There are a lot of recipes for milk baths that use powdered milks, aloe vera, or honey. The purpose of powdering these products is to make a shelf-stable product. But what happens when you powder a liquid? In the case of milk, the process of turning fresh milk into a powder alters the cholesterol in the milk, oxidizing it.

How is powdered milk made?

Milk is dried in factories, through quick spray drying or drum drying. Milk is sprayed into a chamber, or onto drums, and heated air is blown across the chamber, or the drum is heated by electric current. The droplets of milk dry up quickly in the hot air, or the water evaporates quickly from the heat of the drum. The milk solids fall down, or are stuck to the drum. The powder is scraped up and packaged.  Spray dried milk is powdery and non-stick, drum-dried milk is flaky and sticky. Both methods damage the cell wall and oxidize cholesterol.

Why is oxidized cholesterol a problem?

Oxidized cholesterol has rough edges that irritate blood vessels. Irritation causes plaque formation, which is a precursor to heart disease (if taken internally). Oxidized cholesterol molecules cause other cholesterol molecules to oxidize, setting off a wave of oxidization (degradation) in the body. You aren’t taking a bath to irritate. And we know that the skin absorbs what we put on it, and is especially affected by repeated application. So leave that stuff out, and use fresh ingredients.

My favorite milk bath:

Pour 3 cups of Epsom salts (Magnesium sulfate) into a running bath. Get it as hot as you find comfortable, and stir to dissolve the minerals.

Combine in a small glass container:

• 2 tablespoons fresh raw milk
• 2 drops essential oil of oregano
• 2 drops essential oil of lavender
• 2 drops essential oil of rosewood

Shake vigorously and pour into bath just after you get in. The essential oils dissipate quickly and you’ll want to be settled in before releasing them, so you can fully enjoy and take the vapors in.

You can also add 1 tablespoon of sea salt and 1 tablespoon of baking soda (or equal parts) to clear – it works in a similar way to burning white sage in a room.