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six months when fed with pasteurized cow’s milk. One can only imagine the turmoil that must be going
on in the tiny intestinal tract of a baby who is fed with pasteurized milk or sterilized milk formula. As
mentioned before, such babies usually develop colic, become bloated and chubby, discharge mucus, catch
colds frequently, are restless, and cry a lot. The best advise is to breastfeed as long as is possible, avoid
dairy-based formulas altogether, use alternatives such as coconut milk (the closest to human milk) as well
as some almond milk, hemp milk or rice milk; and give freshly mashed fruits, vegetables and rice when
the baby is ready to eat solids.
Boiling fresh, non-pasteurized milk before consumption seems to have a beneficial effect. Milk protein
begins to break down into amino acids during boiling, which makes it easier to digest and absorb. This
may be one of the reasons why Indians always boil their milk before use. They also know that milk has
adverse effects when its fat is removed. For some reason, milk protein, unlike egg or meat protein doesn’t
coagulate when heated. In addition, many of the milk’s enzymes survive. To preserve milk and to kill any
existing germs Indians simply put a silver coin or a silver spoon in the milk. Silver is strongly anti-
bacterial. And to avoid mucus congestion, they put 2-3 pinches of either turmeric or dry ginger into the
milk before boiling it. Whereas boiling the milk helps to reduce some its irritating effect in Vata and Pitta
types, pasteurizing it upsets all the three doshas. Kapha types don’t do well with milk at all; they develop
mucus congestion almost right away.
Cold milk is very difficult to digest. As the cold milk touches the warm stomach lining, the nerve
endings of the stomach become “numb” or insensitive, and its cells tighten or shrink. This inhibits the
secretion of gastric juices, which is required to digest milk protein. The cold condition of the milk may
even be responsible for leaving those proteins undigested that are known to cause allergic reactions.
Enzymes require a specific temperature to be able act on the food; if the temperature is too low the
proteins will be broken down properly, hence the intense irritation of the mucus lining. Vata types who
are very sensitive to cold are rarely attracted to taking milk in cold form (from the refrigerator). Pittas
often have an excessively high temperature in their stomach, which gets lowered only slightly by cold
milk. Consequently Pittas are still able to secret a good amount of gastric juices to digest some of the milk
proteins. But if they take milk cold on a regular basis, their AGNI or digestive power also begins to be
affected.
If you have access to fresh, full-fat, and non-pasteurized milk and if you are a Vata or Pitta type with
no Kapha imbalance (signs of excessive mucus in chest, nose or sinuses), you may use milk in moderation
by applying the above procedures of preparation. If milk still causes you mucus, then it is simply a “no-
food” for you. I personally have not yet met a person who hasn’t shown signs of congestion and irritation
as a result of milk consumption, especially in the United States. In all the U.S. with the exception of
California, Washington and Georgia, it is illegal to sell whole, raw milk, despite the fact that raw milk
contains far less potentially harmful bacteria than pasteurized, homogenized milk. Pasteurized,
homogenized milk does not qualify as food per se. The homogenization process breaks up an enzyme
(xanthine oxidase), which in its altered (smaller) state can enter the bloodstream and react against arterial
walls, causing the body to protect the area with a layer of cholesterol.
The demand for raw, non-pasteurized milk is booming. According to Sally Fallon, president for the
Weston A. Price Foundation, the number of raw milk drinkers is now at about half a million people across
the United States—many of them willingly breaking the law, purchasing their milk from “underground
black markets,” and other creative setups. Raw milk comes with its own risks. Even if the cows grow up
on organic farms, their milk bladders are constantly filled and extended, day after day, month after month,
year after year. A continuous process of milk production (lactation) is unnatural for any animal. The
resulting repeated injuries of the bladder wall leads to infections and inflammation, and a lot of dead cells
(pus). Millions of units of pus are found in every quart of milk, especially in older cows. It is irrelevant