I would like to know how everyone in our community feels about this issue. Do you drink raw milk? Why or why not? And more importantly, what do you think about the FDA's role in "protecting" us from raw milk?
Raw milk, raw food popularity surges: Is the FDA fighting against our health?
by Jefferson Adams
Are raw, living foods sourced from safe local producers better for your health and immune systems than processed, genetically modified, pasteurized, homogenized, or irradiated foods?
Do you have a right to decide for yourself, and to choose healthy, raw, nutritious, natural foods from local growers and purveyors?
Take raw milk as an example. Since California established the nation's most stringent raw milk standards, more and more people are consuming raw dairy products. Many of those people tout what they view as raw milk's beneficial properties. They claim that raw milk and cultured raw dairy products help to relieve symptoms of allergies, asthma, arthritis, and other digestive issues, including symptoms of celiac disease.
Speaking from my own experience, after switching to raw dairy about six months ago, my hay fever has disappeared, my nose is never stuffed up any more, my stomach loves me, and I have never felt better. Moreover, my nephew suffers from classic milk allergy. If he drinks milk, his mouth swells up and he has to take an antihistamine. Recently, after witnessing the disappearance of my own allergies, and after reading that raw milk is hypoallergenic, we took the plunge and had him drink a glass. mom anxiously waited to see if he would have an allergic reaction. He had none. Nothing. Felt fine. Since then, I've been treated like the wise uncle. But enough of my story.
Raw milk is also rich in natural probiotics such as bifidobacteria, which along with prebiotics, have been shown to reduce inflammation and lessen symptoms in people with celiac disease and associated inflammatory conditions.
For example, a team of European researchers recently demonstrated that dietary probiotics and prebiotics can improve quality of life for people with celiac and associated conditions, such as type 1 diabetes and some autoimmune disorders. Their results offer some of the strongest support for the idea that eating foods rich in probiotics and/or prebiotics, such as raw milk, yogurt, and kefir can help a number of patients with celiac disease reduce inflammation and lessen symptoms of celiac disease.
However, the rights of consumers to access foods on their own terms are under assault from powerful agribusiness and food manufacturers through their influence over the FDA. The Farm-to-consumer legal defense fund summarizes the FDA position on consumer food rights as follows:
*Consumers have no absolute right to any raw unprocessed food, unless the FDA says it’s okay
*There’s no right to good health, except as approved by the FDA
*There’s no right for citizens to contract privately for their food
That's right, according to the FDA, we have no right to contract with a farmer to grow or produce food outside of FDA approval and control. Approval and control that is heavily influenced by major industrial producers.
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Raw milk, raw food popularity surges: Is the FDA fighting against our health?