I am not a milk drinker. In fact it really kind of grosses me out. I have to turn my head whenever I see my husband tipping back his cereal bowl to drink the remaining milk - gross. But, when I was pregnant with Emma I knew from one of the countless pregnancy books that were piled high on my nightstand, that getting enough calcium was imperative for her proper development. I knew I had to start drinking more of it. So, a quick stop at the grocery store to buy a carton of 1% and a bottle of chocolate sauce, and I was prepared to replace my traditional morning cup of coffee with a morning glass of chocolate milk.
I had been in the habit of purchasing organic milk at this point. But downing 2 large glasses a day started to add up at $3.50 for a carton. And because I was picky and liked 1% my local grocer didn't carry gallon containers of 1% organic milk. So, being budget conscience, I bought some non-organic milk to try.
Let's just say one small sip later I dumped the entire gallon down the drain. It tasted terrible. It smelled funky (almost metallic) and left this really weird after taste in my mouth. Before I dumped it I made my husband take a sip and he agreed with my initial reaction, even asking if maybe it had gone bad.
Which got me to think about why? And what are the benefits of drinking organic milk?
Well, if you ask the USDA , there is supposedly no difference between regular milk and organic milk, aside from how the cows are raised and an obvious difference in price. Some are willing to leave it at that - paying more money solely to lessen their impact on the environment (awesome!). But others want to know they are paying more for a premium product. So the studies are building up...and here are just a few of the reasons that have been uncovered:
1. Organic milk has fewer pesticide residues - since pesticides are so widespread they seep into the ground and water supply pretty much infiltrating the entire food supply. So, while organic milk is not pesticide free it has significantly less amounts of these toxic chemicals.
2. Organic milk has more vitamins. It is on average 50% higher in Vitamin E (alpha tocopherol) and 75% higher in beta carotene (which our bodies convert to Vitamin A).
3. Organic milk has more antioxidants which are important for eye health and are effective in preventing numerous eye diseases.
4. Organic milk has more omega-3s. Regular intake of Omega-3 helps reduce incidences of heart disease, inflammations (in skin diseases such as eczema), cancer, and arthritis. One particular type of omega-3 that is higher in organic milk is DHA, which is important for fetal brain development.
5. Organic milk has 500% more CLA. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) increases metabolism, immunity, and muscle growth. It also reduces abdominal fat (bonus!), cholesterol, and allergic reactions. Since the human body cannot produce CLA, we get most of it through the milk and dairy products that we consume.
6. Drinking organic milk helps improve the quality of breast milk. European scientists have found that mothers who consumed mostly organic meat and milk had around 50 percent higher levels of rumenic acid in their breast milk. This acid protects against cancer and inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, heart disease and asthma.
Great, I was sold! It was worth an extra $1.50 a carton - that just meant one less chai latte from Starbucks per week. And not only was is it healthier for my family but it's also better for the cows.
But one point to note, this is assuming that the cows are actually pasture fed more than grain fed (imagine that! cows produce "healthier" milk when they are fed their natural diet!) and until recent regulations this was not the case. Because the rules were kind of blurry and to be organic certified dairy farmers just had to give cows "access" to pastures some took advantage (cough, Aurora Organic Dairy, cough) and called their farms organic if there was a door from the barn to a field but never let the cows into said field.
To read more about this click on the link below...this blog post has already gotten pretty long-winded:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/13/business/13organic.html
So bottom line, organic milk is better. But just make sure that if you are going to spend the money, you support the brands that actually want to make a difference. I personally like Stonyfield Farm (and so does Emma - she loves their yo-baby yogurt).
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