Drinking Goat Milk v Cow Milk (and in a smoothie)

Goats were traditionally “the poor man’s cow”. They take less effort and less money to care for yet produce milk similar to a cow. Goat milk is actually quite common in the developing world. Asia produces about 80% of the world’s goat milk. Worldwide, more goat milk is consumed than cow milk.

Not only is goat milk cheaper to produce than cow milk, but more people are able to drink goat milk than cow milk. Goat milk is more easily digestible than cow milk.

The most common allergic reaction in children under three is due to a certain protein (Alpha s1 Casein) found in cow milk. The level of this protein in goat milk is low enough that allergic reactions are much less common.

Goat milk is also easier to digest for adults because the fats are smaller and the proteins are more simple. Goat milk also contains less lactose than cow milk. Some people who suffer from lactose intolerance are still able to drink goat milk.

Goat milk is chemically more similar to human breast milk.

Goat v Cow Milk Nutrition

Cow milk has fewer calories per cup. It also has less fats per cup, including less saturated fat.

Goat milk has more potassium, magnesium and calcium than cow milk. Those who drink milk for strong bones due to the calcium should consider trying goat milk.

Cow milk on the other hand has more Vitamins B-12 and B-2, Folate and Selenium.

Goat milk has a bit more protein (9g v 8g) than cow milk.

Drinking Goat Milk

I actually tried goat milk for the first time about a week ago. To be honest, the taste was not that much different than cow milk. Maybe I am simply not that picky when it comes to the flavor of my milk or maybe I was expecting it to taste radically different, but it just tasted like milk.

I did notice that goat milk tastes a bit more fatty, so if you like 1% cow milk you probably wouldn’t like full-fat goat milk. I do not know if they sell 1% fat goat milk.

The biggest difference is that goat milk contains more fat than cow milk. Goat milk also does not need to be artificially homogenized. These two factors lead to the goat milk forming little bits of solids. At first I was worried that the milk was bad and starting to condense, but nope. Right on the bottle it says to shake well before drinking and that solidification is natural.

Those little bits of solids might disgust some people and I could see that as a reason someone would not want to drink goat milk. However, they tasted like fatty little milk bits. Almost buttery. They were perfectly good and if I didn’t look at the milk I barely noticed they were there because they were so small.

Goat milk in a smoothie completely solves this problem as the little semi-solids get broken up by the blender real easily. Shaking the milk bottle also helps.

I doubt I will switch over to goat milk all the time, simply because in the United States goat milk is less common. This makes it harder to obtain and more expensive. But I did like it and do hope to incorporate it into my diet.

Also, for those looking to gain weight, goat milk does have more calories, more fat and a bit more protein than cow milk. For those doing GOMAD, think of adding some goat milk to the diet.

One cup of goat milk versus one cup of cow milk: