Reasons for drinking raw milk and avoiding processed milk

(NaturalNews, 5th October 2013) Until the early 20th century, raw milk - natural milk sourced straight from the cow - was considered both a safe, nutritious drink and a medicine. Doctors would routinely prescribe it for a plethora of chronic ailments ranging from indigestion to constipation, and many cultures regarded it as a perfect food. After all, just as eggs provide all the nutrients needed to grow a healthy chick, milk provides all the nutrients needed to grow a healthy calf.

In this article, you'll find out why raw milk was held in such regard by every culture that consumed it. You'll also find out how today's processed milk, which has undergone pasteurisation and homogenisation, compares to it in the nutrition department.

A call to reform or repeal the EU Directive on Herbal Medicines

This article calls for either the amendment or repeal of the EU Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive (2004/24/EC), the THMPD in short, enacted back in 31/03/2004 and in force as of 01/05/2011. This directive has licensing requirements for safety and quality, but also imposes steep costs typically between €97 000 (£80 000) and €145 600 (£120 000) due mainly to the cost of testing. This is because the licensing requirements are intended to be similar to those for pharmaceutical drugs. Not a single license is in place for Ayurvedic medicine or traditional Chinese medicine which have both been in use for thousands of years, along with herbal remedies from all over the world including the Amazon basin.

Labelling Matters - A CiWF, RSPCA, WSPA and Soil Association campaign

The organisations Compassion in World Farming (CiWF), the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) and The Soil Association are campaigning jointly for clear method of production labelling regarding dairy products and meat. This campaign, which was launched in Westminster, is an EU-wide campaign. Without clear labelling, there is the danger of buying factory farmed produce without realising it.

The Labelling Matters campaign calls for clear and simple labelling which convey the chief characteristic of the production system (e.g. factory farm, free range, organic). This will enable customers to know how the animals were kept. In writing this article, I am giving my backing to this campaign.

Organic farming can feed the world

Those who defend genetically modified (GM) crops claim that biotechnology is necessary to feed the world and that non-GM and organic farming alone is not capable of producing enough food for everyone. This is pro-GM propaganda.

The reality is that organic farming can feed the world, all that needs to be done is to change the methods of farming, including stopping factory farming and intensive farming which is bad for our health and for our planet. As well as this, wastage needs to be eliminated, and there needs to be a change from unhealthy diets to a healthy and varied diet (where this applies).

Ban factory farming now

Factory farming, otherwise known as intensive farming, is an integral part of industrial food production.  The first factory farms were started in 1920s USA, and started in the UK during the late 1940s.  In order to get really cheap (and I would say unnaturally cheap) food, animals in factory farms are kept in really terrible conditions.  Factory farming is cruel to animals, damages animal health, damages our health through factory farmed produce, and damages our environment with pollution.  Lots of hidden costs, which are not reflected in the price of the factory farmed goods.  This type of farming is also heavily subsidised too which is also reflected in the cheap price.

I would recommend seeing the Food Inc. video, if you have not already done so, because it illustrates perfectly the disturbing truth about intensively farmed food and food in general, among other issues.

E-numbers: which ones to avoid

In this article, we look at E-numbers, and give a guide on which ones to avoid for various reasons, most importantly health reasons and keeping healthy, but also to avoid non-vegetarian, non-vegan, allergens, or forbidden foods for example.  And some highly recommended resources for further reading is given here. 

Of course, the best policy still remains to eat organic, fresh, and where possible local, and remember that too much of anything is bad (even food hitherto good for our health) - indeed one should only eat the amount required (whether that's the food, the drink, or individual additives within the food or drink). 

Additives with an E-number are not always artificial (for example curcumin and lycopene have their own E-numbers and are derived from natural sources), although many are (including aspartame, tartrazine, and many more).

Avoiding harmful chemicals

There are various artificial and harmful chemicals used in all sorts of products we use or consume, whether its the food we eat, the homes we live in, or in cosmetics. I have read a special report by the Guardian called Chemical World which looks at such chemicals in these products, including the problems they can cause and question marks over their long term safety, and also recommends completely natural alternatives.