It is another festive season. The season is characterised by merry making and merry making is never complete without a drink.
I guess you most likely haven’t made up your mind which is the best drink to crown your merry making this Christmas. Don’t stress yourself further. Buy milk. I propose milk.
Potato milk
Even Jesus was born in a cow’s shed. Or in other words He was placed in a cow’s manger.
Let me simplify your choices further, get donkey milk; it’s the sweetest of all other milks. If you do not have a sweet tooth or cannot get donkey milk easily, then get camel milk from Isiolo, it has anticancer, antidiabetic and antihypertension properties.
Perhaps you want milk with the highest mineral content, get sheep’s milk.
Perchance, you are against animal products, then choose potato milk, yes potato milk. If you have not made up your mind yet, please check below.
Sheep milk contains the highest amount of protein at about six per cent while donkey milk has the lowest protein content at 0.4 per cent.
Buffalo milk follows sheep’s milk in relation to protein content.
Cow’s milk, goat milk and camel milk have almost the same amount of protein at approximately 3.4 per cent. Surprisingly, human milk has very low protein of about 1.3 per cent.
Vitamin C or ascorbic acid
Camel milk is the best to take if you are after Vitamin C or ascorbic acid content. Camel milk has 33 per cent of vitamin C compared to one per cent in cow’s milk.
This partly explains why there is low incidence of scurvy in populations living in arid and semi-arid areas that keep camels even if they do not grow fruits or vegetables.
Camel milk contains 30 times more vitamin C than cow milk, and six times more than human milk.
This is highly important in desert areas, where fruits and vegetables are scarce. More often, camel milk is the only source of vitamin C in the diet of inhabitants of those deserts.
Milk rich in Vitamin A
Vitamin A is very important for various functions of the body; including vision, immune function, reproduction and growth.
Sheep milk has the highest amount of bioavailable vitamin A followed by goat milk and then cow’s milk.
Milk rich in Vitamin D
Vitamin D is good for bone development and other functions of the body. Cow’s milk has the highest amount of vitamin D, followed by sheep milk and goat milk.
Milk low in allergenicity
Human milk is the most fit and does not present any allergy to human beings particularly infants, but when breast-feeding is not available or possible, cow milk or infant formula, which is mainly based on cow milk, is usually used as a substitute to human milk.
This substitution has been shown to have immunological problems, such as allergy. The allergy results from an abnormal immunological response to one or more of milk proteins.
The term allergy means an altered or abnormal reaction.
Such a reaction may occur when there is contact between a foreign protein—an allergen — and body tissues that are sensitive to it.
Although for a long time cow’s milk has been the preferred alternative to mother’s milk, there is increasing prevalence of cow’s milk protein allergy or what is commonly referred to as milk allergy.
Cow’s milk allergy is the negative reaction individuals experience following consumption of cow’s milk. This is very common to infants and sometimes adults.
Cow’s milk protein allergy can manifest itself through nusea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal cramps and so on.
Over 160 foods induce allergic reactions. However, only eight foods account for the majority of the allergies.
These are milk, egg, peanut, soybean, fish, crustacean shellfish, wheat and tree nut. Therefore it is very clear that milk is among the few foods that induce the majority of allergies.
The exact reasons for a particular individual to develop a food allergy remain unclear.
However, a number of risk factors have been identified. Development of food allergy is strongly influenced by genetic factors.
For example, individuals are at an increased risk of developing a specific food allergy when a family history of that allergy is present.
This Christmas if you wish to choose milk low in allergenicity, pick camel or donkey milk.
Milk high in calcium content
We are always told even through television advertisements that milk is rich in calcium and it’s good for our bones and teeth.
The food sources rich in calcium are many and thanks to their high Calcium content, milk and dairy products are considered as some of the best sources.
To get the highest amount of calcium, choose milk in the following decreasing order; sheep milk has the highest followed by goat milk, cow’s milk and then camel milk has the lowest calcium content.
Milk low in cholesterol
The term cholesterol elicits mixed reactions. Some castigate cholesterol as the enemy of heart health. Others do not see any harm with cholesterol.
First let me clarify; Cholesterol is synthesised naturally by the body and is important for various functions of the body.
In terms of cholesterol, buffalo milk has the lowest cholesterol (9.5 per cent) compared to other animals.
Camel milk has the highest at 35 per cent. Goat and sheep cholesterol are comparable at 15 per cent while cow’s milk has relatively high cholesterol at 28 per cent. It is therefore recommended to consume low-fat milk if you are concerned with cholesterol and fat in general.
Milk with antidiabetic properties
Camel milk is the best in terms of managing type II diabetes.
Camel milk is thought to help manage type II diabetes because of the following reasons: insulin in camel milk possesses special properties that make absorption into circulation easier than insulin from other sources.
Antiviral and antibacterial activity
Among all other milks, raw camel milk is considered a strong viral and bacteria inhibitor to human viruses and bacteria.
The inhibition effect of camel milk antibacterial compound called lysozyme is better than egg white lysozyme and bovine milk lysozyme against strains of bacteria.
Folic acid
Folic acid is a form of vitamin B-9 that can dissolve in water. It is a key ingredient in the making of the nucleic acid that forms part of all genetic material. It is particularly important for women who are pregnant to consume enough folic acid.
Folate is not synthesised by our bodies. Therefore, it is important to get it from food sources.
Camel milk has the highest folic acid content of 87 micrograms/100g compared to 5mirograms /100g in cow, sheep and human milk. Folic acid helps prevent the foetus from developing major congenital deformities of the brain or spine.
Fat in milk
Fat consumption is associated with negative effects on health.
Consequently, if you are interested in taking milk low in fat, go for donkey milk, which has approximately 1g of fat per 100 grams of milk or 10g of fat per 1 litre of milk. Compared to cow’s milk, which has 35g of fat per 1 litre, donkey milk has three to four times less fat.
Milk low in calories
Calories intake has two sides. One, men and women need to meet daily calorie intake. On the other hand, high calories intake leads to weight gain.
Donkey milk is the lowest in calories while human, goat and cow’s milk have an average of Kcal 280. Buffalo and sheep milk have the highest calories of approximately Kcal 440 per 100 grams.
Milk good for infants/babies
Considering nutrient density and allergenicity, mothers’ milk is the best. If not available for one reason or another then choose milk high in proteins and other nutrients.
Camel and goat milk are also good.
Scientifically, donkey milk is closest to human milk and low in allergenicity.
Milk with anticancer properties
Camel milk has been scientifically proven to have anticancer properties compared to all the other milks.
I hope I have helped you to make a choice on what to drink this Christmas. If not, you can still contact me on the email below.
The writer is a Senior Lecturer in Food Science at Meru University of Science and Technology. joshuaarimi@gmail.com