If you can’t get hold of raw milk, then fear not, there are plenty other sources of healthy food around. You might consider eating raw cheese and raw butter, which are easier to come by than fluid milk. Most of the health benefits of milk are associated with the fat portion, so you may not be missing out on much, except on the great taste of milk.
Yoghurt and kefir from pasteurised milk is also a good option, because these foods have much of the beneficial components of raw milk, including beneficial microbes, put back in by the culture process. Just be sure to avoid the processed stuff with added sugar and chemicals.
You could also try drinking the best form of gently pasteurised (not UHT pasteurised) milk, which has as many of these properties as possible.
Below is a list of the best milks I could find here in UK supermarkets. These milks have certain qualities that make them better than the standard 50p a pint milk most people buy, I go over these qualities in this article.
The Best Milks In UK Supermarkets
Tesco
- Tesco Finest Channel Island Milk (unhomogenised)
Sainsbury's
- Sainsbury's Jersey Milk, Taste the Difference (unhomogenised)
Morrisons
- Morrisons The Best Unhomogenised Jersey Milk 1L
Waitrose
- Waitrose Duchy Organic traditional whole milk unhomogenised
- Graham's Whole Milk, Organic (unhomogenised)
- Grahams Dairy The Original Gold Top (unhomogenised, not Graham's Gold Smooth Milk, which is homogenised)
For the above milks, I haven't been to the suppliers' farms to judge the level of grass-fededness of the cows, so there's no way for me to know which are the healthiest of the lot. What I do know is that organic certification requires a decent level of grass-fededness, and also ensures there are no potentially carcinogenic pesticides in the milk. So I would say the two organic options in Waitrose are your best bet (though the online options are better, see below).
I just saw a review about the Sainsbury’s Jersey milk that made me laugh. No wonder most of our milk is pasteurised and homogenised, people really do prefer convenience over health:
In case you were wondering, click here to find out why you should avoid homogenised milk.
At least 33 people voted the review as not helpful, so there’s hope for this country yet.
The above pasteurised supermarket milks are much better than the standard cheap homogenised milk you get for 50p a pint, but they’re not as good as the best pasteurised milks you can get online…
The Best Pasteurised Milks I’ve Found Online (UK)
Online, you’ll find better pasteurised milks than the best supermarket ones. Abel & Cole (abelandcole.co.uk) do an organic unhomogenised Guernsey milk that tastes delicious. Their organic double cream (mostly from Guernsey cows) may be pasteurised, but it’s the best tasting cream I’ve ever had. Farm Direct (farm-direct.com) offers organic unhomogenised Jersey milk, and various healthy organic creams from grass fed cows.
But What If Even These Milks Cause You Problems?
If you find the best of pasteurised milks to be problematic, and you can’t get hold of raw milk, or even if you happen to find raw milk problematic, and you have to let go of dairy altogether, then there’s a growing list of different dairy-free milks you can try.
You can drink all the various different nut milks, and coconut milk. Avoid soya milk, as it is heavily processed and usually from genetically modified soybeans that are heavily treated with pesticides.
Of the nut milks, my favourite by far is Brazil nut milk, which I’ve made at home in the past. It's got a creamy taste that makes it feel a lot like cow's milk. Cashew milk is pretty good too, and the best thing about it is it’s the easiest nut milk to make at home because you don’t have to strain it. It’s best to make your nut milks at home if you can, because the stuff at the shops is pasteurised.
I do not consider any of these non-dairy milks to be healthy, but I do not think they are necessarily bad for you either. You’d gain the best benefits from nuts and coconut when you eat them in their natural whole state. Blending them into nut milk will no doubt reduce their nutritional quality. So consume these alternative milks as a replacement for dairy if you find dairy harms you, but don’t consume them in abundance in the hopes of achieving some benefit, it’s not likely they will be of much benefit.