Got Goat’s Milk?

"Still Life with Goat's Milk"

I’m trying to better understand the problem that many celiacs have with milk and this is what I’ve found so far:

Lactose Intolerance?

Many of us can’t tolerate lactose due to years of destruction to the “brush border” (absorptive surface containing villi) of the small intestines. When lactose isn’t properly absorbed, bacteria, instead of lactase enzymes, break down milk sugars in the colon, which can result in bloating, gas, and diarrhea. This condition is called secondary lactose intolerance.

Primary lactose intolerance, on the other hand, is a genetic lack of lactase (affects about 25% of the population). Basically, you need the lactase enzyme in the brush border of your small intestine to digest the milk carbohydrate we call lactose.

*Information from Dr. Peter Green’s Celiac Disease (2006)

Casein Intolerance?

S1 casein is a key protein in cow’s milk and is believed to be harder to digest than human and goat milk due to its larger fat globule size. The smaller and softer the casein curd, the easier on digestion. About 1 in 10 people have an allergy to casein and experience symptoms very similar to lactose intolerance and even asthma.

When a celiac’s small intestine finally heals adhering to a gluten-free diet, lactose may be properly absorbed and symptoms subside. The flip side is that even with a healing or healed intestine resulting from celiac disease, the casein protein can still cause problems.

Additive Intolerance?

The milk dilemma has a third dimension -- that is, what’s actually added to some milk products. According to food science writer, Michael Pollan, low-fat and skim milk has to be significantly modified in order to reduce its original fat make-up. The fat is removed and food additives such as powdered milk are added in order to preserve a creamy texture. The dilemma is that powered milk contains oxidized cholesterol, which Pollan says scientists believe to be worse than ordinary cholesterol. Removing the fat also makes it difficult to absorb fat-soluble vitamins, which ultimately defeats the purpose of drinking milk in the first place, he says.

*In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan (2008)

There’s even a fourth dimension to milk -- force-fed bovine growth hormones that end up in cow’s milk. And we, the people who drink it, get a dose of those hormones. That problem deserves an entire blog post!

I’ve come to find that goat’s milk is far less problematic for me than cow’s milk. At least with goat’s milk, I can eliminate three of the four possible milk problems I mentioned above. So far, the only goat’s milk brand that I seem to tolerate well is Meyenberg, available at Trader Joes’.

For more information on goat’s milk, go to:

http://www.chiroweb.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=38646