How Does Goats Milk Compare to Cows Milk?

Milk

Milk is a popular drink the world over. Almost 75 percent of the milk the world drinks, however, is goat's milk, unlike in the United States, where cow's milk is the popular choice. Does the world know something America doesn't? In a word, yes. Overall, goat milk is much healthier for humans to drink than cow's milk. Goats are also easier and cheaper to raise than cows. Goat's milk is known to be very close in makeup to human breast milk. In fact, children who drink goat's milk gain more weight and have better skeletal mineralization, blood vitamin makeup, stature and bone density, and healthier levels of riboflavin, niacin, and thiamine than children who drink cow's milk.

Vitamins and Digestion

Goat's milk is higher in vitamin A than cow's milk, and it is found in a purer form; ready to be absorbed by the body. Cow's milk, on the other hand, contains vitamin A in carotenoid form, which means the human body must work to turn it into vitamin A before it can become beneficial. Goat's milk also has more riboflavin, potassium, protein (nine grams in one cup, as compared to seven) and calcium than cow milk. A cup of goat's milk also supplies more protein than a cup of cow's milk, nine grams to eight. Goat's milk is also more easily digested by the body because it has less fat and those fat molecules are only one-fifth the size of those in cow's milk. In addition, goat's milk helps to cure constipation.

Hormones and Fatty Acids

Goat's milk contains every amino acid that is essential to the body, making it a fully complete protein. In addition, Goat's milk is loaded with fatty acids--almost three times as much as cow's milk--that are known to help fight certain diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, heart disease and many digestive diseases and problems. In addition, half of lactose intolerant people who cannot drink cow's milk can drink goat's milk with no problems. Finally, goat's milk has the added benefit of being hormone-free, unlike some cow's milk. Cows are frequently given milk-producing hormones that make their way into our dairy products. These hormones are thought to have increased the age of onset of puberty in girls and contributed to infertility problems in some women. Luckily, it is now possible to find milk taken from hormone-free cows.

Resources

• A comparison of goat and cow milk, from the World's Healthiest Foods website.