Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Wisdom Wednesday!!!

Goat's Milk




A few weeks ago I had a comment from Gwenever. She was thinking about using Goat's Milk instead of Rice Milk. I didn't know that much about Goat's Milk so I thought it was time to start researching. Today I'd like to share with you what I've learned.

I'm going to start off by saying that as much as I looked for the dangers of goat's milk the only thing I could find dangerous was if it was raw. The FDA suggests that no one should consume any milk product unless it has been pasteurized. So that being said I found some amazing things about goat's milk. I am going to reiterate that I didn't know anything about goat's milk. Well I did know that my Grandma never had her breast milk come in and was unable to nurse her children. So my father was raised on goat's milk along with his other siblings. After reading about goat's milk I understand why my Grandma used goat's milk. It is the closest milk you can find to a mother's breast milk. The one thing that it doesn't have is folic acid, which is very important in a baby's development. I was still amazed at how close the two milks are. Go here to see a side by side comparison of cow's, goat's, mother's, and formula milks.
Unlike cow's milk, goat's milk doesn't need to be homogenized. The fat globules are so much smaller in goat's milk that they stay suspended in the milk and do not raise to the top. Goat's milk has more shorter chained fatty acids than cow's milk making it more nutritious and also much easier for our bodies to digest. One thing that I loved finding out is that goat's milk is alkaline just like mother's milk is. Cow's milk is acidic. We are told over and over again that in an acidic environment bacteria and other harmful things can grow. So we are supposed to eat a more alkaline diet. Now you can add goat's milk to your list to help alkalize your body.
Also the protein in goat's milk is much easier for your body to digest. On top of that goat's milk contains ''13% more calcium, 25% more vitamin B-6, 47% more vitamin A, 134% more potassium, 3 times more niacin, and 27% more of the antioxidant selenium than cow's milk does" reports askdr.sears.com. But like I said before goat's milk doesn't have the folic acid or vitamin D that cow's milk does, so it is fortified. With all of that being said I personally would still stay away from goat's milk if you have mucus or candida problems.
So now on to the taste testing part. I bought some vanilla ice cream made from goat's milk. I found it to be very yummy. I thought it tasted just like any other vanilla ice cream made with cow's milk. I also bought some goat's milk. When I gave it to my children they didn't like it. They said that it had a funny after taste to it and dumped it down the sink. Remember that my children have been raised on rice milk after they were breast fed. So they don't like the taste of cow's milk either. I didn't think that taste test was very fair, so I took a small glass to two neighbor boys who drink a lot of cow's milk in their homes. Both boys did not like it and one even spit it out. So after that I decided to have my nephew try it. He, and his dad, are huge cow's milk lovers. They would probably have cow's milk at every meal. When my nephew tried it he really liked it. He said it was "good". I was raised on cow's milk but I haven't had any, not even a sip, for over 4 years now. I didn't find the taste that bad. I tried hard to remember what cow's milk tasted like and I just couldn't remember. But I really didn't think it had a bad flavor to it. It was creamy like I remember cow's milk being. Of course I'm not going to buy it tons. It is very expensive. I paid over $5 for one quart and when my children will not drink it, it is not worth it to me. I will, however, experiment with what I have left over. It would be nice if I could make some yummy white sauces with it.

So there you go. That is what I've found out. Part of me wishes that my children liked the taste. It really does have so many more nutrients than rice milk does. It was still fun and and exciting to research and to try something new.



Sources: www.whfood.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbib=131
www.ehow.com/about_5485534_dangers-goat-milk-html
www.gardenharvest.org/milkbenefits.htm
www.abundalife.com/goats.asp
www.optimumchoices.com/goat_milk.htm
www.mtcapra.com/benefits-of-goat-milk/

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