B12, cow/goat

[Guest guest]

@@@ :

> I do have a question regarding B12 in raw goat's milk vs raw cows milk;

> does anybody have a breakdown of the vitamins in each type of milk?

@@@

From an old Raw Dairy post:

---------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the USDA data (<usda.shim.net>) for goat, cow, and sheep milk

expressed per calorie. Note that nutrient-density per calorie is the

only meaningful way to compare foods.

All units are mg except as indicated otherwise in parantheses. Values

are given per calorie.

<nutrient, caprine, bovine, ovine>

<fat (% by weight), 4.14%, 3.25%, 7.00%>

<retinol (mcg), .812, .459, .407>

<vit A (mcg retinol equivalents), .826, .492, .407>

<vit D (IU), .174, .656, N/A>

<vit C, .0188, .0148, .0389>

<B1 (thiamin), .000696, .000623, .000602>

<B2 (riboflavin), .00200, .00266, .00329>

<B3 (niacin), .00401, .00138, .00386>

<B5 (pantothenic acid), .00449, .00515, .00377>

<B6 (pyrodoxine),.000667,.000689, .000556>

<B12 (mcg), .00101, .00590, .00657>

<magnesium, .203, .213, .167>

<phosphorus, 1.61, 1.52, 1.46>

<calcium, 1.94, 1.95, 1.79>

<potassium, 2.96, 2.49, 1.27>

<iron, .000725, .000820, .000926>

<zinc, .00435, .00623, .00500>

<sodium, .725, .803, .407>

<manganese, .000261,.0000656, .000167>

<copper, .000667, .000164, .000426>

<selenium, .0203, .0328, .0157>

-----------------------------------------------------

Note that cow milk has six times as much B12 as goat milk according to

this data. Any kind of milk is a useful source of B12, but you can

get way more B12 from small amounts of meat, so assuming you don't

have anti-carnivoritis, the B12 content of milk is kind of irrelevant.

Per cup (volumetric measure, not caloric), cow milk has .878 mcg B12,

goat milk has .171 mcg B12, and sheep milk has 1.74 mcg B12. The

fact sheep milk is so much higher according to this measure is that

sheep milk has more solids and less water.

One might argue that the above data is distorted by the fact that goat

milk has more fat than cow milk, and of course the fat content of

either varies considerably depending on breed, stage of lactation,

etc. So there is motivation to have another comparison that factors

out variation in fat content and expresses mcg B12 per non-fat

calorie. The results, using the same format as above, are:

<.00204, ..0113, .0157>.

So, regardless of which of the three measures is used, according to

USDA data cow milk has 5-6 times as much B12 as goat milk. But keep

in mind that we don't know what breeds, dietary conditions, soil

conditions, etc this data is based on. It's theoretically

interesting to see the numbers, but I caution against relying on them

as a basis for practical decisions, and I personally consider cow milk

and goat milk to be nutritionally equal for all practical purposes.

I enjoy both.

Mike

SE Pennsylvania

The best way to predict the future is to invent it. --Alan Kay