Yogurt is one of the best foods for introducing healthy bacteria to your gut. These bacteria can help you experience better digestion, immunity, and overall wellness. But what’s better – eating yogurt made from pasteurized milk or from raw milk?
First, let’s just take a look at the differences between raw and pasteurized milk. If you shop in a typical grocery store you;ll only be able to find pasteurized milk. This is due to food regulations that require commercial milk to be pasteurized.
Pasteurization is a process that;s used to kill of bacteria and improve the safety of the milk as it’s transported and stored. But the pasteurization process not only kills of dangerous bacteria, it also kills the healthy bacteria and denatures the healthy enzymes found in raw milk.
If you’re lucky enough to live near an organic farm that can legally sell raw milk, you can purchase milk that hasn’t been pasteurized. Raw milk has been shown to have a higher vitamin and mineral content as well as introducing healthy bacteria to your body.
Many people find that raw milk is much healthier for the body that pasteurized milk which is also known as “dead milk”. Unfortunately, this milk can be hard to come by due to legal matters and food safety issues related to poor living conditions for commercial dairy cows.
Now, back to yogurt. Whether you use raw or pasteurized milk to make yogurt you’re still getting much beneficial bacteria and improved health. But if you can choose between raw milk yogurt and pasteurized milk yogurt, the raw will be more beneficial.
And when it comes to taste, you?ll notice that products made with raw milk are much more flavorful than their pasteurized counterparts.
Some health food stores carry yogurt made from raw milk. You can also purchase raw milk from a local farmer or farmer’s market and make your own yogurt at home. This process heats the milk, but not high enough to pasteurize it and kill off the good bacteria.
Unfortunately, in some places it’s next to impossible to get raw milk sources because of legislation to require pasteurization. A lot of this comes from misunderstanding the benefits of raw milk and from regulating commercial farms that overcrowd cows and provide unsanitary conditions that can cause milk contamination.
But in your typical organic family farm, dairy cows have plenty of room to pasture and their conditions lead to healthy and nutritious milk. And if you do have the opportunity to use raw milk for yogurt, you should definitely give it a try.
