Goat Milk Is Good for You and Here’s Why!
Goat Milk Is Good for You and Here’s Why!
At Mountain Valley View Farm Dairy, located in the Spokane Valley of Washington State, we have chosen Nubian goats to build the foundation herd for our Spokane dairy. We love the easygoing temperament and friendly personality of the Nubian. Also the Nubian goat milk makes delicious cheese, and we love making small batches of Artisan goat cheese for our Spokane and regional customers.
Goat milk is a natural choice for anyone looking for ease of digestion, maximum nutrition, and excellent health from dairy products. It has more easily digestible short and middle chain fats and protein solids than cow milk and may be enjoyed by many people with lactose sensitivities since it does not contain the alpha S1 casein protein (the #1 allergen in dairy products). The increased digestibility of protein is important for infants and children. In addition, goat milk is 13% higher in calcium with 25% more vitamin B6 and 47% more vitamin A. It is also higher in minerals than cow milk with fewer calories – and the natural buffering qualities of goat milk make it beneficial for people with ulcers and other stomach problems.
Goat milk is considered to be “naturally homogenized” and from a health standpoint, this is deemed much easier to digest than mechanically homogenized milk. At Mountain Valley View Farm Dairy, we will eventually be licensed to sell both raw and pasteurized goat milk but there will be no need to homogenize.
All goat milk products at Mountain Valley View Farm Dairy are free of any recombinant growth hormones – these types of hormones have never been developed for dairy goats. Unlike cows, a bovine animal, growth hormones do not increase goat milk production. We do not use any type of hormones in our feed at Mountain Valley View Farm, Inc. here in Spokane Valley, Washington.
Leading U.S. goat milk products from Mountain Valley View Farm Dairy, located in Spokane Valley, Washington, are free of antibiotics. Seventy-two percent of the milk used throughout the world is from goats. Maybe they are onto something that the United States is missing.
Goats are Good for the Planet
We love our Nubian goats and they are better for our planet. Contrary to popular belief, goats are picky eaters. Goats are browsers not grazers. They eat the dry brush that causes fires and they eradicate poison oak. Goats do not like to eat food off the ground and will not eat soiled feed. In addition goats only drink fresh water.
Because they are light on their feet and because they are smaller, goats leave a smaller carbon “hoof print” and are the perfect addition to any biodynamic farm.
Goats actually help to aerate the soil where they browse and make it more supple for the natural habitat to grow. At Mountain Valley View Farm, Inc., we appreciate their fertilizer help in our garden, and they are great at mowing the fresh spring grass. We just need to keep them from away from our flowers.
Goat milk is as close to perfect food as possible in nature. Its chemical structure is amazingly similar to mother’s milk. It is a complete protein containing all the essential amino acids without the heavy fat content and catarrh (mucus) producing materials of cow milk.
Goat Milk and Digestibility
Goat milk offers superior digestibility to cow milk, due to the following factors:
- Size of fat globules: The fat globules of goat milk are finer than those of cow milk, allowing for a greater surface-to-volume ratio for enzymatic attack. This enables the fat of goat milk to be broken down and digested more easily.
- Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT): Goat milk has more MCTs than cow milk. Lipases attack the ester linkages of the shorter-chain fatty acids more readily, enabling more rapid digestion. MCTs are metabolically unique in that they can be absorbed by a simpler mechanism than other fatty acids. MCTs, which are higher in goat milk than cow milk, have a unique ability to provide energy to the human metabolism, as well as an ability to lower, inhibit, and dissolve cholesterol deposits.
- Curd strength: Goat milk casein forms a less tough and more friable curd than the casein of cow milk. This means the digestive enzymes can break it down more rapidly. Alpha-S1 casein is the main casein in cow milk and this contributes to the firmer curd; goat milk contains low levels of alpha-S1 casein.
Goat Milk and Lactose Intolerance
Great news for those who are lactose intolerant! The lactase enzyme provides for the digestion of lactose, or milk sugar. Persons who do not possess this enzyme are lactose-intolerant. Goat milk contains less lactose than cow milk, and people can generally tolerate goat milk better than cow milk. Goat milk also makes great ice cream. We have many Spokane people request our goat milk for their lactose intolerant child/children or family member.
Goat Milk and Allergies
Great news for those who suffer from milk allergies! Whether goat milk can be tolerated better than cow milk will depend on the specific protein involved in the allergy. Most people with a cow milk protein allergy are allergic to b-lactoglobulin. This protein is also present in goat milk and does not offer these people an alternative. It is worth, however, trying goat milk as an alternative to cow milk, in consultation with your doctor.
Goat Milk and Respiratory Complaints
Drinking goat milk results in the production of less mucus than when drinking cow milk. This can provide relief to people suffering from respiratory complaints.
Flavor
Fresh goat milk from Mountain Valley View Farm Dairy has a delicious, mildly tangy flavor. This flavor is due to the presence of short-chain fatty acids: capric, caprylic, and dcaproic acid. Fresh, correctly treated goat milk usually has a very neutral flavor and is delicious served fresh and ice cold for a refreshing drink. Support your local Spokane Valley, Washington, dairy serving Inland Northwest customers with locally produced milk.
Composition
The composition of goat milk does not differ greatly from that of cow milk. Both kinds contain about 13% dry solids. Milk sugar, also known as lactose, is the main constituent of goat milk. The other main ingredients of goat milk are milk fat, protein, and minerals. One hundred milliliters of goat or cow milk has a calorific value of about 280kJ (67 kcal). The composition of the milk depends largely on the breed of goat and the season. In the summer at Mountain Valley View Farm Dairy, the milk yield is high and the fat and protein contents are low. Conversely, in the winter the milk yield is low and the fat and protein contents are higher.
Lactose
Lactose is a form of sugar found in milk. Lactose is the most prevalent carbohydrate present in milk. The lactose content of goat milk is about 10% lower than that of cow milk. This fact is good news for those want to lower their sugar and carbohydrate intake to improve their overall health.
Milk Protein
Milk protein is comprised of about 80% caseins and 20% whey proteins. This is applicable to both cow milk and goat milk. The caseins are present in the form of micelles: these are large aggregates of protein and calcium phosphate. The number of small micelles is much greater in goat milk than cow milk.
Milk Fat
All fats are not the same. The fatty-acid composition of goat milk exhibits substantial differences from that of cow milk. Goat milk fat contains a considerable amount of short-chain and medium-chain fatty acids. The seasonal variation in the fatty-acid composition is lower than that of cow milk. This is due to the relatively consistent diet fed to goats. Goat milk contains a far larger number of small fat globules than cow milk. This type of milk fat is easier to digest.
Cholesterol
Goat milk has a cholesterol content of between 10 and 15 mg/100 g milk (depending on the fat content), comparable to the levels in cow milk. Goat milk has a lower amount of cholesterol than cow’s milk for those wanting to lower their cholesterol levels.
Vitamins
Goat milk contains more vitamin A and D than cow milk. The folic acid and vitamin B12 content is lower than that of cow milk. Current research has put more value on increasing vitamin A and D in our daily diet, and Mountain Valley View Farm Dairy goat milk is an excellent source for these vitamins.
Minerals
The composition of minerals in goat milk and cow milk are different in a few ways. The potassium, copper, and manganese content of goat milk are a little higher than those in cow milk. Goat milk contains a little less zinc than cow milk.
Goat Cheese Health Benefits
When compared to cow milk products, goat cheese is lower in fat, calories, and cholesterol. It also provides more calcium and fewer carbohydrates than comparable cow milk cheeses. Even though goat cheese has fewer calories, it has a full, rich, and creamy flavor. Our goat cheeses are all-natural and contain no hormones, additives or preservatives. Try the many wonderful cheeses at Mountain Valley View Farm Dairy. We are proud of our healthy goat milk products.
Please ask to be placed on our waiting list for our small batch Artisan cheese, which can be made as soon as we receive our WSDA Grade A license from Washington state. We cannot make or sell cheese to the public until we receive our license. The good news is that we can test recipes on our family so by the time we have our license we will have perfected the best recipe and technique.
Why Is a Lactose Intolerant Person Able to Have Goat Milk Products?
Most people who are allergic to cow milk or who are lactose intolerant can safely use goat dairy products. The superior digestibility of goat milk products is primarily due to shorter fatty acid chains and smaller fat molecules than those that occur in cow milk. Forty-seven percent of the worldwide human population is allergic to cow milk in one way or another, while only 3% have any allergic reaction to goat milk. Therefore, most people with cow milk allergies or lactose intolerance can usually tolerate goat milk. In addition, most goat cheeses are made with a culture that converts the lactose to lactic acid, which is much more easily digested.
One of the more significant differences from cow milk is found in the composition and structure of fat in goat milk. The average size of goat milk fat globules is about 2 micrometers, as compared to 2½ – 3½ micrometers for cow milk fat. These smaller sized fat globules provide a better dispersion and a more homogeneous mixture of fat in the milk. Research indicates that there is more involved to the creaming ability of milk than merely physical size of the fat globules. It appears that their clustering is favored by the presence of an agglutinin in milk, which is lacking in goat milk, therefore creating a poor creaming ability, especially at lower temperatures.
The natural homogenization of goat milk is, from a human health standpoint, much better than the mechanically homogenized cow milk product. When fat globules are forcibly broken up by mechanical means, it allows an enzyme associated with milk fat, known as xanthine oxidase, to become free and penetrate the intestinal wall. Once xanthine oxidase gets through the intestinal wall and into the bloodstream, it is capable of creating scar damage to the heart and arteries, which in turn may stimulate the body to release cholesterol into the blood in an attempt to lay a protective fatty material on the scarred areas. This can lead to arteriosclerosis. It should be noted that this effect is not a problem with natural (unhomogenized) cow milk. In unhomogenized milk, this enzyme is normally excreted from the body without much absorption.
Please note that Mountain Valley View Farm, Inc. is working very hard to become a licensed WSDA Grade A Dairy! We are currently following all their guidelines to produce safe goat milk and goat milk products. We are following the law here at Mountain Valley View Farm, Inc., and we will not sell any goat milk until our WSDA license is finalized and approved. In the meantime, we are making and testing various cheese recipes for our family. When our license is finalized we will know exactly which is the best recipe to sell to our customers.
Please pre-order Goat Milk from Mountain Valley View Farm Dairy
We will not sell any goat milk, raw or pasteurized, until we officially receive our WSDA Grade A Dairy license. Until then, we are keeping a waiting list of all future customers so we can evaluate the volume of milk and goat cheese we will need to produce for our waiting customers once we have our license.
Mountain Valley View Farm, Inc.
Located in the Spokane Valley of beautiful Washington State
Your source for Northwest Farm-Fresh Foods Shipped Worldwide!
4301 South Chapman Road
Greenacres, Washington 99016-8732 USA
Phone (509) 928-1800 | Fax (509) 922-9949
www.mountainvalleyviewfarm.com
www.mountainvalleyviewfarmstore.com
Email: sales@mountainvalleyviewfarm.com
Blog with us at www.mountainvalleyviewfarmblog.com
Mountain Valley View Farm Hours:
Monday – Saturday (Pacific Time) 8:00 a.m. – Noon
Closed Noon – 1:00 p.m. Daily
1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Pacific Time)
Other farm hours by advance appointment only.
Please call (509) 928-1800 to schedule an appointment.
Getaway Studio Dining Room
Phone (509) 928-8900
Directions to Mountain Valley View Farm, Inc.
From I-90 East or West
Take the Sullivan Exit (291B) – South for about 3 miles
Turn left on Saltese (east)
Continue straight for .5 miles (east)
Turn right at South Chapman Road (south)
Keep going south (.9 miles)
The farm will be on the left hand side of the road – 4301 Chapman Road
Please visit all our farm sites:
Blog Sites:
www.cookingwithkarenblog.com
www.getawaystudioblog.com
www.mountainvalleyviewfarmblog.com
Drupal Sites:
Flash Sites:
www.cookingwithkaren.com
www.getawaystudiobedandbreakfast.com
www.getawaystudiodiningroom.com
OS Commerce Sites:
www.cookingwithkarenstore.com
www.getawaystudiostore.com
www.mountainvalleyviewfarm.com
www.mountainvalleyviewfarmstore.com
We ask that you bookmark these sites and share with your friends. Also check back often, as we will be adding more products and information.
We look forward to hearing from you.
We also invite you to make a reservation at Getaway Studio Dining Room
& Bed and Breakfast located on the Farm
4301 South Chapman Road, Greenacres, WA 99016–8732 USA
Phone: (509) 928-1800 | Fax: (509) 922-9949
Email: sales@mountainvalleyviewfarm.com | Blog: www.mountainvalleyviewfarmblog.com
Websites: www.mountainvalleyviewfarm.com | Store: www.mountainvalleyviewfarmstore.com
Halloween Delights Cookbook
