There is regular milk, low fat milk, organic milk, milk from local dairies, and raw milk. What kind is the best?
One thing that I think is the most important question to ask is "What do the cows eat?" Cows were meant to eat grass. Most cows in America eat corn. If you look it up, corn messes with their stomachs, and gives them infections, so most farmers give the cows antibiotics to help with their messed up stomachs. To add insult to injury, Monsanto created a hormone to make cows make more milk, so guess what ends up in the final product. Let's take this just a little further, most of the corn in America is GMO corn, (genetically modified) (Again let us thank Mosanto). So regular milk has traces of antibiotics, hormones, and glyphosate (the ingredient in Round up which is in the GMO corn). Fat free milk, including 2%, 1%, and skim are even worse, because the process the milk goes through after removing the fat makes milk practically worthless to drink. Whatever you do, if you can help it, avoid regular milk. This includes the fat free versions too.
The next thing I want to discuss is local dairy milk. This milk might taste a little better, and be fresher, but the question comes up again, what do the cows eat. The local dairy here in Hampton Roads promises that the cows do not get hormones, and no antibiotics unless completely necessary. If a cow needs antibiotics they do not use the milk. But their website doesn't mention what the cows eat. Are they still eating GMO corn. We don't know. I actually called the dairy to ask, and they couldn't tell me because it is the farmers choice as to what the cows eat. I will also mention here that even if cows eat grass, they might occasionally get alfalfa, and now that is also GMO. I was really sad to hear about that, more on that later. The other benefit here is that the milk is not pasteurized at high temperatures. This is a better choice than regular milk.
There is organic milk. The thing I like about this kind is that the cows have to eat grass. No GMO ingredients, no antibiotics, and no hormones. I do know what the cows eat. But I understand that the milk is pasteurized at higher temperatures, and that kills some of the good enzymes. So that is the only bad thing about organic milk. This milk is also better for you than regular milk.
The last choice is raw milk, which is the best in my point of view. If you know the farm your milk comes from you can see what they eat. The milk is not heated so the enzymes are alive and well. You still must be careful about GMO ingredients though, because these cows may be supplemented with alfalfa during the winter, and most alfalfa is GMO. But raw milk is hard to find, and the most expensive. It is not available in most places.
To me, organic milk would be the second best option, because I know what the cows eat. The local dairies would also be a better choice. These choices are better left to each family, but it is important that you know how to choose.
A true story about milk in our house. My son started getting headaches almost everyday when he was about 12 years old. After months of him consistently getting headaches, I knew I had to start eliminating food to see what the culprit was. He drank a lot of milk, so we started there. After a few days, the headaches were gone and he was fine. He was upset though, he liked milk. So after a month or so I decided to go organic. We reintroduced it back into his diet, and he didn't get headaches anymore. A few years later we also tried an local dairy, and got our milk delivered. He did not get headaches from that milk either. I can only assume it was the antibiotics or hormones that gave him headaches, but am glad we figured out the problem.
Here are some links you can check out on your own: http://foodbabe.com/2014/10/29/organic-milk/
http://newhope360.com/food-amp-beverage/organic-vs-non-organic-what-do-cows-eat
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