Good news for those of us who enjoy a little dairy but are concerned about the negative environmental impacts of cattle raising: there’s a new milk in town! Camel milk, that is, and new research suggests that not only is it less of a strain on the environment, but the chemical components of camel milk may even be better for human ingestion. Some of those components can work to strengthen the immune system, including potentially lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease. And as for allergic symptoms related to lactose intolerance, beta-lactoglobulin, “one of the major allergens in cow’s milk,” is not present in camel milk, thus making it less allergenic. So, should we really have been saying “beta-lactoglobulin intolerant” all these years, instead? I’ll let the scientists speak straight from the camel’s mouth:
Camel milk may be a healthier alternative to dairy milk, with researchers saying it contains fewer allergens and offers other health benefits.
“As camel milk lacks beta-lactoglobulin, it is potentially less allergenic,” says research published in the journal Food Chemistry. As the National Library of Medicine points out, beta-lactoglobulin — which is different from lactose — is “one of the major allergens in cow’s milk.”
“This is a good thing. We now know that camel milk has the potential to be hypoallergenic compared to cow’s milk,” PhD student Manujaya Jayamanna Mohittige of Australia’s Edith Cowan University, who conducted the research, said in a statement.
Camel’s milk also may have potential to boost the immune system and decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease. As Mohittige explains, it can “yield bioactive peptides which can have antimicrobial properties and anti-hypertensive properties.” These peptides may “selectively inhibit certain pathogens, and by doing so, create a healthy gut environment and also has the potential to decrease the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in the future.”
Camels are also hardier animals, able to survive in dry, acrid environments, the study points out, citing “the suitability of camel farming in climates that are unfavourable for traditional cattle farming.”
“Camel milk is gaining global attention, in part because of environmental conditions. Arid or semi-arid areas can be challenging for traditional cattle farming, but perfect for camels,” Mohittige said in the statement.
As for the taste, Redditors have compared it to a less-sour kefir — a fermented milk drink — saying it “would go good with tea or coffee.” And the owner of a camel farm in Pennsylvania told Penn Live that it tastes like “milk with a little bit of salt in it.” And while it’s “not quite as sweet as cow’s milk,” it’s creamier.
Well I’m sold! Not just because I’ve long been worried (more like scared-sh-tless) of the damage methane gas has been wreaking thanks to the amount of cattle farming done on this planet. And not only because it appears that camel milk simply sits better in our guts. What really seals the deal for me, is how comparatively exotic camel milk sounds as opposed to your run-of-the-mill cow milk. I like to march to the beat of my own timpani, so being among the first to waltz into my local Dunkin’ and order my iced coffee “with camel milk, please,” is just the sort of eccentric move I relish. Quite frankly, my only hesitation with getting excited about camel milk, is the sad reality that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., he whose brain killed a hapless worm, may be confirmed this week to head the Department of Health and Human Services. Meaning we may have access to camel milk… but only unpasteurized, or “raw,” as RFK prefers it. Not to throw a big ol’ hump in the middle of this otherwise gastrically good news.
Photos credit: Taryn Elliott, Pixabay and Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels
Speaking of RFK 😡…I just read in Kansas there’s been a historical outbreak of Tuberculosis…and I was thinking what will happen when Tuberculosis & Covid come together and decide to join forces…and I feel an EVEN LARGER SENSE OF 😱…than I did before
Covid causes reactivation of latent infections, including tuberculosis. The “coming together” has already happened and is probably responsible for this outbreak.
When I had allergies as a baby in the early 80s the doctor suggested my mum try goat or camel milk (soy milk had absolutely not crossed the shores to my veryyyy rural town) and I had camel milk for about a year!
God, anti pasteurisation people are so weird. Please visit a damn farm.
Camels release methane, too, although half as much as do cows. But milk is about more than just something to put in your coffee – there’s cheese and yoghurt and ice cream and butter. I can imagine increased farming of camels would end up with environmental problems, too.
Great. A new way to exploit animals. Like all lactating moms, camels make milk for their babies – not for you. In dairy farms, baby calves are dragged from their mothers right after birth and if they are male they are thrown into a veal crate. They will be killed soon for their soft flesh and “calves leather”. When you drink milk, you are drinking from a grieving mother and possibly wearing one of her baby’s skin as gloves or shoes. It’s horrific.
Cows are impregnated again and again until their bodies are completely worn out and they are killed and cut up for hamburgers.
Creating life in order to kill is psychotic. And now camels are going to go through this? Just stop.
Thank you for posting what I was thinking when I read this.
thank you!! someone had to say it, is even more ridiculous considering that cow milk doesn’t have any real nutritional value and does more harm than good, since the animals in the farming industry are stuffed to the gills with antibiotics and hormones
Thank you! No one should be participating in this kind of cruelty. It’s just horrifying – all of it.
Also, milk is highly terrible for you. (i.e., cancer, Parkinsons et al.)
From our friends at the Center for Science in the Public Interest and Nutrition Facts: All animal-based foods contain sex steroid hormones, such as estrogen. These hormones naturally found even in organic cow’s milk may play a role in the various associations identified between dairy products and hormone-related conditions, including acne, diminished male reproductive potential, and premature puberty. The hormone content may explain why women who drink it appear to have five times the rate of twin births compared with women who do not drink milk. When it comes to cancer, leading experts have expressed concern that the hormones in dairy and other growth factors could potentially stimulate the growth of hormone-sensitive tumors. Experimental evidence also suggests that dairy may promote the conversion of precancerous lesions or mutated cells into invasive cancers in vitro.”
There’s excellent alternatives now, clean soy, clean oat milk, nut milks that are additive free (hazelnut, cashew)
Just wanted to add that this also happens with horses. Female horses are impregnated again and again and kept in stalls to collect their urine to use in estrogen replacement treatments. The newborn foals end up in stockyards or slaughterhouses. As someone going through menopause, I won’t deny anyone their HRT. But know what questions to ask your doctor when you’re discussing options.
Neither animal’s milk is really good for human consumption. I’m sure camal farming is not much better to the environment either.
I will stick with my little oat milk making machine!
That camel picture is adorable.😍😍😍😍
I don’t care for milk in general (I like a good cheese though, go figure) and never liked drinking it as a kid. Both of my kids had to use alternative formulas/milks when they were babies and toddlers, once I stopped nursing. I figure there is a reason for this, so I just stopped with all animal based milk years ago and switched to nut or oat milk.
Then they started telling us how bad almond milk is for the environment, yikes. To be fair, I only put it in my coffee once or twice a day, so it’s not like I’m consuming a lot of it anyway. But sometimes I wish we could just go back to foraging for our food. Every time I turn around, something that was supposedly good for us is now bad for both us and the planet.
It’s nice that camel’s milk is an alternative, but I hope they don’t start treating camels the way they have cows. None of that seems healthy or beneficial for anyone involved, human or other mammal.
And you still have to take their babies away to keep them lactating. Still the cruelist thing.
First thing that came to mind was dog’s milk from Red Dwarf, no bugger’ll drink it