We've got a gut feeling you're gonna love goat's milk

All Natural
Easier to digest

Full of essential
Vitamins & Minerals

Source of
Top-notch Protein

Lots of our customers find St Helen’s Farm on the hunt for a plant based or cow’s milk alternative, but the benefits go way beyond digestion or allergies. Here’s why goat dairy is the hardest-working for your health.

How goat's milk stacks up against cow

Cow’s milk and goat’s milk aren’t the same thing.

That’s why people realising cow’s milk might not suit them are coming over to the goat side. It the closest to cow’s milk nutritionally, but there are some pretty big differences that set goat’s milk apart.

The fat content of goat’s and cow’s milk is similar, but the fat globules? Not so much. Goat’s milk fat globules are naturally smaller, and with the different protein make-up that creates a softer curd in your gut, this helps it go down a bit easier than cow’s milk.

Whether we’re young or old we all need high-quality protein in our diets to keep our muscles and bones healthy. But research shows that the proteins are what people’s intolerance to cow’s milk mainly comes down to¹, especially alpha-S1-casein.²
Goat’s milk has loads of protein (6g per 200ml serving) but with lower levels of alpha-S1-casein.² This makes it closer to human milk, which is good news for anyone looking for an option they can tolerate better. Always ask an allergy consultant or specialist dietician for advice if you’re not sure.

Lactose is the natural carbohydrate found in milk and other dairy foods. Goat’s milk usually has a little less than cow’s. As everyone can tolerate different amounts, this might explain why some people experience sensitivity to lactose when others can drink milk unaffected. If you think you have a problem with cow’s milk, give goat’s milk a try, you’ll be in good company. Just remember, goat’s milk isn’t recommended for anyone who’s been diagnosed with lactose intolerance.

Let’s hear it for the essential vitamins and minerals in our delicious goat’s milk. As well as all the usual suspects above, our goat’s milk is also packed with an all-star line-up of minerals, like phosphorus (for strong bones, teeth and releasing energy from food), potassium (that keeps your nerves, muscles and blood pressure in check) and chloride (which helps healthy digestion)⁴

Goat’s milk has more oligosaccharides than cow's milk³. These can act as prebiotics in the gut, encouraging good bacteria to grow and help all things digestion stay happy and healthy.

Yes to calcium. The magic ingredient for developing and maintaining bones and teeth, supporting our muscles and the blood clotting process, and helping create good energy levels. 3x servings of goat’s milk can fill over 90% of an adult’s daily calcium quota. Our milk is a great source of calcium and potassium, which contributes to maintaining normal blood pressure, muscle function and keeping the nervous system in check.

Phosphorous contributes to the maintenance of normal bones, normal teeth and to the normal function of cell membranes. Our bodies need phosphorous to produce energy as it contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism.

This four-letter wonder is vital to the growth and development of so many of our biological processes, from brain health to healthy skin, nails and hair to promoting fertility and supporting our immune systems.

Chloride plays an important part in the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, which moves the digestion process along and helps us absorb nutrients from food. Many of our customers say they find goat’s milk easier to digest than cow’s milk and it could that chloride has a role to play in this.

This important mineral is needed to help combat tiredness and fatigue, and is found naturally in goat’s milk. A 200ml serving size may be beneficial as it will contain a small amount.

Vitamin B12
Another goodie found naturally in goat’s milk, B12 is the vitamin that helps our bodies to absorb iron, which helps prevent anaemia and maintain healthy energy levels. Vitamin B12 also plays an important role in unlocking the energy stored in our food.

Vitamin A
Fact: whole goat’s milk is whiter than cow’s milk. Why? Well it’s because all of the carotene (a Vitamin A precursor) which is naturally present in our goat's feed is converted to retinol, the active form of vitamin A. And what’s retinol good for? Your skin, hair, nails and even your eyesight. It also helps in the development of cells.

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
This vitamin has a key role in converting the food we eat into the energy we need for whatever we’re getting up to. It’s also responsible for helping regulate our metabolism.

Vitamin B3 (Niacin)
Like B2, B3 helps our bodies regulate our metabolism and convert food into energy. It’s a big job, so it takes a lot of different vitamins to do it.

Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid)
B5 is a super vitamin to have, because as well as regulating our metabolism and converting food to energy (like our friends B2 and B3), B5 also helps reduce tiredness and fatigue by balancing hormones and keeping adrenal function normal. It can even contribute to reducing stress and anxiety.

How goat stacks up against plant

There IS a natural alternative.

Sorry to burst the bubble but plant based dairy is not as beneficial to your health as goat is. If you’ve gone to plant because your gut doesn’t like cow’s milk, but you’re not happy with the taste, versatility or protein content, goat could be the natural alternative you are looking for. With the natural dairy benefits goat’s milk has over plant based, we find lots of our customers are coming back from the dark side to try a deliciously different kind of dairy.

The G.O.A.T* – Goat’s Milk.
*greatest of all time

Adult females need 45g per day and males 55.5g of protein
(British Nutrition Foundation).

Milk’s been fuelling athletes for years and years, delivering a powerful combo of natural nutrients that aid muscle repair, rehydration and replenishment, while helping build strong bones and support immune health.

The protein in goat’s milk is very high quality compared to many other foods, particularly plant-based drinks. All the essential amino acids are available and well balanced. (1)

Proteins are molecules made up of long chains of amino acids. There are about 20 different amino acids commonly found in plant and animal proteins. For adults, 9 of these need to come from our diet, and are what we call “essential”. The 9 essential amino acids needed are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine.

Dairy proteins have a higher biological value than proteins from plant sources. Skimmed and semi-skimmed milk are high in protein and whole is a good source of protein.

So, what’s all the fuss about protein? It’s needed for the growth and maintenance of muscle mass, plus for normal bone development and growth in children. According to the British Nutrition Foundation, dairy protein has an advantage over other types for stimulating muscle protein synthesis (which is a fancy way of saying producing new muscle protein), due to its fast digestibility and high leucine content.

 

References:

¹El-Agamy El (2007). The challenge of cow’s milk protein allergy. Small Rum Res: 6864-72.
²Restani P et al (1999). Cross-reactivity between milk proteins from different animal species. Clin Exp Allergy, 29: 997-1004.
⁴McCance and Widdowson’s The Composition of Foods. Seventh Edition. Royal Society of Chemistry. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
³Kiskini A and Difilippo E (2013). Oligosaccharides in goat milk: structure, health effects and isolation. Cell Mol Biol 59: 25-30.