Yep, organic milk really is better for you than regular milk

[Redfairen]

Source: NBC News

Sometimes, the word “organic” earns its health halo: A new study finds that organic cow’s milk really is healthier than conventional milk.

Organic milk contains more heart-healthy fatty acids than regular milk, says study author Charles Benbrook, a research professor at the Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources at Washington State University. The WSU researchers tested nearly 400 samples of organic and conventional milk over 18 months.

“There’s really no debate around the world -- when you feed dairy cows more grass, you improve the fatty acid profile of milk. You also increase the protein level,” Benbrook says. On the other hand, cows fed a corn-based diet produce milk that’s higher in omega-6 fatty acids. 

The reason organic milk is healthier comes down to its ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids, which is lower than in regular milk. A diet containing too many omega-6 fatty acids and not enough omega-3s has been linked to heart disease, as well as cancer, inflammation and autoimmune diseases. That’s because your gut converts omega-6s to arachidonic acid, which can cause inflammation. But the anti-inflammatory powers of omega-3s help to counterbalance that reaction, which is why keeping that ratio low is so important. (An omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of 2.3 to 1 is best for heart health, research suggests.)



Read more: http://m.nbcnews.com/health/yep-organic-milk-really-better-you-regular-milk-2D11712970

[Happyhippychick]

1. Organic milk has no hormones, that's reason enough for me to buy it.

[Gman]

14. Cows have hormones. The milk will have hormones

Just like human mothers milk has hormones.

[Happyhippychick]

16. Did I really need to explain what I meant? I think you know.

[Gman]

25. I'm challenged in this area

What hormones are you referring to, seriously?

[Happyhippychick]

26. Here is the info, it will have you drinking organic milk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_somatotropin

This is what is being injected into cows along with massive doses of antibiotics. It's blamed as one of the reasons we have early onset puberty so prevalent now.

[yellowcanine]

32. "It's blamed as one of the reasons we have early onset puberty..."

Haven't seen that in relation to synthetic BST. Do you have a link for that? (It does not say anything in the link you provided). I think you are confusing synthetic BST with growth hormones which are sometimes fed to beef cattle.

[Gman]

40. OK, now I remember about this. I didn't realize they still did this.

Thanks for the info.

[yellowcanine]

29. It is a fair point. Lots of people don't know that BST = Bovine Somatotropin

I suggest you say synthetic hormones if that is what you mean.

This is not a trivial point because there has been a whole lot of expensive litigation over labeling milk involving the USDA, the FDA, state legislatures, the dairy industry, and of course the makers of synthetic BST.

[Marrah_G]

2. I buy organic milk even though it is twice as expensive

It tastes better and I offset the cost by using less of it.

[boomersense]

3. I drink almond milk occasionally. Haven't

drunk cow's milk in over 20 years. None of the members of my family drink cow's milk either.

[KansDem]

35. Have you tried almond cheese?

Switched to using it a few years ago. Very tasty!

[boomersense]

37. No, but I will now thanks to your post........nt

ddddddd

[penultimate]

43. I like almond milk too. I haven't bought any in awhile though.

[boomersense]

47. I buy mine at Costco, which I like better than the stuff at

Trader Joes. I used to drink that nonfat Soy milk but then I heard bad stuff about Soy foods. Not near as bad as cow's milk for an adult.

[penultimate]

48. Like Costco brand?

I forgot the brand I got, but it was usually available at any store I went to. I used to get some smoothie soy milk stuff too. People told me bad stuff about soy milk too, but I just wrote it off in that almost anything I'd ingest will probably kill me somehow.

[boomersense]

49. Getting more cautious as I age. I eat a lot of fruits, nuts and veggies with an occasional

shot of Jack Daniels so as not to appear obsessive. I hope you're enjoying the holidays somewhat. It all doesn't seem the same anymore as when I was younger and people were more involved with tradition. The Costco Brand? You mean Kirkland? No, I don't think it was Kirkland... I can't remember. I have a carton of Almond Breeze in the refer--but that's Trader Joes. Later.

[frazzled]

4. Unless (like us) you buy organic SKIM milk

Actually, Mr. Frazzled uses the milk in the house, while I almost never do. And he's insisted on the organic milk for years. However, he drinks it skim, which of course removes all the fats and thus all the benefits.

After I showed him this article this morning, he agreed to move up to 2%, at least.

[JaneyVee]

5. Another good reason: It lasts WAY longer than regular milk due to

Ultra pasteurization. Just bought a gallon of organic milk that doesn't expire until the end of January.

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. I was wondering about that.

We use 2% organic milk, a half gallon last us weeks..I use it for cooking mostly.
and had noticed it never seems to go sour.
Did not know why.

[JaneyVee]

13. Also helps that most organic milk comes in paper containers.

[yellowcanine]

17. Ultra pasteurization and Organic are not the same thing.

Organic has to do with how the milk is produced, what kind of food the cows get, whether or not the cows are treated with antibiotics when they get sick, etc. Pasteurization is how the milk is processed. In fact, some organic producers sell milk which is not pasteurized at all.

Anyway, most people do not like the taste of UHT milk. It really tastes like crap.

[JaneyVee]

18. I know they're not the same, but organic milk is also ultra pasteurized.

And the ultra pasteurization makes the milk slightly sweeter tasting due to more natural sugars being released.

[yellowcanine]

21. If you say so. I think ultrapasteurized milk tastes like crap.

[yellowcanine]

23. Some organic milk is ultra pasteurized, not all. And most UHT milk is in fact, not organic.

Most UHT milk is marketed in countries where people do not have huge refrigerators like they do in the U.S. because as long as the milk is not opened it does not need refrigeration.

[tsuki]

30. I was wondering about that. Thanks. nt

[AllyCat]

6. I am not a milk drinker, but I buy things made from organic milk

because of the hormones and antibiotics in non-organic milk. This is one more reason to keep buying organic for the milk-drinkers in my family.

[mainer]

7. They're not specifying pasteurized vs unpasteurized, just grass-fed

But grass-fed is enough to make it taste better already.

Best tasting of all is raw, grass-fed milk. It took me years to finally concede this point to my son, who's been drinking raw milk for years. I still don't trust industrial scale dairy farms to produce safe raw milk, but if a cow is 100% grass-fed, milked with its own individual machine (or by hand) then I'd say for healthy adults, it's worth the risk for that difference in taste.

[randr]

8. Also important is the lack of hormones and antibiotics

This is the main reason I only buy organic dairy and meat. Not to mention the meat is far superior in taste.
On edit:
Also of importance is the support for organic farmers and the sustainable agricultural movement.

[yesphan]

9. + 1 ^

I prefer goats milk myself. Deee lishus !

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070730100229.htm

[Berlum]

10. + 1,000

[yellowcanine]

24. Except that a lot of organic milk comes from large industrialized farms.

Such as Horizon Dairy. I once visited a Horizon Dairy in Maryland. The alfalfa hay was shipped in from Colorado. Not much sustainable about that.

[randr]

34. True enough

[snort]

11. Kirkland 1%

is great tasting milk. Worth the money and stays good for weeks.

[glowing]

15. So sad that "regular milk" is the one that contains a bunch of shit,

While the "organic milk" is a novelty and more costly. One of the main issues today in America is it's GMO foods, chemical laden constructs, and cheap fake foods... And the real deal like our grandparents grew and the rest of the world has been protecting from our Franken foods, is somehow the oddity. Literally programmed to accept this marketing scheme and to have to pay more for food that is natural and good for you.

[yellowcanine]

19. Confusing study because the author seems to equate "organic" with "grass fed"

Not all pastured dairies are organic but it appears that the author is crediting the difference in the fatty acids with whether or not the cows got most of their feed from forage or grain. The link is no help because there is no description as to how the study was done. Also note that to get the full benefit one has to drink whole milk, which may be a problem for some people because of the amount of fat, so it would be good to see some discussion of how the benefits might be outweighed by consuming that much fat, not to mention that for many people dairy would be a bad way to get omega 3 fatty acids because of lactose intolerance.

[HuckleB]

39. Ding! Ding! Ding! Right answer!

We buy organic milk. I don't have a justification for it, but I admit that. Still, the confounding factors in this study make it basically worthless.

Oddly, no one has pointed out that this study was paid for by organic milk producers. Hmmmmmmm.

[zeemike]

20. The ideal situation IMO

Is to find an organic dairy that takes good care of it's cows and buy whole milk from them.
Contamination is not a problem if proper sanitation is used.
I knew this lady who milked 13 cows a day and she would wash the udders in warm water before milking them...her milk was great...and you could skim the cream and make butter...so much better for you.
She had customers that would come and get milk from her all the time.

[Sienna86]

22. Here's a site which ranks organic milk producers

http://www.cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/Ratings_Alphabetical.html

Bottom line, any organic milk is better than other milk but family farms are great to support if you can.

[cyberswede]

27. This confirms our avoidance of Horizon products.

Thanks for posting!

[crazylikafox]

33. Great information! Bookmarked. Thanks!

[indie9197]

28. When I lived in WA state, there was a grocery store that sold organic, raw, unhomogenized whole milk

It was delicious and made the best lattes and milk shakes.

[yellowcanine]

31. If you are going to drink raw milk, at least get it directly from the farm.

So you have some idea of the conditions under which it was produced and how it has been handled since it left the bulk milk tank.

If you are getting it from a grocery store you have no idea how it was produced and handled after it left the farm. Even a few minutes at too high a temperature could mean the raw milk contains enough deadly e coli to make you really sick, if not kill you.

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2012/09/is-raw-milk-safe-e-coli

[Javaman]

36. Excellent advice...

I get my raw milk from the same dairy that provides milk to Blue Bonnet Ice Cream. The are inspected bi-weekly by the FDA.

I've been drinking their milk for over 4 years.

[yellowcanine]

38. I still think it should not be given to children, though. You can consent to drinking it. They

cannot. And they are more vulnerable.

[TBF]

41. If you had grown up on a farm you might feel differently -

we drank the milk right after grandma strained it. Warm and delicious.

[yellowcanine]

45. I did grew up on a dairy farm and drank raw milk. Not the same thing as buying it somewhere else.

The milk we drank went from the cow directly to the milk house and then after it was cooled directly to the refrigerator in the farm house, about a 2 minute walk. This old chestnut that "we drank raw milk on the farm and therefore it is great" is a distraction from the crucial issue here, which is that there is a good reason for the requirement that milk which is transported and distributed to the public needs to be pasteurized and it is that people were getting sick and dying from the bacteria in raw milk. And they still are, even in states with strict inspection standards for raw milk. Five children in California got sick from milk from the largest raw milk producer in the United States a couple of years ago. Three of them had serious cases of hemolytic uremia, which can destroy your kidneys. Fortunately they recovered, although there is at least a possibility that they have suffered long term kidney damage which may require dialysis and/or a kidney transplant at a future date. No adult has the right to put any child, whether their own or not, in that kind of danger.

http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/egov/press_releases/Press_Release.asp?PRnum=11-064

http://www.marlerblog.com/case-news/another-raw-milk-e-coli-outbreak-linked-to-a-cow-share/#.UqiMu9JDvX8

[Javaman]

42. I know plenty of kids that drink it and have had zero problems. nt

[yellowcanine]

46. And of course you know every kid who has drunk raw milk. How about these kids?

Do you know the kids mentioned in this press release from California?
Three of them could eventually need a kidney transplant.

http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/egov/press_releases/Press_Release.asp?PRnum=11-064

[Javaman]

54. Are you really honestly trying to imply that I know all children who drink raw milk???

I said "I know plenty".

Please take a gigantic step back, please remove the words you tried to put in my mouth and let's have an adult discussion, okay?

if you read up thread you will see where I get my raw milk and how it's inspected by the FDA.

How other dairy's deal with their raw milk distribution and the people who consume it are not whom I'm referring to.

jesus talk about going from 0 to 1000 in a heartbeat.

please peddle your very obvious agenda someplace else, okay?


And, towit, I live in Texas, not California. How they deal with raw milk is their business, not mine.

[yellowcanine]

55. Point is a statement like that is not meaningful in terms of risk management.

Raw milk operations are all over the place - states differ in level of oversight - and even where the certifications are fairly good, some producers opt out (Pennsylvania, for example) - that is my point. So to make a statement that one knows plenty of children who drink it and they are ok - it is not very meaningful given the fact that the risks are so high if you happen to be the one unlucky kid. It would be one thing if there were documented significant health benefits of consuming raw milk - but there are not, so why take the risk, even if it is small? I have no agenda except to try to educate people about the risks of raw milk. I am an ag educator so I educate about food safety issues because I am concerned not only about the consumers but also the farmers whose livelihood is threatened if people are getting sick from farm products. A lot of spinach producers could not give away their spinach a couple of years ago when people died from e coli contaminated organic spinach. I do feel strongly about it because I in fact know about some very sad situations regarding raw milk. Sorry if I came across too strongly.

[Javaman]

56. oh for the love of...

you don't like my opinion or my experience?

Go away.

And how many more times do I have to state that the raw milk I get is from an FDA inspected dairy, or did you choose to ignore that part and instead go on your own personal tirade?

Ag educator regarding food safety? The FDA isn't good enough for you????

It's like you selectively read what you want just to make a point for???? What, I haven't the foggiest idea.

And now you are talking about fucking spinach?

Please go peddle your bizarre rant to someone who cares, okay?

[yellowcanine]

57. "Please go peddle your bizarre rant to someone who cares, okay?" As if you don't.

Your vociferous protestations say otherwise.

[Javaman]

58. wtf?

I put in my two cents on the topic at hand, then you go on your bizarre crusade against me for...I still have no idea what for.

I point out that I get my raw milk from an FDA inspected dairy, yet you ignore that time and time again and you accuse me of ranting?

wow, dude.

just walk away from the keyboard, it would do you a lot of good.



and it glaringly appears as if you require the last word, so you may have it.

We. are. done.

[Beacool]

44. I think that most people are aware that organic milk is the better choice.

The problem is cost. There are many people who can barely afford regular milk, let alone the organic type.

[Dash87]

50. Unfortunately, a lot of ppl can't afford organic stuff.

They just go for the cheapest product, and there's a reason that product is so cheap.

[liberal N proud]

51. It does not spoil as easily either

There are just two of us and milk only gets used on breakfast cereal or baking so it can be in the refrigerator for a week or more. Couldn't do that with the non-organic product.

[yellowcanine]

53. We use regular skimmed milk and it often stays in the fridge for a week plus with no problem.

And I can't detect a difference in taste either.

[MADem]

52. What I have noticed about organic milk is this:

It tastes better.

It lasts longer in the refrigerator.

It doesn't cost that much more.

I like it for those reasons. If it cost less, I'd like it even more, but I don't use that much milk, so it's not the end of the world if there is a slight price difference.