qiana and John Calvin Byrd on The Pulse. You can find a video and audio podcast of the interview here.

What You'll Hear During This Interview:

- How and Why Pasteurization Became Mainstream
- Why Raw Milk is Better Tolerated by the Digestive System
- The Problems Caused by Pasteurization and Homogenization
- Why Conventional Dairy Farming is Problematic
- Why Even Organic Conventional Milk Isn't Ideal
- How to Make Raw Milk Safe
- Why We Don't Have the Freedom to Choose Our Milk
- Why Soy Milk is a Terrible Milk Alternative
- Why Raw Dairy is Such an Important Food in Today's Society

The interview is a full 50 minutes long, but let me tell you if you're a raw milk devotee--or if you or someone you know has questions about real milk--then it's worth every minute. I'm obviously a huge fan of quality raw milk myself (if you couldn't tell from my 23-day raw milk diet experiment), and I can tell you I really enjoyed watching this video and learned a few new tidbits, too.

My NEW Raw Milk Adventure

I'm gettin' goats. This is probably not as exciting as my raw milk diet, but to me it's the start of a whole new adventure since I have never raised my own dairy before. We've got our goats selected (a friendly nanny and two adorable kids) and now we just have to make sure we're prepared to take them on! So in the coming weeks I will hopefully be getting my very own supply of raw milk at home. Part of me is thinking I'm not ready and the other part is cheering, "You'll never learn until you dive in and try!" So wish me (and my new goats) luck!

Want to learn more about the reality of milk and the modern food industry? Check out these great books and videos:

The Untold Story of Milk, Revised and Updated: The History, Politics and Science of Nature's Perfect Food: Raw Milk from Pasture-Fed Cows

The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America's Emerging Battle Over Food Rights

Food, Inc.

King Corn (Green Packaging)

The Future of Food

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Milk Diet Post Round-Up: 14 Posts About 23 Days on Just Raw Milk!

Some of you may not be familiar with my raw milk diet experiment I did in 2010. It was a rockin' 23 days on nothing (seriously, nothing!) but raw milk. For those of you who'd like to catch up and see how my milk diet went (or just learn more), here's a collection of all 14 posts I did about the raw milk cure diet:

#1 Beginning the Milk Diet

My official start on this adventure and some basic milk diet protocol.

#2 Podcast Day 1
Whew! Made it through the first day of the raw milk diet.


#3 Resources for Information on The Milk Diet
Just a few places you can look to find out more about the milk diet and the milk cure.


#4 Podcast Day 5
Not tired of milk yet! And some experiences with cravings (not as bad as I thought!).


#5 Does the Raw Milk Diet Help You Lose Weight?
How the milk diet can affect metabolism and weight.


#6 The Healing Benefits of the Milk Diet and My Own Expectations
What was the raw milk diet used for back in the day? Plus, my hopes for healing during the diet.


#7 Podcast Day 11
Find out how life is going on 11 days of raw milk.


#8 Podcast Day 18
An update including some talk about inflammation and omega-6 fatty acids.


#9 Final Podcast
Including some great tips on transitioning off the diet.


#10 What I Did and How I Did It
Lots of interesting statistics like quarts of milk, calories, fat, protein, carbs, etc.


#11 The "How" Of Drinking Milk on the Raw Milk Diet
You'll be surprised how much you learn from this one!


#12 The Raw Milk Cure and Digestion
Common digestive experiences on the milk diet (including my own) and how to deal with them.


#13 Basal Temperature, Metabolism, Weight and More!
Did I gain weight on 2,500 calories of milk per day? Find out here!


#14 Healing Hormones, PMS and More
How the milk diet addresses the root of the problem.

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The Milk Diet: Healing Hormone Imbalances, PMS, and More

R eal food has healed me in so many ways, but one problem that has persisted throughout my real food journey is PMS. For me PMS meant a short temper, crying easily, and craving junk foods. Often this would start about 10 days before my period and get progressively worse until I would often wonder if I was going nuts. Within one day of starting my period, all symptoms would disappear and I would become a productive, balanced Elizabeth once again.

Believe it or not, this scenario is an improvement compared to what I've experienced before changing my eating habits. Back then PMS seemed to last more than half of every month, my mood swings were more turbulent, I often felt depressed and I could easily down more donuts than Homer Simpson.

But after eating well for a year and a half while also working on other areas to improve my health (stress, sleep, sensible exercise, etc.), I felt like I could use some more help in this department. PMS was one of my top reasons for trying out the milk diet, because ultimately I want to heal any health issues I have with real food whenever possible. And you can't get much more real than pure raw milk.

Since the milk diet is known for stimulating metabolic function and healing imbalances, I figured it couldn't hurt to try it out for PMS.

How does the milk diet heal endocrine imbalances?

That's a good question, and one I'm not fully capable of answering. However, one thing I know is that our hormones are built from material provided by our diet (fat, protein, etc.). The efficiency of this process is also influenced by our metabolism, which regulates the rate at which hormones are produced and received throughout the body. So eating an intensive diet like the milk diet provides the body with the bioavailable nutrition and metabolic stimulation it needs to produce and utilize hormones that regulate everything from reproductive health to mental alertness to fat storage.

My Results with the Milk Diet and PMS

During my 23 days on the milk diet I kept track of my moods and cravings to gauge my PMS. My findings were not dramatic, but I did notice things moving in a positive direction. My mood was slightly improved, and my cravings were nothing more than passing fancies. As I mentioned in my podcasts, I was able to turn down chocolate cake without a problem while on the milk diet... and right smack in the middle of PMS as well. As someone who has never turned down a decent piece of chocolate cake in my life, I was seriously impressed by this.

My cycle was also extremely regular on the milk diet, and I experienced less bleeding and cramping during my period as well (sorry if that's TMI, but I feel it's relevant). Moreover, I'm still experiencing these benefits more than one month after coming off the milk diet. My PMS symptoms are less pronounced and start later than usual, while my cycles are still very regular and far closer to painless than before.

Nothing I've ever tried to help me cope with PMS has worked this well for me, and that's enough to motivate me to do another round on the milk diet in May (or possibly June). This time I'm aiming for a shorter round so I'll have the resources to drink more milk each day and also focus even more on resting. Who wants to join me? :-)

Sponsored Links:
PMS: Solving the Puzzle - Sixteen Causes of Premenstrual Syndrome and What to Do About It
PMS Escape Strawberry-Kiwi 6 pckt
Dr. John Lee's Hormone Balance Made Simple
Traditional Medicinals PMS Tea Herbal Tea, 16-Cjount Wrapped Tea Bags (Pack of 6)
25 Natural Ways to Relieve PMS

This post is a part of Real Food Wednesday hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop this week.

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The Milk Diet and Basal Temperature, Metabolism, Weight and More!

After Matt Stone from 180 Degree Health gave me the encouragement to go ahead and dive into my milk diet adventure, I promised him a full guest post on the results. And finally (thanks for being patient, Matt!), here it is:

The Nourished Life on Dair-oids

(Great title, who else could come up with that stuff but Matt???)

So head on over and read up my some of my results, there's some great conversation already picking up over there as always. And stay tuned, I'll talk more about the milk diet's effect on my hormones and PMS soon.

This post is a part of Real Food Wednesday, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop this week.

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The Milk Diet and Digestion

One of the most common questions I was asked on the milk diet was, “Well, how is your, um, digestion?” A lot of people seem to think the milk diet will ruin your digestion. But if you take into account the fact that breastfed infants are basically on an all milk diet for the first several months of their life, you have to wonder if maybe quality raw milk isn't your digestive system's worst enemy--in fact, it could be its best friend!

The original milk diet (or milk cure, as it was also known) was regularly prescribed for those with poor digestive health, and probably for very good reason. Raw milk is particularly digestible because it hasn’t been denatured by heat and other processing methods that can damage the structure of its nutrients and make them less available for utilization. So the plentiful valuable nutrients in raw milk can still be absorbed even by those with weak digestive systems (which might very well include anyone who has health problems according to some experts). Plus, the natural enzymes and beneficial bacteria present in raw milk may serve to balance gut flora and improve overall digestive health.

First of all, many of the digestive problems that sometimes occur on the milk diet can be resolved simply by drinking the milk the right way. (Read my post on that here.) I personally feel like taking the time to prepare and drink the milk properly prevented any of the bloating that is commonly experienced on the milk diet. I had very minor bloating on the first day or two of the diet and virtually none after that.

However, I was not able to eliminate the other common digestive disturbance on the milk diet: constipation. Excluding a mysterious day in the beginning of the diet on which I experienced diarrhea (I’m assuming it was some sort of detoxification effect), I spent most of my 23 days on the all milk diet looking forward to the return of normal bathroom activity, you could say.

As I mention in a previous post, I did take extra vitamin C and magnesium to move things along, but this was only mildly helpful. I was taking about 800 mg of magnesium citrate and 6,000 mg of vitamin C daily. Perhaps I could have mega-dosed on the magnesium to get a better result, but who knows?

The milk diet experts recommend enemas as the most common treatment for constipation. I did do a couple of these, but (perhaps out of sheer laziness) mostly I avoided them. I think now that was a mistake. Although I generally find enemas to be incredibly invasive and annoying, I think achieving some kind of regularity on the milk diet is important and may even have a lot to do with how much healing is achieved. So if regular enemas are necessary to achieve that, it may be well worth it.

Another theory on bowel movements during the milk diet comes from Charles Porter, who said in his book, Milk Diet as a Remedy for Chronic Disease, that generally constipation means you’re not drinking enough milk and diarrhea means you’re drinking too much. I personally didn’t find that increasing my intake of milk affected my regularity, and drinking more than 4-5 quarts per day was not easy to begin with--so I’m not sure if that was my problem. Other experts say the fat content in the milk may cause constipation or diarrhea, but again, in my personal experience, varying the fat content in my milk did not seem to have a perceivable effect on my digestion. But both of these are worth considering to see if they help you achieve better results on the milk diet.

Other suggestions for improving digestion and bowel movements during the milk diet is to take a little fresh lemon juice before or after drinking a glass of milk, adding a little cooked fruit to the diet, or eating a couple of dates or prunes as needed. Taking fermented raw milk products may also be helpful (such as raw milk kefir or yogurt).

By the way: the moment I started eating other foods again, my digestion turned back to normal very quickly, so as far as I'm concerned there's no reason to believe the milk diet impairs digestion in the long run.

What about fiber supplements?

I personally do not endorse fiber supplements of any kind, even during the milk diet. Fiber can be quite aggravating to the gut, and I don’t buy into the modern theory the high-fiber diets are necessary or even wise. For more information, you might want to check out the book Fiber Menace by Konstantin Monastryrsky.

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My Raw Milk Diet Cure Experiment: The "How" of Drinking Milk on the Milk Diet

As I addressed in my very first post about my milk diet experiment, how you drink your milk is just as important as the fact that you’re drinking it. Trust me, these steps are very important and should not be brushed aside:


Do... drink the milk slowly. Take small sips so your body has time to assimilate the nutrients.

Don’t... gulp your milk like those people gulping down Gatorade in the commercials.

Do... drink your milk at room temperature or above. (I set mine out in the morning, or gently heated it sometimes. Warm milk before bed really does help you sleep!)

Don’t... swig glasses of ice cold milk. It’s rough on digestion.

Do... spread the milk out through your day. A small glass every half-hour is the original protocol. I tried to follow this to some extent, and tried to never go more than one hour without milk during my waking hours.

Don’t... eat three meals of milk and nothing else. I don’t see how anyone tries to follow the milk diet this way. You’ll either end up seriously bloating or not drinking enough milk. The only way you’re going to comfortably get the minimum gallon per day is to spread it out.

Do... drink raw milk. It’s bioavailable and nutrient-dense, the way mother nature intended.

Don’t... rely solely on pasteurized, homogenized commercial milk. It’s denatured and highly processed.

If you can get these down, you're on your way to becoming a milk drinking expert. And, seriously, this is not a bad way of drinking milk even if you're not doing a full milk diet. But if you're living on milk, it becomes absolutely essential.

Stay tuned...

... on Wednesday we have an awesome post by Matt Stone from 180DegreeHealth on metabolism in relation to modern health problems.

... on Friday Melissa from The Cellulite Investigation will be guest posting about the four theories of cellulite. Good stuff--you don't want to miss it!

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My Raw Milk Diet Cure Experiment: What I Did and How I Did It

Want to know more about the raw milk diet? Click here to see a list of all my milk diet posts.


My Raw Milk Diet Adventure: Fun Facts

Here’s a bunch of fun numbers from the 23 days during which I only drank raw milk (no food whatsoever!):

Total Raw Milk Drank in 23 Days:

About 24.75 GALLONS of fresh raw milk! Or, nearly 60,000 calories on milk alone. That’s almost 99 quarts or just over a gallon every day.

So, on average, this is what I consumed every day (based on whole milk on FitDay.com):

2,520 calories

136 g fat

189 g carbs

135 g protein

or

49% fat (mostly saturated)

30% carbs

21% protein

What about...

... weight changes?

Being that I’m a 5'4" woman of average weight, who exercises for about two hours a week (at most, and not even that much while on the milk diet), has a normal or even slow metabolism (I used to gain weight on 1,600 calories a day!) and essentially has a sedentary desk job, most nutrition calculators would recommend I eat about 1700-2100 calories each day to maintain my weight. So, if we’re going to succumb to the calorie counting theories, I should have gained about 3-5 pounds on this diet. However, I lost about 2-3 pounds. Read more about the milk diet and weight loss here.

... basal temperature?

My starting basal temperature was about 97.5 degrees F (taken first thing in the morning, underarm/axillary). This is slightly low or normal depending on which expert’s advice you seek. However, while on the milk diet my basal temp rocketed upward and has remained that way since. Is this linked to why I lost weight rather than gained? Maybe so... Read more about the milk diet and basal metabolism here.

... bed rest?

Well, I wish I could have gone on bed rest. What a healing ritual that would have been! But, alas, my household duties, my work and my kids couldn’t be left to their own devices for over three weeks, so bed rest wasn’t really an option. I did, however, try to prioritize sleep and daily downtime. I spent extra time in bed when I could, and tried to minimize my stress (easier said than done!). I did do some mild exercise during the milk diet, though I really tried not to overdo it at all. If I do the milk diet again I think I will take this concept of bed rest more seriously. I probably won’t exercise at all, and try to limit more of my other activities as well. I think this is an important part of the healing process.

... digestion?

I experienced very little of the typical bloating during the milk diet, but I did have problems with staying “regular.” So I deviated from the plan a little (which doesn’t include supplements) and took magnesium and vitamin C throughout the last 10-12 days of the diet to help move things along a little, so to speak. Read more about the milk diet and digestion here.

... cravings?

This was so phenomenal. I had very few cravings on the milk diet. Occasionally I longed for some solid food like fried eggs with cheese, a burger or maybe a steak, but never enough to bother me. Amazingly, I had no cravings for sweets or even chocolate–and that’s my number one indulgence! Having no chocolate cravings through PMS was so unusual for me I never thought it would happen. So, I’m pretty certain that’s a testament to the milk diet if nothing else is! Read more about the milk diet, cravings and hormones here.

Any other questions? C’mon, I know you’re wondering about something. If so, ask away in the comments below! Or, you can send me an email and I’ll be sure to answer all your questions in the posts following my break.

More Milk Diet Posts:

• Beginning the Milk Diet
• Podcast Day 1
• Resources for Information on The Milk Diet
• Podcast Day 5
• Does the Raw Milk Diet Help You Lose Weight?
• The Healing Benefits of the Milk Diet and My Own Expectations 
• Podcast Day 11
• Podcast Day 18
• Final Podcast
• What I Did and How I Did It
• The "How" Of Drinking Milk on the Raw Milk Diet
• The Raw Milk Cure and Digestion
• Basal Temperature, Metabolism, Weight and More!
• Healing Hormones, PMS and More
  

This post is part of Fight Back Friday hosted by Food Renegade.

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Milk Diet Podcast, Transitioning From the Milk Diet, Plus Changing the World With Food

Holy cow! After 23 full days on the milk diet, I am working on transitioning back into normal eating and phasing out of living on raw milk. Listen to my podcast to hear more about what this means and how I'm still keeping track of my progress:

And (thanks to the wonderful reader who brought this to my attention) here's another video that's been catching a lot of press: Jamie Oliver's TED award speech. I really think this is going in the right direction, but of course I would have been much more impressed if he had mentioned the Weston A. Price foundation, or at least something along the lines of  "eat more butter." ;)

Stay tuned this week...

... on Wednesday I'm going to examine why yoga is a great tool for achieving balance in health and body composition.

... on Friday I'm going to lay out all the details about how I did the raw milk diet, like just how much milk I really drank and how I implemented additional milk diet strategies.

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Raw Milk Diet Cure Day 18, Podcast Update, Improved Inflammation and More!

It's now been 18 days since I started my all raw milk diet. I'm really starting to see improvements in inflammation and redness, and just an overall boost in my appearance. It's subtle, but nice. Aside from the obviously superior nutritional content of milk, I think this has a lot to do with the fact that the milk diet is extremely low in omega-6 fatty acids. You can hear a little more about this on my latest podcast:

I will definitely be posting more about omega-6 fatty acids in the future. And for all of you who have more questions about how things are going on the milk diet, don't worry. I will provide some very detailed posts when I'm officially done with the diet!

Also, this week I am so honored to be a guest over at the very entertaining and informative Dear Thyroid blog. You can find my interview here. Liz will be guest posting over here at The Nourished Life soon as well, and I'm really looking forward to hearing what she has to say!

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Podcast - Raw Milk Diet Cure, Day 11, More on Fructose, and Health Cartoons

Here's my latest milk diet update, plus a mention about the new domain and why old comments aren't showing up:

I'm sure some of you have seen these, but check this out if you haven't stopped by Natural News to see the cartoon parodies. These are surprisingly funny. And if you think about it, many of them mirror reality just a little too close for comfort.

Since I mentioned it previously, Dr. Robert H. Lustig's Bitter Truth video has produced quite a stir in the health community. To see more about Lustig's views on fructose as a dangerous sweetener, take a look at this paper--especially if you haven't had time to sit down and watch the video yet.

Update: I made a totally human error in the podcast above. While four quarts is a gallon, five quarts is 1 1/4 gallon--not 1 1/2 gallons. A small error to be sure, but I wanted to acknowledge it nonetheless. I'm not wholly certain I could down six quarts (1 1/2 gallons) yet, but who knows? Maybe I'll work up to it.

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The Healing Benefits of the Milk Diet and My Own Expectations

Aside from the adventure of doing a completely unconventional experiment, why would anyone want to subsist on raw milk alone for several weeks at a time? Because traditionally this diet was used as a natural cure for many ailments. To start, here’s what Bernarr MacFadden had to say about the curative powers of the milk diet:

Among the many disorders successfully treated are nervous troubles of all sorts – including insomnia, neuralgia, neuritis, headache and migraine, nervous prostration and nerve irritability; also general debility, and stomach and intestinal indigestion, and their resulting auto-intoxification; ulcer of the stomach and intestines, acid stomach, and dilation of the stomach; prolapse of the stomach, intestines, kidneys, or uterus; pimples, boils, carbuncles, sallow, blotchy complexion, eczema, dandruff, anemia, biliousness, catarrh of the air passages or of the digestive tract, constipation, chronic diarrhea, and dysentery, asthma, hay fever, hardening of the arteries, piles, chronic appendicitis, rheumatism, arthritis and lumbago, hives, ovarian trouble and leucorrhea, impotence, liver trouble and gallstones, Bright’s disease and diabetes, tuberculosis in the early stages, and narcotic habits of all kinds. Also, in abnormal blood pressure conditions, whether too low or too high, the milk diet works almost miraculously.

Taken from the online copy of MacFadden’s book here.

MacFadden and experts like him took the healing properties of pure raw milk very seriously. Of particular interest is that those who recommend the milk diet are usually actively seeking methods of curing disease. Not just treating symptoms, but actually allowing many patients to achieve a full recovery from their various illnesses and regain the ability to live a normal, functioning life.

One thing I found very interesting was that the milk diet is supposedly able to cure digestive problems. This is quite unorthodox in our society where milk is often demonized as the cause behind digestive disorders. Even in the real food community, the exclusion of milk (even raw milk) is relatively common. Many real foodists are dairy-free or casein-free. Experts like Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, author of Gut and Psychology Syndrome (or GAPS), recommend abstaining from any dairy for a period of time, with actual milk being reintroduced perhaps years down the road.

But on the other hand, according to advocates of the milk diet (or milk cure), raw milk is the answer to common digestive difficulties like indigestion and constipation. Many who previously believed they couldn’t tolerate milk found they did quite well on an all milk diet. Why? Possibly because raw milk contains beneficial enzymes and bacteria that not only aid in the digestion of its components, but can also help restore the balance of flora in the gut. From what research I’ve done, raw milk can be a very therapeutic food, so I wouldn’t put it past raw milk to tackle digestive issues as well.

So, what benefits am I expecting from the milk diet?

Fortunately, I’ve undergone a lot of healing during the my last year or more on a real foods diet, so I don’t have any outstanding conditions that need drastic improvement. However, there are some areas that I feel should be doing better and I’m hoping the milk diet will provide some positive results.

The Dreaded PMS

Sometimes I swear I wouldn’t think anything of my health if PMS didn’t rear its ugly head for about 10 days out of every month. It’s a reminder to me that things aren’t quite in total balance yet. I realize that some hormonal fluctuations are normal during the menstrual cycle, but in my opinion what I experience every month is not what nature intended (i.e. crazy mood swings and out-of-the-blue cravings for straight-up junk food). Whether the milk diet can help with this or not, I’m not certain, but it’s worth a shot to me as someone who’s tried every natural remedy under the sun at this point.

Other Hopes for the Milk Diet...

Otherwise I’d like to see improvements in some smaller matters, like my skin/complexion, cellulite, energy, sleep quality, body composition (especially after gaining some unwanted fat weight around my waist–thank you very much, low-carb dieting), and basal temperatures, which have been low for years.

To some degree or another I’m keeping track of all of these factors as a way to gauge the effect the milk diet is having on my body. I will be reporting at the end of the diet what kind of improvements I’ve seen. Overall I’m trying to be open-minded about what will happen over the course of the next few weeks. Who knows what lies ahead?

This post is part of Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade.

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Does the Milk Diet Help You Lose Weight?

Since the word "diet" automatically brings to mind weight loss in our society, it’s not surprising that people could confuse the original milk diet with a weight loss method. (I say "original" because the dairy industry is calling a their new weight loss plan a milk diet. Yes, the one where you add three servings of pasteurized, homogenized, denatured dairy to your SAD diet--a far cry from the real milk diet.)

The focus of the original milk diet--or milk cure, as it’s also known--was on healing the body and resolving health issues. And, in my opinion, this may be exactly why the milk diet is well-suited for individuals aiming to lose excess fat weight. Why? Because even though the milk diet wasn’t designed specifically for weight loss, it has the ability to target the root cause behind unwanted weight gain.

If you’ve been around this blog for a while, you’ve probably noticed I adhere to a slightly unorthodox approach to weight loss: it’s not all about calories or exercise or even macronutrient ratios. It’s about the fact that your body gains too much fat weight when it’s out of balance. I’m all about bringing the body back into balance so it can let go of the excess fat, and so you can finally achieve a healthy body composition.

So, how does the milk diet come into play here? In a few different ways:

It gets you away from refined sugar. No fructose-laden desserts here. Just pure, fresh raw milk - which tastes so great you probably won’t be craving sugar anyway (I’m certainly not, and that’s a big surprise considering my history with sugar cravings).

Raw milk is very nutrient-dense. We’ve all heard the term "overweight but undernourished." Well, on an all raw milk diet, you’re getting a very complete - and highly digestible - package of vitamins, minerals (including trace minerals), macronutrients, enzymes and more. Your body won’t be wanting for any nutrients on this diet.

Calcium equals weight loss. At least, so says modern science. Several studies have shown that eating a diet rich in calcium can help you lose weight, especially fat weight and specifically abdominal fat. And you have to admit: you can’t get more calcium rich than a gallon of milk per day.

Get some real detoxification. Stop chugging watered down maple syrup and cayenne pepper, and please stop popping those ridiculously harsh colon cleanse pills that send your digestive system through the ringer. Back in the day, the milk diet was known for its powerful detoxification benefits. And frankly I think it’s time to bring back a detox method that won’t kill you in the process.

The milk diet is very nourishing to the kidneys, the liver and the digestive system. It can also strengthen the circulatory system, and can even improve perspiration. All of these systems play a key role in detoxification. Get these systems in good health and your body can handle its own detoxification quite well.

Restore lean body mass. A consistent thread I’ve noticed in literature on the milk diet is that patients commonly experienced the gain of muscle mass during the milk diet, despite the fact that many of them were on bed rest during the diet. The specific components in milk, as well as its digestibility, make it an excellent food for building lean mass like muscle and bone. And as I’ve mentioned before, lean body mass combats fat.

Basically, if you’re like me and believe you need to be healthy to lose weight (and not the other way around), then the milk diet just makes sense. A nourished body is the foundation of achieving a healthy body composition, and I think the milk diet can be a part of that if you’re willing to try it.

Can’t (or won’t) go on an all milk diet? No problem. Raw milk is a nourishing food, even if you aren’t downing a gallon a day. So, in an updated (and way more healthy) version of the dairy industry’s so-called milk diet, how about drinking three glasses of fresh raw milk every day? Now that’s nourishing. And if it helps with weight loss, all the better.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, hosted by Cheeseslave today.

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Podcast: The Raw Milk Diet Experiment, Day 5

Here's my latest podcast update about my progress on the milk diet, my experience with cravings, and more!

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Raw Milk Diet Cure Day 4: Resources, Plus Icy Roads Halt Milk Supply!

Today started my fourth day on the all raw milk diet! I have to admit, I'm really having fun with this and I'm not at all tired of my beloved raw milk yet. Heck, maybe I can be one of those folks who survives on raw milk for years... but I'd better not get ahead of myself here.

For one thing, I am totally snowed in today. Roads where I live are steep and curvy... and in Alabama there's nary a snow tire in sight and frankly we Southerners all get the heebie-jeebies when more than an inch of snow shows up. I only have one gallon of raw milk left right now - just enough to get me through the day (if I deny my children any access to it, and that's just cruel). If I play it completely safe, I won't be going anywhere until tomorrow afternoon or even Wednesday. So, from what I see I have three choices:

1. Ration my milk and basically go on an unwanted low-calorie milk diet. I have a severe aversion to calorie restriction (plus I get so darn moody if I'm not eating enough). I don't really like this option.

2. Brave the snowy roads and possibly plummet to my death off the side of a mountain in an attempt to go pick up my milk. Okay, I'm not too much of a fan of this one, either... but the sun is out and things are starting to look melty, so maybe it will be safer soon (especially if the ever-so-slow local road crews actually get in to sand the roads).

3. Break my milk diet for a couple meals until I can go pick up my milk. Believe it or not, I am so darn headstrong that this option is actually the least attractive to me. I'm totally into this right now, and I'd hate to have to cheat when I really don't even want to.

So, anyway, while I'm debating this, here's the rest of this morning's post:

The milk diet (or milk cure, as it's also known) is pretty obscure, even in the real food community. So if any of you are wondering about it, I want to point you toward some different sources that helped me figure out the why and how of doing a milk diet:

Milk-Diet.com is a great place to start. Especially useful is a free online copy of Bernarr MacFadden's The Milk Diet: How to Use the Milk Diet Scientifically at Home. You can read it online here. This book is quite interesting. I've read through it once and will be doing so again soon.

Milk Diet As A Remedy For Chronic Disease by Charles Sanford Porter, M.D is the next stop if you're seriously interested in learning about the history of the milk diet. You can download a free copy here, but you can also purchase the book on Amazon if you want a copy you can hold in your hands. Coupled with Mac Fadden's book, you've got your basics covered. Now, these books are old - both were written nearly a century ago. I personally love oldies but goodies like these. The language and style take you right back into a simpler time when raw milk was still a staple in most American homes. Some might consider these texts dated, but to me they are unearthed treasures.

The Raw Milk Diet: A Physician’s Experience With Real Healing is a great post which discusses Porter's work and also details two personal stories about benefits received from going on a raw milk diet.

This post at the Nutrition and Physical Regeneration blog covers a great article written by Dr. J. R. Crewe of the Mayo Foundation about the milk cure. It's a great read, plus you can find some discussion about the milk diet between myself and webmaster Michael in the comments.

Want more information about raw milk? Look no further:

- Realmilk.com is the mother of all raw milk resources. Not only can you read plenty of informational articles about the benefits of raw milk, you can also find local suppliers of raw milk if you're interested.

- I was so excited to see a post about my raw milk diet experiment at The Bovine, a great blog devoted to sharing information about raw milk and our rights to access this incredibly nourishing food.

Stay tuned this week for posts on the benefits I hope to receive with the milk diet, and also whether or not the milk diet should be used for weight loss. And I'll also be posting a podcast or two this week to keep you updated on how I'm doing on the milk diet.

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Podcast: The Milk Diet Cure Experiment, Day 1

Okay, I officially made it through the first day of my all raw milk diet. Not too shabby. Here's a podcast summing up my thoughts on today's experience:



Stay tuned next week for more information about the milk diet and updates on how it's working for me!

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My Raw Milk Diet Cure Experiment: Day 1

One of my favorite discoveries on my real food journey is raw milk. Last year, I was absolutely tickled to learn what a nourishing food milk could be under the right circumstances. You know when you read a piece of information and it just, you know... clicks? Well, reading about raw milk was a real "click" moment for me. I don’t know why. It just made pure and utter (udder?) sense to me that raw milk could really do a body good.

So I spent some time perusing Realmilk.com, reading about the benefits of drinking real raw milk. And I was immediately taken with these decades-old stories of people who had been cured of a variety of ailments by going on an exclusive raw milk diet for several weeks. The idea of going on an all raw milk diet was very alluring to me, but I chocked it up as impossible since I didn’t think it was practical for me to consume only raw milk day in and day out.

However, over the next few weeks I have a unique opportunity to give the raw milk diet a real shot, and I’m jumping in head first. Today I have officially begun my raw milk diet. And don’t worry, I'll be keeping my readers filled in along the way in the form of blog posts and YouTube podcasts.

There is so much information about the milk diet, so today I just want to do an introduction to explain what the milk diet actually is, because it's a little more than just chugging milk all day. Here’s the basics of the raw milk diet philosophy:

- Raw milk is a balanced, nutrient-dense food. It provides everything the body needs to rebuild and heal. Its liquid form is easily absorbed and digested by the body.

- Raw milk should be taken in adequate quantities to provide the body with plenty of nutrients and rebuilding material, generally at least four quarts (one gallon) each day.

- Milk should be taken in small amounts, sipping throughout the day to ensure proper digestion and assimilation of nutrients. No gulping large glasses of ice-cold milk, please.

- Rest is highly recommended to ensure the body is focused on healing rather than expending energy. Someone who is ill should have complete bed rest for most or all of the diet.

- Warm baths for relaxation, circulation and detoxification are also recommended.

- Light exercise can be added to further improve circulation and body composition if the patient is up to it.

Later I will go into greater detail about exactly how I plan to do the raw milk diet, and what benefits I expect (or hope) to receive. And on Monday I'll be sharing some great resources available for those who want to really dig in and learn more about this intriguing diet.

This post is a part of Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade.

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My Version of Easy Homemade Raw Milk Yogurt

Like I shared earlier this week on my post about making homemade raw milk kefir, I have to really make sure something is simple and doable before I’ll try it. Kefir seemed pretty easy to me, but I have to admit I was intimidated by the idea of raw milk yogurt. Kefir needs very little temperature control (room temp is fine), while yogurt needs a consistently warmer temperature, and I wasn’t sure how to tackle that without buying a thermometer or a yogurt maker.

I searched high and low through the internet for ways to make raw milk yogurt. It’s a little different than pasteurized milk yogurt, because you do not want to heat the milk too hot or it will kill all the wonderful little enzymes and probiotics inside. I found some great pointers at different blogs, but I wanted to simplify it even further. Basically, I wanted a raw milk yogurt that could be made without a thermometer. Turns out this is easier than I realized!

I recalled reading in Nourishing Traditions that the body has a fascinating way of telling you if something is too hot to harbor enzymes--it simply feels too hot! With this in mind, I realized that the power of touch is the key to making yogurt without a thermometer. So, I tried it out and it worked!

Here’s my version of homemade raw milk yogurt:

1. In a stockpot, place up to four 32-oz (1-quart) mason jars inside. Fill the jars with raw milk.

2. Fill the pot with warm water (about halfway up the mason jars or so) and gently begin heating at a low to medium temperature.

3. Keep a close watch on the pot. You can test the water temperature with your finger, or feel the outside of the mason jars to gauge the temperature. The ideal temperature for growing yogurt is somewhere between 98-110 degrees, which should feel comfortably warm. (I test the milk itself with my finger. This may not be the most sterile option, but I haven’t had problems with it.)

4. When the milk is warm enough, place 1-4 tablespoons of a good quality, no-additive, whole fat plain yogurt inside, and stir well to mix the cultures. You may find the amount of yogurt starter you add affects the thickness of your yogurt. Some people find less starter actually makes a thicker yogurt.

Now you need to keep your raw milk yogurt warm for 6-24 hours. Here’s how I keep mine warm:

1. Place the mason jars in a cooler filled with very warm water. Close the cooler tightly and cover with blankets or towels for insulation. This stays at the proper temperature for several hours at least, much longer if your house is on the warm side.

Our house gets cold in the winter, so during that time I usually add a few cups of boiling water to the cooler every few hours to maintain enough heat for the cultures. To see if the yogurt is staying warm, I simply dip my finger in the jar and see if it feels warm. (Like I said, maybe not the most sterile method but very accurate nonetheless for testing the temperature. Of course, if you use a thermometer that would work, too!)

2. Yogurt is usually ready after about 6 hours. However, if you keep it warm longer you can eliminate more lactose and casein, while culturing more probiotics. I usually culture my raw milk yogurt for at least 12 hours.

Of course, there are lots of other ways to keep yogurt warm, like in the oven with a pilot light, in a crock pot, or even in a warm car! Just remember it needs to be somewhere between 98-110 degrees to culture properly. Too cold means the cultures won’t take. Too warm means the cultures will die completely.

After your yogurt is cultured, place in the fridge for 5-6 hours to firm it up. It will usually still be thinner than commercial yogurt (though using a Greek yogurt starter may help). The texture may be slightly different than what you’re used to, but the taste will be very familiar.

Remember to save a few tablespoons of your plain raw milk yogurt to use as a culture next time! This way you don’t have to keep buying starter yogurt. Make a batch of yogurt at least every 7 days to keep your cultures active. Of course, you can also buy powdered yogurt cultures as a yogurt starter, if you prefer.

This yogurt tastes great with stevia and vanilla, which is how we make it here. My kids don't even notice that it's not store bought. You can also sweeten it with unrefined sugar like palm sugar or pure maple syrup. And of course, like all yogurt it tastes great with fruit and nuts, too!

An added bonus: this raw milk yogurt is fairly inexpensive. The cheapest non-organic plain whole-fat yogurt I can find is $1.83 for 32 ounces. No additives, but nowhere near organic and definitely not raw. Organic, high-quality plain yogurt is more like $3-5 for 32 ounces! I pay $6/gallon for raw, high-quality milk, and a gallon makes four 32-oz jars of raw milk yogurt. That's $1.50 for 32 ounces! Very inexpensive by comparison. And of course way cheaper than buying a bunch of tiny cups of yogurt. Plus you know you're culturing the good stuff, and cultured raw milk is a very healthy food.

If you have some experience making raw milk yogurt, or if you have any tips to share, I’d love to hear about it!

Find great sources for all your culturing needs on my Resources page!

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My Version of Homemade Raw Milk Kefir

My Kefir Grains

I delayed making my own kefir for the longest time because I thought it would be too much of a hassle. But as I learned more and more about nourishing foods, I realized kefir offered a lot of important benefits. Namely, it's loaded with its own unique package of probiotics, which are vital for gut health. So, I took the plunge and ordered some milk kefir grains, and it turns out making my own kefir is incredibly easy! And the benefits are more than worth taking the time to make it.

When I spring for homemade, I like to use the simplest method possible. This makes it easier for me to stick with it and make it a regular habit. And making kefir has become part of my routine for several months now (I drink it every day!), so you know it must be easy! Here's how I make my own raw milk kefir:

1. In a glass jar or pitcher, mix kefir grains with raw milk (non-homogenized regular milk can also be used, but raw milk makes a much more nutritious kefir). The amount of milk you use depends on how many grains you have. When you first order grains, you'll most likely only be using 2-4 cups of milk at a time. But don't worry - kefir grains grow fast! After a couple batches, you'll be able to easily make 2 quarts at a time.

2. Cover the glass container tightly and set out at room temperature (if you have a cold kitchen in the winter, you may need to find a slightly warmer place, like on top of the fridge).

3. For a milder, thinner kefir, leave out overnight and refrigerate in the morning. The kefir will continue to culture (much more slowly) in the fridge.

4. For a stronger, thicker kefir, leave out for 18-24 hours before refrigerating. The longer you leave out the kefir, the more probiotic cultures it contains, and the less lactose and casein. So if you are really trying to get those probiotics, or if you are very sensitive to lactose or casein, leaving it out a little longer may be the best option for you.

5. Strain out the grains (see below for how to handle the grains). Store kefir in the refrigerator. Voila! A great, homemade probiotic drink.

Kefir is fairly tasty and versatile. It's a little sour, like plain yogurt but a little different. I drink mine plain (sweetened with stevia because it's a little too sour by itself for my taste), or I make kefir smoothies.

I use kefir grains because in the long run they are much more economical. There's a small $15-20 investment at first, but you only have to buy them once! You can use kefir grains indefinitely, and here's how:

- Strain the kefir grains from the kefir.

- Store covered in a glass container with enough raw milk to cover grains.

- Use at least every 48 hours to keep cultures alive.

These grains will not only continue to thrive, they will also multiply. So, you can either make even more kefir, eat the grains for a super dose of probiotics, or share your new grains with a friend!

Note: There are two types of kefir cultures: water kefir grains and milk kefir grains. Water kefir grains are for making homemade kefir sodas and beverages, while the milk kefir grains are for milk kefir. These grains are different and can't be used interchangeably. Be sure you order the right kind!

Kefir is a cultured milk product, which means it's even more beneficial than raw milk! Read more about cultured dairy here.

Need a source for everything you need to culture at home? Check out my Resources page here.

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From Kefir to Yogurt: Raw Milk is Good, Cultured is Better!

Looking to traditional societies as a guide for healthy eating, it’s easy to notice a trend throughout the ages: cultured dairy. Why? Because cultured dairy products have unique characteristics that makes them even more nutritious than our good friend raw milk!

What is cultured dairy? Think yogurt, cheese, kefir, curds and whey, creme fraiche, pima milk, and clabbered milk. Any traditional culture that consumed dairy included foods like these. Cultured dairy was popular with our ancestors for a number of reasons. One is simply that refrigeration wasn’t available, so milk would simply culture itself when it was stored (neat how it does that, isn’t it?). But cultured dairy products were also revered for their many health benefits:

Good-bye, Lactose. Think you might be sensitive to the lactose in milk? Lacto-fermentation breaks down the lactose over a period of hours. At 24 hours, virtually all lactose is gone! For this reason, many lactose-intolerant folks can enjoy cultured dairy products without side effects.

So Long, Casein. This protein is particularly difficult for the body to digest, but it is also broken down by friendly bacteria during the culturing process.

Hello, Probiotics! Yep, these are the beneficial little guys I spoke of earlier this week in my post about gut health. These beneficial bacteria are what “cultures” the milk, and gobble up all the lactose and casein. They also promote a healthy GI tract and overall vitality. Getting plenty of probiotics can drastically reduce the occurrence and severity of many illnesses, too.

Culturing dairy with raw milk is highly recommended, but the best part about culturing is you can also do it with pasteurized milk (though it should not be homogenized). Culturing can actually restore the wonderful enzyme content of milk which is destroyed by pasteurization. These enzymes are important for digesting lactose and casein, and for absorbing minerals like calcium.

The lost art of culturing dairy has been rediscovered thanks to wonderful books like Nourishing Traditions, and boy do I appreciate that! Next week I’ll explain how I make my own raw milk kefir and yogurt. I’m no culinary expert, so my methods are simple and require as little effort as possible (okay, okay - I’m just a lazy cook). Stay tuned!

Do you love raw milk? Then go check out this raw milk survey at Augie’s blog!

And don't forget to try these probiotic recipes:

• How to Make Raw Milk Kefir
• How to Make Raw Milk Yogurt

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