Customer Reviews

The Untold Story of Milk, Revised and Updated: The History, Politics and Science of Nature's Perfect Food: Raw Milk from Pasture-Fed Cows

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In my review of the first edition of this book, I remarked about how hard it would be to make the book better. It seems like this is Schmid's answer to that. Everything I said in my review of the first edition goes double here.

This is more than just a revised edition, in some ways it is a new book. While the first edition touched on most of the subjects contained in this second edition, Schmid pushes to much greater range and depth in most of those areas.

He has increased the amount and depth of information about the history of the relationship between humans and bovines, and elaborated on the impact of that relationship on both species.

He has also delineated the overt and covert campaign against healthy raw milk in vastly greater detail. He goes into greater depth in his discussions of the legal cases involving raw milk and the people who produce it. If the stories about the behavior of government officials paid good tax money to protect the citizens of this country described in the first book upset you, then the additional material and depth on that collective malfeasance/criminal negligence in this edition will make you positively fume.

My personal feeling is that a tax-paid official who knowingly misdirects or otherwise influences an investigation of toxic substances in food is guilty of at least a couple of felonies, especially if people die or are severely injured. As the case histories here show, this has happened far too many times, with raw milk getting blamed for illnesses known to be caused by other foods. This is criminal on at least two points - attacking innocent citizens (wrongful prosecution, malfeasance), and letting the real culprits continue to poison people (aiding, abetting, and conspiracy). The fact that there has not been a massive investigation into this situation is very disturbing and also rather revealing. (As always, cui bono - who benefits? The "Medical-Industrial complex?)

The additional depth Schmid adds to the scientific discussion is a wonderful and welcome example of real scientific analysis in action. He deftly dismantles the errors, omissions, language tricks, and outright lies in the scientific reporting, and exposes the corruption involved in the production of faulty "research," which is used to shore up the unwarranted, untenable, and sociopathic attacks on raw milk. In this, he credits Sally Fallon Morell, Chris Masterjohn, Mary Enig, and others for their assistance.

An example of this is Ancel Keys' infamous Six Countries Study, which has been quite thoroughly debunked as a textbook example of hand picking your data to support a hypothesis. Junk science at its worst, yet still quoted by many as valid research.

It is a very instructional piece on digging into research reports to see if the data really support what the summary says it does. Most people would be shocked and angered by how often the data do not support the conclusions in scientific research. If you apply the same level of inquiry to the global warming scam, you will see even greater corruption.

He also clears up many myths and misconceptions from both sides of the milk debate, and clarifies what the valid research actually shows. He dismantles the arguments of critics with ease, as they are mostly propaganda and junk science.

(Science, contrary to what we hear from the media loving hacks, is never "settled." Scientific understanding consists of constructing models, which are always limited by our measuring technology, previous knowledge, competence, willingness to research a given area, greed, ego, and many other things. When a model fails, it should be replaced. This seldom happens, especially when there are large financial stakes involved. There are far, far more errors in science than most will admit.)

This edition is a bit more difficult to read than the first, due to the inclusion of so much more detail, including biochemistry and physiology. I found the discussion of lactoferrin, lactoperoxidase, and related antimicrobial substances in raw milk particularly interesting and potentially very helpful. I am also pleased to see he has looked at the research and seen through the cholesterol scam, and discusses this in detail. Good job, Ron!

The book over 400 pages long, with about 30 additional pages of citations and an index. There are also a few pages of photos.

This is an outstanding example of making scientific understanding accessible and useful to the general public. Unlike some authors who simply make grandiose, authoritative-sounding pronouncements, Schmid backs up his statements with solid research, and exposes his reasoning for all to see.

Easily one of the best books on health, nutrition, science, and history in print today. I heartily advise reading it if you are at all interested in health and the forces (and people) lined up against it. You will also come away with a newfound respect and admiration (maybe even love?) for our bovine buddies.

Cows rock, dude.

This fantastic read contains every bit of information that there could possibly be regarding anything and everything to do with milk. The author must have spent thousands and thousands of hours researching to be able to put this thing together. I wish everyone would read it. Maybe then we would all take a stand against the stupid laws that prevent most of us from having the choice to buy and consume raw milk. SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL FARMERS. I am going to pick up my 4 gallons of raw milk this morning.
I'm one of the lucky ones that only has to drive 30 minutes each way to have my hands on beautiful Jersey raw milk from happy cows. Of course it must say, "For pet consumption only" in the state of Georgia. I'm not complaining too badly because a friend of mine in North Carolina has to get her raw milk through "runners" who drive to South Carolina where it is legally sold, then it is driven across state lines. How retarded is that.....you'd think it was Cocaine. It is our constitutional right that we are being robbed of. The Bible did not talk about "the land of pasteurized milk and honey".
I feel sorry for those who do not have access to raw milk, especially after reading this book. The book is excellent and I truly appreciate the author who created it. A virtual encyclopedia of milk. Job well done.

Having been raised on raw milk, my venture back to raw milk in my late fifties was no surprise. With blood pressure, cholesterol, and related health issues mounting against me, I sought some information about how to change my diet and change my health. Already, I have a forty year habit of daily exercise, so I couldn't improve there much. About a year ago, I started drinking raw milk instead of store-bought 2% homogenized, pasteurized milk. My blood pressure reduced to a normal range and my cholesterol is now excellent, with the change in diet being the only change - besides my getting a year older. In the past three months I have nearly eliminated red meat from my diet because I no longer crave it, and I have substituted more fruits and salads. My doctor has asked me, as an author, to write a book about my experience with raw milk. So, as I usually do, first I started to research the subject. Aside from diatribes on both sides of the subject, there is very little published. This latest revision of the raw milk controversy, however, is an exception. It offers a well documented, reasoned review of the issue from multiple vantages. And it's easy to read. As a pre-scientific introduction to the subject, I have found none better. Now I want to find peer-reviewed scientific articles that really challenge the emotional rhetoric of the AMA and similar entrenched bureaucracies.

The human species has been drinking milk from other species in its raw form for over 10,000 years. In the early 19th Century, as cities grew and pastures were displaced, cows were crowded into filthy buildings and fed distillery slop from the newly burgeoning whiskey business. Their tainted milk caused child mortality to soar.

Following Pasteur's discovery of microbes and pasteurization, the demand for healthy milk led to a conflict between certification of milk produced by healthy herds or pasteurization of all production. Over time, in a culture trained to fear microbes by a growing medical monopoly, pasteurization won out.

In The Untold Story of Milk, Schmid covers a lot of ground:

* History of milk consumption
* Pasteur vs. Bechamp (the bacteria theory of disease vs. the terrain theory)
* The Milk Cure used to reverse numerous diseases
* Enzymes and nutrients found in raw milk
* The effects of pasteurization and homogenization on milk quality
* The decline of pastoral cultures due to loss of land to agriculture
* The cholesterol and saturated fat myth (lipid theory)
* Industrial milk production and unhealthy diet of dairy cows
* Bias in medicine and media against raw milk
* The safety of raw milk
* Benefits of fermented milk
* Healthy diets for cows leading to healthy milk
* Numerous health problems with pasteurized milk
* Health industry bias against raw milk
* Government and media distortion and lies

What bothered me most in this book was reading about roaming pastoral tribes who are losing their culture because they are losing their land to agricultural encroachment.

And the book infuriated and depressed me as I read about numerous raw milk farmers being set up to fail. Fines, SWAT raids, ever-changing rules making it difficult to stay in business, and timely (sereptitious) accounts of milk contamination blasted in the news just prior to legislative vote on measures benefiting raw milk producers and consumers. Farmers try to comply with regulatory requirements only to find the bar has been raised again, and many just give up because they can't take the constant harassment and siphoning of profits.

Raw milk is probably the only way most people will be willing and able to consume raw animal fats and proteins--macronutrients in their natural, unadulterated forms--as well as enzymes and numerous vitamins and minerals. Milk from healthy, pasture-fed cows is sun-drenched grass transmuted into a nutrient-dense liquid. Those of us who drink it don't need to be convinced of its quality and health benefits.

This book really needs to be read by those in government, the agriculture sector, and health fields. And if you hold the opinion that raw milk is harmful without having actually researched why you believe that other than absorbing media articles, then I encourage you to read this book. You have been lied to by a lot of people. The dairy industry is huge and powerful and concentrated in the hands of a few. They don't like the competition.

The fight over raw milk is about personal freedom, the freedom to choose which foods we put in our bodies. And it's about putting cows back where they thrive instead of the horrible conditions of huge, heartless dairy operations. It's about restoring land and rivers to their natural, nonpolluted state and putting government back in its place of serving the people. Please have a glass of fresh, raw, nutrient-dense milk and join the fight.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

This book is a must for anyone that thinks drinking "store" milk is good for us. America needs to wake up and this book may get many of us started! Refined foods, including pasteurized milk, are making America's health the worst in the world!

"The Untold Story of Milk" will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about milk, starting with ancient man and arriving at today. For that reason it can be boring in spots, but it is well worth reading. You will learn some very important things from this book. It may even change your life.

One thing I learned was that heart attack rates in many countries went up at the same time that consumption of saturated fat actually went down. The is no reason to think that pasteurization of milk was the cause of this, but it did happen during the thirty years after pasteurization became common. I learned that substances in raw milk actually destroy pathogens. As a matter of fact one of the substances (lactoferrin) was recently approved as an antimicrobial spray to be used against e-coli in the meat industry. I learned that many more people have become ill from drinking pasteurized milk than from raw milk and that many illnesses attributed to raw milk in the press did not come from the milk at all. I also learned that several large MODERN (21st century) studies have shown that children raised on raw milk are far less likely to have allergies or asthma.

I was reminded by this book of something that was common knowledge before the days of antibiotics. The way to cure TB was to send the sufferer to a farm where he was to drink large quantities of fresh milk and sleep on a sleeping porch in the fresh air.

Even if you don't want to drink raw milk yourself, you may want to remember that we should, as American citizens, be entitled to drink it if we want to, and also that the best way to keep small farmers on their land is to let them sell their produce to their friends and neighbors.

This is the second book I have read on the subject, and, despite the fact I was raised to be horrified by even touching raw milk, I have become convinced it would be a good idea to seek it out.

We have been cheated of our natural birthright to consume the most traditional and life giving foods, raw dairy foods. This book documents the interesting and shocking truths about milk and how the milk industry and the government have colluded to deprive us of the foods we need and deserve as a human right. I have read this book multiple times and consider it must reading for those interested in the topic. Please fight for raw milk despite the lies that the industry, government, and media keep saying. This books gives you the ammo.

I read this book three years ago and decided I had to have a copy of my own. It's fascinating. You will never again question the value of good raw milk from pasture fed cows. You will be an informed participant in society, able to explain to any naysayer why they are ill informed and misled. You may even want to become a political activist in determining your authority to make your own choices about milk consumption. I highly recommend this book to everyone, even those with milk allergies. Your eyes will be opened.

Loved this book! An easy read. What I liked was how extremely well researched it is. The author rarely makes a statement without backing it up with a reference. It makes it easier to believe what he says. I live in a state where we can access raw milk and I'm looking for a herd now to join in the share program. We should eat the way people have always eaten, not according to the way corporations tell us to for their own profit. Obviously there is something seriously wrong with the food supply, with the skyrocketing numbers of people getting seriously ill. Hopefully this book becomes a catalyst for a change for the better.

Short & Sweet Review, by michelle:
Though the author sometimes goes off on tangents or gets a little redundant at times, this is a must read book for anyone who wants to take charge of what they eat and be truly healthy. Since switching to raw milk six months ago, my husband and I have lost weight (due to more energy and exercise from the milk) and feel better than we ever have before. My asthma has improved as have some of my digestion issues. I cannot rave enough about how delicious it is too!

Even if you don't think you'd want to have your milk raw, there are also some really important political questions posed in this book. For example, does the government have the right to tell us what we can and can not eat/drink?

I hope you'll check it out!