Real milk that is clean, fresh, full fat, and unprocessed is a complete food and a source of a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and other important compounds. After all, raw milk is Nature’s exclusive food for infants, so it must supply every single nutrient that the infant needs. Milk is an important source for nutrients like fat-soluble vitamin A, D, E and K2; vitamin C; all the B vitamins, especially vitamins B2, B6 and B12; and minerals like calcium, phosphorus and zinc as well as essential trace minerals. Levels of these vitamins will be higher if the cow is on pasture eating green grass. Moreover, raw milk supplies enzymes and carrier proteins to ensure that 100 percent of every nutrient is absorbed. Pasteurization destroys all these important co-factors. (See references in the chart below.) Milk that is processed, pasteurized, evaporated, centrifuged or otherwise tampered in some way, does not offer this miraculous all-in-one source for nutrients. Vitamin CRaw milk but not pasteurized can resolve scurvy. “...Without doubt... the explosive increase in infantile scurvy during the latter part of the 19th century coincided with the advent of use of heated milks...”CalciumLonger and denser bones on raw milk.FolateCarrier protein inactivated during pasteurization.Vitamin B12Binding protein inactivated by pasteurization.Vitamin B6Animal studies indicate B6 poorly absorbed from pasteurized milk.Vitamin ABeta-lactoglobulin, a heat-sensitive protein in milk, increases intestinal absorption of vitamin A. Heat degrades vitamin A.Vitamin DPresent in milk bound to lactoglobulins, pasteurization cuts assimilation in half.IronLactoferrin, which contributes to iron assimilation, destroyed during pasteurization. Children on pasteurized milk tend to anemia.MineralsBound to proteins such as calcium and iodine that are inactivated by pasteurization; Raw milk contains the bifidus factor, which encourage lactobacilli growth in the gut; lactobacilli enhance mineral absorption.Vitamin B2Riboflavin, completely destroyed by pasteurization.

Raw milk provides the raw components to build the cells and tissues of the body including a ready supply of amino acids for building muscle and bone. The minerals needed to support the building and maintenance of bone and muscle tissue are in good supply in raw milk. The balance of calcium, magnesium, and potassium is particularly important for muscle and nerve contraction, muscle function and to avoid cramps. These minerals along with Vitamins A, D and K are critical for bone health and are associated with increasing bone density. CLA, a substance found in real milk, is known to enhance muscle strength and growth. Personal reports indicate that raw milk prevents and reverses osteoporosis. Studies on growth, show much better bone and tissue development in animals fed raw milk.

Raw milk offers a readily available source of immune-building nutrients such as Vitamins A, D, and C, as well as glutathione. Components in raw milk not only build the immune system but also inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria such as staph aureus and strep. Raw milk contains enzymes such as lg6 that inhibit Rotavirus infections associated with diarrhea in infants. Immune factors in milk such as lactoferrin, fatty acids, T-lymphocytes, antioxidants, and immune-modulatory peptides work to strengthen the immune system, increase cell mediated immune mechanisms, mobilize white blood cells, and stimulate specific antibodies. These factors are all destroyed by pasteurization.

Many studies have documented the ability of raw milk to prevent allergies.1,2,3,4,5 For example, a study of 4700 primary school children in Shropshire, England found that allergy-related conditions were reduced by half with just a few glasses of raw milk per week.2,8 Studies often find a positive effect on allergies from on-farm living, with some finding that raw milk consumption was the strongest factor for reducing allergies, whether the children lived on a farm or not.6 As far back as the 1800s, The Lancet reported on immune milk therapy to treat allergies.9

For many people, fermented raw milk products are even easier to digest than plain raw milk. In many parts of the world, raw milk was made into various fermented milk products such as cheese, kefir, yoghurt, cultured buttermilk and cultured cream. Cultured buttermilk, which is low in casein but high in lactic acid, is often well tolerated by those with true milk allergies. Many of these products have a reputation as healing foods for the sick.

Raw milk, and especially raw milk from pastured animals (the only raw milk worthwhile of consumption), is a great source of calcium, iron, Vitamins A, D & K, phosphorus, zinc, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), and omega-3 fatty acids, plus many beneficial enzymes and probiotics that are healthy bacteria able to inhibit .

It's milk that comes from grass-fed cows, is unpasteurized and unhomogenized. This means raw milk contains all of its natural enzymes, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals — making it what many refer to as a “complete food.” Eggs fall into the “complete food” category also.