Goat's Milk and the failures of the internet

     It started with a simple question.   What does Goat's milk taste like?

    Several years ago when Sue and I first started to seriously consider moving home (Okay...two years ago) and moving into the country we laughed about getting goats.  

    There were a few reasons for this really:

1. Sue finds Goats really cute, and the baby goats are adorable
   
2. They produce milk
3. I personally love goat cheese 
4. We both have had goat meat in the past and enjoyed it. 

    However we only have two plus a bit more acres here, and goats - while any animal to be honest - have to be worth our time and expense.   Remember we're talking feed, cleaning up after them and basically never taking another vacation again because we have to look after the animals.  While we have never specifically ruled out any farm animals, it's not going to happen anytime soon.

    So any animals other than our two cats were pretty much out of the picture for now, although we inherited two additional outdoor cats by simply buying the home. 

    Sue told me that somewhere in her life, she's had Goats Milk.   I never have.  

   

    I should explain somewhat.  I've been the "city mouse" having lived in Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Tampa and other cities nearly my whole adult life.  While I've always tried to eat healthy and smart the idea of farmers markets in the center of the city when I was a younger man were still a dream.   We didn't have Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Markets growing up in the 70's and 80's, at least where I lived.

    It would not be till college that I was exposed to "ethnic" foods.  So it was travel and necessity that introduced me to fare other than "Basic American." staples like steak, potatoes and pizza. Once I was exposed to authentic Chinese, Indian and African food, I knew that I could never go back to simple steak and potato's.

    So on a visit to see my parents recently, I stopped at a store that specialized in "healthier" products and bought a very expensive quart of Goat's Milk.  It's something I've been looking forward to and this is the only place I've found it.   However since I do not want to commercialize this site in any way, I will only tell you that the store's initials are "WF."

    Now that I had it, I could not help but wonder if it was any healthier than the 2% reduced fat milk we normally buy.  That's a simple side by side comparison of the nutritional labels and the goats milk did have 10 more calories as well as more fat (but we drink a reduced fat product, to that may not be a fair comparison).  When it came to cholesterol and sodium there was only a 5 micro gram difference between the two. So points were rewarded for both.   In fact, I would make an argument that the two were basically the same.  

    The difference lies in subtle things.   For example, Goat's milk is easier to digest for some people because it has less Lactose than regular dairy. It's also a good source of Thiamine, Riboflavin and Niacin. However regular dairy has more Folic acid, Biotin, and Vitamins B12 and C. 

Being the geek that I am I now wondered what would be the "healthier" of the two...and this is were the internet starts to break down.  

    Searching for government reports didn't really turn up much data, unless you count a report from 1939 you can read here.   The papers and research that I did find after that fell into either a "Pro Goat" or "Anti Goat" camp after that.

    For example, the PETA website was ANTI - GOAT; arguing that any milk contained from the animal was bad for the animal (and as a consequence, the human as well).  Where as a dairy site I came across promoted the health benefits of Cows milk compared to that of Goat's Milk.  

    Then there was some jackass on YouTube promoting Goat's milk and using unsubstantiated claims and (possibly questionable) science to back up his claims.  I'm sorry, but without listing your sources you are basically asking me to take your word for it.

    The moral of the story is do your own damn homework but be careful not to get sucked into the vortex of self fulfilling prophecy.   Thanks to the mysterious math that search engines use if you want Goat's milk to be the cure for baldness...when it will take you to sites where it is the cure for your shiny head.  I really could not find any evidence that one was better than the other than anecdotal evidence.

    Goats milk has managed to serve millions of people and it's estimated to be the sole source of milk for at least 22% of the world's population.  The reason why cows become the preferred animal for milk is a long and completed one, and would really require more research than I want to do right now, and yes there are serious concerns about the use of antibiotics in dairy cows and their environmental impact.

    As for the taste?  While I found it to be slightly creamier and richer than the milk I'm used to drinking - which was due to the fat content.  It didn't smell or taste odd, I had no "grassy" aftertaste.   So would I buy it again?   Probably from a farmer but not from some overpriced health store.