Whole, Oat, and Raw Milk: A Guide to All the Milks And Which One’s Healthiest

Milk is a strangely polarizing topic. The OG version from a cow and the plant-derived varieties have been the topic of starry magazine advertising campaigns (who could forget “Got milk?”) and takedown investigations. I experienced it firsthand a few years ago after posting on social media about my return to whole cow’s milk after a Goldilocks journey through the alternatives. The number of responses—and the uproar I faced for confessing that I favored whole milk—was beyond anything I had experienced. And the recent rise of raw milk (a.k.a. untreated milk that is lauded by some as a health cure-all and others as a bacteria-spiked death wish) left us wondering: Which type of milk is actually healthiest?

The experts warn: The answer isn’t quite so one-size-fits-all.

“In the past, places had ranked different types of milks based on calorie content or saturated fat, but today’s literature and research stress the importance of insulin and blood-sugar management over calories and fat,” says Taz Bhatia, an integrative wellness physician and author of The Hormone Shift. “When it comes to rating different kinds of milks on their nutritional quality, it is actually tough because each has unique and distinctive properties.”

When your blood sugar is out of whack (also called hypoglycemia), you may experience cravings, lack of energy and fatigue, acne, poor sleep, and brain fog.

The Food and Drug Administration urges label literacy when it comes to choosing the best milk for you, whether you’re drinking it straight, adding it to your morning coffee, or mixing it into your breakfast. At the end of the day, though, one thing is certain: There’s a clear worst milk out there. Read on for some advice.

Cow’s Milk

Pasteurized Milk

Even within the world of traditional milk, there are a variety of options. First up: pasteurized milk, which is most likely the one you’re seeing at your local grocery store.

In 1924, the FDA passed the Standard Milk Ordinance (now known as the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance), which was intended to standardize and enhance safety measures for dairy products across the United States. The process of pasteurization can be distilled down to this: Once the milk is procured, it’s flash-heated for around 15 seconds to kill harmful microbes that could be deadly.

When it comes to milk, there are so—so—many different options, from whole and 2% to nonfat and lactose-free. Across the varieties, the nutritional profile is comprehensive: calcium, potassium, magnesium, zinc, iodine, and vitamins A, B, and D. The FDA adds that cow’s milk contains three nutrients (calcium, potassium, and vitamin D) that many Americans are lacking, which makes it a great choice…for those who can stomach it. Around 36% of Americans have some sort of issue digesting lactose, the natural sugar found in milk. “When we strip milk of its fat, we reduce the calories, but we also worsen its impact on our glucose levels,” says French biochemist Jessie Inchauspé, known online as the Glucose Goddess.

If you don’t fall into the lactose-intolerant camp, Dr. Bhatia urges you to go for cow’s milk in your diet. “If I had to pick one, this is it because of its protein content—but make sure you always choose organic,” she says. It’s a favorite of Inchauspé’s too.

Raw Milk

Raw milk, also referred to as unpasteurized milk, has not been treated for bacteria or pathogens. With the rise of Make America Healthy Again, it’s been a major topic of conversation. There is a single, small study that found that consuming raw milk may help with asthma and allergies, though it should be noted that other rural exposures (dirt, hay, etc.) in general have been studied more broadly to help as well.