• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer
The Healthy Home Economist

The Healthy Home Economist

embrace your right to a lifetime of health

Get Plus
  • Home
  • About
  • My Books
  • Shopping List
  • Archives
  • Log in
  • Get Plus
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Get Plus
  • Log in
  • Home
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Archives
  • My Books
  • Shopping List
  • Recipes
  • Healthy Living
  • Natural Remedies
  • Green Living
  • Videos
  • Natural Remedies
  • Health
  • Green Living
  • Recipes
  • Videos
  • Subscribe
Healthy Home Economist / Archives / Healthy Living / Why Milk Is Not Just for Baby Cows

Why Milk Is Not Just for Baby Cows

by Sarah Pope / Affiliate Links ✔

milk matters in human history

One of the most misguided food myths getting perpetuated nowadays, sadly even by some alternative practitioners, is that dairy is unhealthy to consume.

One reason for the popularity of this modern notion is the skyrocketing incidence of dairy allergies. However, in most cases, these problems are due to the processing (pasteurization/homogenization) of the dairy and/or the unnatural GMO feed given to the cows, not to the dairy itself. When people consume unprocessed dairy from healthy cows grazing on green grass, suddenly the “allergies” disappear. For example, 85% of those who are “lactose intolerant” have absolutely no problem with raw dairy!

Could “lactose intolerance” more aptly be described then as “pasteurization intolerance”? I, for one, definitely think so!

Study of history supports the notion that milk matters and the inclusion of dairy in a healthy, well-rounded diet. The fact is that humans have consumed dairy for thousands of years, even before the advent of agriculture.

Julie Dunne of the University of Bristol, lead author of a groundbreaking archaeological study published in Nature, has found the first direct evidence that prehistoric people of the African Sahara used cattle for their milk many thousands of years ago long before the cultivation of plants in this region.

The initial evidence was found in rock art images illustrating domesticated cattle from the Wadi Imha, in the Tadrart Acacus Mountains, Libyan Sahara. Scientists have dated these images at between 5,000 and 8,000 years old. Ms. Dunne had this to say about the discovery:

Milk is one the very few foods that give us carbohydrates, fats and proteins in one go. So being able to use milk like these people did would have made an enormous difference to their health. It would have provided food for life.

Study of traditional cultures around the world shows the same. Milk not just from cows but from many other mammals such as goat, sheep, camel, reindeer, yak, horses, and even water buffalo have proved an important part of the human diet for far longer than almost any other food.

If the history of milk fascinates you as it does me, you will no doubt enjoy this infographic below sent to me from John Kelle from Online Masters of Public Health. There are numerous factoids about the history of milk to skim through. In addition, 10 good reasons for switching to raw milk from store milk are included for those of you just learning about the benefits of unprocessed, full-fat dairy fresh from the farm.

If you’ve been told that milk is not a healthy food for you and your family to consume, know that history stands firm as a strong and convincing counterpoint to this false, modern notion!

Why Milk Matters

An infographic by the team at Online Masters In Public Health

More Information

A1 and A2 Milk: Do Cow Genetics Even Matter?
The A1 and A2 Factor in Raw Milk

FacebookPinEmailPrint
Category: Healthy Living, Raw Milk History
Sarah Pope

Sarah Pope MGA has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. She is a summa cum laude graduate in Economics from Furman University and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

She is the author of three books: Amazon #1 bestseller Get Your Fats Straight, Traditional Remedies for Modern Families, and Living Green in an Artificial World.

Her four eBooks Good Diet…Bad Diet, Real Food Fermentation, Ketonomics, and Ancestrally Inspired Dairy-Free Recipes are available for complimentary download via Healthy Home Plus.

Her mission is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.

Sarah was awarded Activist of the Year in 2010 at the International Wise Traditions Conference, subsequently serving on the Board of Directors of the nutrition nonprofit the Weston A. Price Foundation for seven years.

Her work has been covered by numerous independent and major media including USA Today, ABC, and NBC among many others.

You May Also Like

woman holding the maximum amount of sugar per day that is healthy to eat

How Much Sugar a Day is Too Much?

GT Kombucha bottle

Reformulated Kombucha Back in Stores

buckwheat groats and flour in clay bowl with white tablecloth

Benefits of Buckwheat for Food and Garden

Meet My Farmer!

low oxalate pumpkin seed flour and sunflower seed meal

4 Best Low Oxalate Alternatives to Almond Flour

grilled steak at a restaurant with garlic and butter

How to Order Steak at a Restaurant (and not get sick later)

Feeling Tired More Than You Should?

Get a free chapter of my book Get Your Fats Straight + my weekly newsletter and learn which fats to eat (and which to avoid) to reduce sugar cravings and improve energy significantly!

We send no more than one email per week. You will never be spammed or your email sold, ever.
Loading

Reader Interactions

Comments (105)

  1. Kathy Harrelson via Facebook

    Jul 29, 2014 at 9:09 pm

    Do you have any recommendations for when and how to transition a child from breastmilk to raw milk?

    Reply
  2. Niki Giannini via Facebook

    Jul 29, 2014 at 6:29 pm

    Yes, I’ve just heard about this A1/ A2 situation.

    Reply
  3. Nancy Gardner via Facebook

    Jul 29, 2014 at 1:09 pm

    Yummy milk.

    Reply
  4. CeeBee

    Jul 29, 2014 at 7:54 am

    Out of curiosity for my research, was it “raw” dairy you quit or pasteurized/homogenized dairy?

    Reply
    • Erik

      Jul 31, 2014 at 9:54 am

      From what I’ve seen, pasteurization is probably the least harmful thing done to milk and milk cows. I think a large number of the allergy issues people have are related to what the cows are being fed and/or to the homogenization process that breaks up the fat globules and releases proteins into the milk that normally wouldn’t be so quickly accessible during digestion.

  5. Teodora Nutas via Facebook

    Jul 29, 2014 at 7:48 am

    Good morning. Do you know by any chance where I can get calf, lamb and goat rennet? Thanks

    Reply
  6. Leila Kairns via Facebook

    Jul 29, 2014 at 7:40 am

    They say in the infograph that milk is at the bottom of the list of contaminated food but do you know what % of milk was a problem prior to pasturization/homoginization? I know the contamination was bassically due to improper storage and distribution. In europe there are dispencing machines, do you know if there were any reports on contamination? Just can’t seem to find anything which is good but maybe i am not looking at the right places 😉 ty

    Reply
  7. schau Dir diese Seite an

    Oct 10, 2013 at 5:16 am

    Wonderful troubles totally, you just got a new visitor. What would a person propose of your publish which you designed some days in the past? Any kind of positive?

    Reply
  8. John Rivard

    Sep 25, 2013 at 5:48 am

    I think you are absolutely right about milk having an important place in our diets. Pasteurization and homogenization, which both radically change the organisms living in raw milk and its physical structure, are only one part of the “allergy” problem with current industrial milk production. The industrial diet of grain, supplements and hormones is not a natural diet for ruminants like dairy cows, leading to overall poor health for the animals and changed nutritional profile(not for the better) of the resulting dairy. I am sure a life spent mostly confined inside buildings does not result in health, happiness and productivity for cows any more than it does for people.

    I have been using only dairy from strictly grass-fed cows for more than a year now. Living in Florida with no dairies nearby, it is nearly impossible to find fresh raw milk. I can get grass-fed un-homogenized milk, yogurt and sour cream. There are many great grass-fed raw milk cheeses available now. The flavor, color and nutrition of these grass-fed dairy products are far better that their commercial counterparts and well worth the additional cost.

    This is an important topic for anyone interested in better health. What we eat is important. These ideas need to be put out there and built upon to push back against the FDA, USDA and the mainstream industrial food corporations that try to dictate what we should eat to the detriment of our health and the betterment of their wallets.

    Keep up the great work. I feel like dairy, meat, eggs and poultry are at the stage organic vegetables were at twenty years ago. This needs to be a grassroots movement driven by nutritional information and our wallets(what we choose to buy at the store). It is obvious that no amount of evidence from scientific studies is going to sway government agencies or industrial agriculture on these issues – only profit will drive them to change.

    Reply
  9. Meagan

    Sep 14, 2013 at 12:37 am

    I can purchase raw milk both at my local farm and at a store called Real Food Market here in Utah. I’m not sure why they’re not on the list of states that allow legal sales of raw milk in store. I’m going to have to research on this, since I’ve never seen the milk labeled for pet consumption…

    Reply
    • Meagan

      Sep 14, 2013 at 12:37 am

      I just remembered I had to sign a waiver before purchasing… maybe that’s why?

  10. s

    Sep 11, 2013 at 7:23 pm

    Well, since Queen Elizabeth II drinks milk & Cleopatra bathed in it…I am sold! I will go out & purchase a gallon of milk…not.

    When it said in the Bible “a land flowing w/ milk & honey”…that was a metaphor. :/

    Reply
« Older Comments
Newer Comments »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Sidebar

Mother Nature’s Medicine Cabinet

5 Secrets to a Strong Immune System

Loading

The Healthy Home Economist

Since 2002, Sarah has been a Health and Nutrition Educator dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. Read More

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Check Out My Books

Mother Nature’s Medicine Cabinet

5 Secrets to a Strong Immune System

Loading

Contact the Healthy Home Economist. The information on this website has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any disease. By accessing or using this website, you agree to abide by the Terms of Service, Full Disclaimer, Privacy Policy, Affiliate Disclosure, and Comment Policy.

Copyright © 2009–2025 · The Healthy Home Economist · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc.