Transitioning to Raw Milk

Given raw milk’s importance as a health food it is important that you take progressive steps to include it in your diet successfully. It is not recommended to switch “cold-turkey” from processed store-bought milk to raw milk, especially if you have never had raw milk or if you have known dairy digestive issues.

Imagine you were not in shape for running and attempted to run a marathon right away. The after-effects could be quite discouraging, right? Just as cardiovascular exercise is good for your health, raw milk is good for you so long as you know how to incorporate it into your diet correctly. A few things to keep in mind:

1. 1-2 weeks before consumption of raw milk, it can be helpful to include foods in your diet that contain probiotics (good bacteria) such as yogurt and kefir.

2. The milk from a grass-fed cow will be slightly more yellow from the beta-carotene and taste like the grass the cow is eating. Yes the milk will taste differently.

3. Keep the milk quality high. We do our best to ensure that your milk is packaged safely and kept cold. When picking up your milk it is recommended that you make arrangements to keep the milk from getting warm, especially if you are driving a longer distance. Coolers, ice and ice packs can help with this. Keep milk refrigerated at all times when it is not being actively utilized.

4. Make a gradual transition using BOTH the milk you were previously using and raw milk.

  • Begin by mixing raw milk with processed milk in small increments, for example a few tablespoons of raw milk mixed in your glass of processed milk, gradually shifting that ratio over a week or two until you feel comfortable with all raw milk.

  • Do not mix raw milk and processed milk into the same storage container. Instead use milk out of both containers to pour into your glass or bowl of cereal, etc. Or at most mix together what you are going to use for just that meal.

  • Shake the raw milk container to be sure the cream is mixed in with the rest of the milk.

The above info we sourced from Pasture’s Delights farm (Link- About Pasture's Delights! (3dcartstores.com)) a raw milk dairy located in Indiana, and another wonderful raw milk resource. If you are interested in a more specific plan of introducing raw milk to your diet, their website has a detailed 10-day plan for doing so that you can find here, Transitioning to Raw Milk (3dcartstores.com)