Cow’s Milk And Goat’s Milk - A Comparison
April 18th, 2007
Nutritious milk produced from these two animals serve the very wonderful purpose of feeding their hungry newborns.
Here is a table listing the similarities and differences between their milk :
| Cow’s milk | Goat’s milk |
| Higher amounts of iron, molybdenum, sodium, sulfur and zinc. | Higher amounts of calcium, chloride, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus and potassium. |
| Higher amounts of vitamin B6 and B12. | Higher amounts of vitamin A, riboflavin and niacin. |
| Both are not good sources of vitamin C and D. | |
| Fat globules have to undergo the homogenization process so that they would break up to smaller sizes and not float on the milk surface. Creams easily due to the presence of aggutinin. | Contains naturally smaller fat globules; up to 1/5 the size of cow’s milk. Thus easier to digest. Lacks agglutinin. |
| pH range : 6.4-6.7 | |
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It’s the lactose (milk sugar) content that makes it unsuitable for people with lactose intolerance (the inability to digest lactose). Lactose is fermented in the large intestine where it can cause bloating, flatus, diarrhea and pain. Lactose intolerance is different from allergy to cow milk protein. |
Lactose levels are slightly lower. |
| Casein, a major protein that people are allergic to which can result allergic symptoms such as asthma, eczema, chronic bronchitis and sinus conditions. | Allergic causing casein proteins like Alpha S1 casein and beta-casein A1 are either present in low quantities or not present at all. |
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Due to a different composition of casein proteins, goat’s milk has a lower curb tension (a measure of the toughness of milk curb formed by the digestive enzymes) which results in the formation of a softer curb and smaller flakes during digestion - consequently making it more digestible than cow’s milk. |
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| The bovine serum proteins, e.g. bovine serum albumin (BSA) and bovine immunoglobulins can cause allergies. | Does not contain these proteins. |
| Rich in MCT (medium chain triglycerides) | Richer in MCT, double of cow’s milk. |
| With it’s variety of nourishing nutrients, goat’s milk is suitable for children above 1 year old. | |
| One cow can yield about 24 litres of milk a day. | One goat can yield 2 to 4.5 litres of milk a day. |
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