Cow Milk vs Goat Milk

Whenever someone refers to milk most people would really understand it as Cow Milk. Cow Milk especially in the west is most popular. However, in the other parts of the world Goat Milk is just as popular as Cow Milk. There are an estimated of 550 million goats worldwide as compared to more than a billion estimated cows.

Goat Milk does not need to be homogenized like the cow’s milk. Goat’s milk contains more fat that the cow’s milk. Moreover it is quite difficult to find low fat or non-fat varieties in Goat Milk that it is in Cow’s Milk. Goat Milk does not contain agglutinin which is present in Cow Milk. This enables the fat globules in the Goat Milk to be of much smaller size, hence, making it easily digestible.

Lactose content is much lower in the Goat Milk at a 4.1% as compared to 4.7% in Cow Milk. The Goat Milk in comparison to Cow’s Milk contains up to 13% more Calcium, 25% more vitamin B6 and 47% higher content of Vitamin A. It also has a higher content of potassium, niacin, copper and antioxidant selenium than cow’s milk. The Cow Milk on the other hand has almost five times of Vitamin B12 and more than 10 times more Folic Acid as compared to Goat Milk. Therefore, when taking Goat Milk the folic acid needs to be supplemented.

The Goat Milk is generally known to have a peculiar odor. This is generally due to the scent glands of the buck. If he is not present in the herd at milking time this will not be there. The other possible reason for the peculiar taste and odor is due to the fact that the cows that are used for milking are generally kept under strict supervision and very strict diet control due to the laws. The goats, however, are not covered under this and would generally feed on a variety of things. With Goat Milk now gaining popularity in the west this industry is also set to flourish.

Summary
1. Basically the composition and properties are the same but Cow Milk is more popular.
2. Goat Milk is generally acceptable to lactose intolerant people.
3. Goat Milk does not need to be homogenized.
4. Although Goat Milk is higher in calcium, Vitamins B6, A, potassium, niacin, copper and antioxidant selenium, it is very low in Vitamin B12 and Folic Acid. The vitamins need to be supplemented when taking Goat Milk.
5. Goat Milk has a peculiar odor and taste as compared to Cow Milk.