Animal milk is one of the most nourishing foods on the planet and a staple of the human diet. It contains all the vitamins and minerals necessary to sustain growth and development in a young animal. As a result, it provides almost every single nutrient needed by humans.
While 85% of the world’s milk supply comes from cows, there are plenty of areas where cattle can’t survive. In regions like these, communities rely on other animals for their dairy supply. One-third of milk production in developing countries comes from buffaloes, goats, camels, and sheep.
Some of these alternatives, like camel and goat milk, have started to emerge in the U.S. because of their nutritional benefits and easier digestibility. For people with cow milk allergies, drinking non-bovine milks is a safe and often essential way to satisfy nutritional requirements.
Whether you’re reading out of health reasons, curiosity, or adventurousness, you’ll find there’s so much more to the dairy world than just the cow. Listed in order of percentage of global milk consumption, these milks are consumed by people around the globe.
1. Cow Milk
Percent of global milk supply: 85%.
Popular regions: global.
Taste: mild and sweet.
Color: slightly yellow.
Composition: 4.5% fat, 3.7% protein, and 4.9% lactose.
Among the 6,000+ mammalian species, how has the cow become our go-to animal for milk? It’s simply because cows are the most productive animal for milk production. They produce a large quantity of milk at once, making them much easier to handle–would you rather milk 5,000 mice or one cow?
Cows are herd animals and like being in groups, which makes them easier to manage as a group. Their docile dispositions make them easy to confine, a quality especially important for mass production. Other animals, like goats and sheep, like to run around a lot and are harder to control.
The zebu, otherwise known as humped cattle, is a sub-species of domestic cattle with high resistance to difficult living conditions: tropical heat, poor feed quality, and parasites. This makes them popular in regions like South Asia and South America. Their milk is very similar to typical cow milk and doesn’t have any major nutritional differences.
2. Buffalo Milk
Percent of global milk supply: 15%.
Popular regions: Central Asia, East Asia, and South Asia.
Composition: 7.3% fat, 3.8% protein, and 5.2% lactose.
Taste: creamy, mild, and nutty.
Color: white.
About 97% of buffaloes are found in Asia and the remaining 3% in the rest of the world. In countries like India and Pakistan, the buffalo is the main dairy animal. Compared to cow milk, buffalo milk is a richer source of fat, protein, lactose, and minerals. A lot of people prefer buffalo milk over cow milk for its higher flavor content and creamier texture.
Since buffalo milk has larger fat globules than cow milk, buffalo milk is harder to digest. In fact, buffalo milk has the largest fat particles of the commonly consumed milks. So if you are experiencing digestive issues with cow milk, it’s best to stay away from buffalo milk.
Buffalo milk is nearly twice as rich in fat as cow milk, and therefore yields more cream, butter, and cheese. Despite its fat content, their milk is whiter because they are more effective at converting beta-carotene (an antioxidant with a distinctive yellow color) into vitamin A.
3. Goat Milk
Percent of global milk supply: 2%.
Popular regions: the Mediterranean and Europe.
Taste: tangy and “goaty”.
Color: white.
Composition: 4.1% fat, 3.7% protein, and 4.2% lactose.
The goat is one of the most versatile domestic animals, able to adapt to both arid and humid conditions, hot and cold climates, and desert and mountain biomes. Popularly known as the “poor man’s cow”, goats are often raised by rural people in harsh environments.
Being relatively similar to cow milk in terms of fat and protein content, goat milk has been recommended as an ideal substitute for patients who suffer from cow milk allergies. Around 70% of people allergic to cow milk tolerate goat milk well.
The smaller fat globules of goat milk reduce its creaming ability but make it easier to digest. And unlike cow milk, goat milk does not contain agglutinin proteins–proteins that cause fat globules to cluster. Without agglutinin, the fat globules don’t cluster, so they’re easier to digest. Goat milk’s lower lactose content further adds to its digestibility.
Goat milk is lower in vitamin B9 and vitamin B12 but higher in vitamin A compared to cow milk. Goat milk also outperforms cow milk in the amount of prebiotics, which are carbohydrates that nourish the beneficial gut bacteria.
4. Sheep Milk
Percent of global milk supply: 1%.
Popular regions: the Mediterranean, East Asia, and the Middle East.
Taste: creamy and slightly sweet.
Color: white with a hint of yellow.
Composition: 7.1% fat, 5.7% protein, and 4.6% lactose.
Sheep have been raised for milk for thousands of years and were milked before cows. The countries of the Mediterranean are the world’s biggest producers, and the exceptionally long lives of Bulgarian shepherds is often attributed to their consumption of sheep milk.
Sheep milk is highly nutritious, richer in vitamin A, the vitamin B complex, vitamin C, vitamin D, and vitamin E than cow milk. It beats cow milk again when it comes to minerals like calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and zinc. It also contains a higher concentration of all 9 essential amino acids.
While sheep milk contains a similar amount of lactose to cow milk, it has a much higher proportion of medium-chain and short-chain fatty acids which aid in the absorption of lactose. So, many people who have cow milk sensitivities find sheep milk to be more digestible.
In addition, the fat globules in sheep milk are smaller than the fat globules in cow milk, making sheep milk more easily digested. Because of these smaller fat globules, sheep milk is naturally homogenized (the cream does not separate), making the milk extraordinarily creamy.
5. Camel Milk
Percent of global milk supply: 0.5%.
Popular regions: the Middle East, North Africa, East Africa, and West Africa.
Taste: sweet and salty.
Color: white.
Composition: 3.5% fat, 3.1% protein, and 4.4% lactose.
Camels support the survival of millions of people in arid and semi-arid areas of the world. Bedouins, nomads, and pastoral cultures around the world have relished camel milk for thousands of years.
Camel milk is richer than cow milk in niacin, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and copper. In particular, camel milk has five times the amount of Vitamin C and 10 times more iron. With its immune factors and growth promoters, camel milk is a close substitute to human milk.
Having the smallest fat globules of the commonly consumed milks, camel milk is hard to make into butter or cheese. However, the small fat globules make the milk easy to digest. The milk also contains only A2 beta-casein proteins, rather than inflammatory A1 beta-casein proteins, making it easier on the stomach than cow milk.
6. Yak Milk
Percent of global milk supply: <0.5%.
Popular regions: Central Asia, East Asia, and North Asia.
Taste: sweet and creamy.
Color: pink or light yellow.
Composition: 6.8% fat, 5.3% protein, and 5.5% lactose.
The yak is regarded as one of the world’s most remarkable domestic animals, thriving in conditions of extreme harshness and deprivation. It lives predominantly in treeless, high-altitude uplands. About 95% of yaks are in the Tibetan Plateau which is known as the “roof of the world”.
Yaks produce milk tinted with blood right after they give birth. This pink milk is called "beastings”. As the calves grow up, the milk gradually becomes whiter in color. Curiously, yak milk has a sweet aroma to it.
Gram for gram, yak milk contains more protein, vitamin A, omega-3 fatty acids, calcium, and iron than cow milk. Additionally, it contains higher levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a type of fat with numerous recognized health benefits.
7. Horse Milk
Percent of global milk supply: <0.5%.
Popular regions: Europe, Central Asia, East Asia, and North Asia.
Taste: sweet and nutty.
Color: white.
Composition: 1.2% fat, 2.1% protein, and 6.4% lactose.
With a history of more than 2000 years, horse milk has had a real impact on the health and well-being of many people in history. Horse milk is important to many cultures and remains a key part of natural healing in certain regions.
Due to the milk’s high content of lactose, the milk can be transformed into an alcoholic beverage by fermentation. Commonly consumed as a fermented drink, kumis (fermented horse milk) has been popular for centuries among the people of the Central Asian steppes.
Mare milk has a similar composition to human milk, so most babies with cow or buffalo milk allergies respond well to horse milk. For a long time, it was used as a milk substitute for maternity hospitals in France. The milk is also higher in vitamin A, the vitamin B complex, vitamin C, and vitamin E than cow milk.
Besides its nutritive qualities, horse milk improves digestion, the immune system, and the skin.
Horse milk is uniquely rich in lysozyme, while only traces of this enzyme are found in cow milk. This antimicrobial enzyme limits the growth of unwanted bacteria in the gut, while the high concentration of lactose allows for better growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut, leading to an improved digestive system.
Increasing the beneficial microbes in the gut is an essential factor in reducing allergic reactions (inappropriate immune responses). Horse milk further improves the immune system as the milk is high in a variety of antibodies and immune-boosting proteins.
The milk is great for the skin too. Mare’s milk tackles skin conditions from the inside out at the source of the issue, instead of suppressing just the external symptoms like topical treatments do. The essential ingredient in horse milk is lactoferrin, an anti-inflammatory protein also found in breast milk that reduces skin issues.
Mare milk has been proven to play a role curing Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, hepatitis, blood disorders, depression, and a variety of other ailments. It has also been found to be a candidate in the treatment of cancer, as the casein in the milk is toxic to breast cancer cells.
8. Donkey Milk
Percent of global milk supply: <0.5%
Popular regions: Europe, Central Asia, East Asia, and North Asia.
Taste: light and sweet.
Color: white.
Composition: 1.2% fat, 2.1% protein, and 5.9% lactose.
Donkey milk is nothing new–Hipppocrates wrote about the medicinal use of donkey milk and prescribed it for numerous conditions including poisoning, fevers, infectious diseases, battle wounds, and liver issues. Cleopatra supposedly took a daily bath in milk supplied by a herd of some 700 lactating donkeys.
It’s similar to horse milk in terms of composition. Compared with milk from other dairy animals like cows, goats, sheep, buffalo, and camels, donkey milk most closely resembles human breast milk.
Compared with the protein in cow milk, which has about five times more casein than whey, the protein in donkey milk has roughly equal parts casein and whey. Given the milk’s significantly lower casein content, many people with a cow milk allergy can tolerate donkey milk.
Donkey milk has a long history of medicinal uses. Like horse milk, donkey milk is rich in lactoferrin and lysozyme, two proteins with strong antimicrobial properties. It is used as a folk medicine treatment for infections, and research has shown the milk upregulates the human immune system function.
You’ll find donkey milk in cosmetics too, and for good reasons. The proteins in donkey milk have the ability to attract and hold water, which makes it an excellent moisturizer. In addition, the lactic acid found in donkey milk removes old skin cells and speeds up cell renewal.
9. Reindeer Milk
Percent of global milk supply: <0.5%.
Popular regions: North Asia and North Europe.
Taste: creamy and mild.
Color: white.
Composition: 15.4% fat, 9.9% protein, and 2.5% lactose.
The reindeer is essential for the economy and wellbeing of people in the taiga regions. Reindeer are the main source of dairy in such areas because no other dairy animals can survive there. They are the only deer species to be widely domesticated.
Reindeer milk is intensely creamy and reminiscent of condensed milk, at roughly 15.4% milkfat (compared to the 4.5% milkfat for cow milk). Reindeer milk surpasses cow milk in magnesium, potassium, calcium, and phosphorus, and has double the level of vitamin K and several times the level of vitamin D. Its low lactose content makes it well-suited for the indigenous reindeer herders who are lactose-intolerant.
10. Moose Milk
Percent of global milk supply: <0.5%.
Popular regions: North Asia and North Europe.
Taste: creamy and mild.
Color: white.
Composition: 8.6% fat, 10.5% protein, and 2.6% lactose.
Similar to the reindeer, the moose thrives in the taiga biome and supports the communities in those regions. Moose have not been domesticated because they’re incredibly expensive to keep fed– they don’t eat grass and need acres of forested land to browse for the 300+ plant species they eat.
Collecting moose milk is a unique process. The farm lets the moose spend most of their time freely grazing in the forests surrounding the area. During calving season (late May to early June), they return to the farm (lured by tasty oats) to have their young.
Moose milk contains the highest amount of minerals in comparison to all the commonly consumed milks. It is perhaps for this reason it is consumed as medicine by the elderly and ill for its immune-boosting properties.
Honorable Mentions
- Elk
- Musk ox
- Alpaca
- Llama
There are elk, musk ox, alpaca, and llama farms, but these animals aren’t bred for dairy purposes. Though they currently produce a negligible amount of milk for human consumption, these animals have the capability to become a valuable dairy resource if the need and opportunity arises.
Bonus
Of the thousands of mammalian species, the milk of at least 194 species has been studied. The animals that have been studied more extensively include antelope (impala and pronghorn), baboon, bear (grizzly and polar), bison, cat, chimpanzee, coyote, deer, dog, dolphin, elephant, fox, giraffe, guinea pig, kangaroo, mink, monkey, mouse, opossum, pig, rabbit, rat, sea lion, seal (gray and hooded), swine, whale, and zebra.
Polar bear and pinniped (seal and walrus) milks have the highest protein concentration. Moose and polar bear milk have the lowest lactose concentration. Pinniped milk has the highest fat concentration (54% compared with 4.5% in cow milk).
Why don’t we drink milk from these animals? Reason 1: they’re difficult to domesticate. Try domesticating a bear. Reason 2: it’s not practical. I wonder how you’ll go about milking a dolphin. Reason 3: it’s hard to milk them. When pigs are lactating, they get very aggressive and won’t let you get near them.
Taste Them All
No matter what type of animal milk you drink, it is one of the healthiest things you can put in your body. Being purposely designed to sustain life like no other food, milk is a complete and nourishing food source. Not to mention, it tastes absolutely amazing.
If you ever tire of cow milk, there’s so much more to explore. Consider adding one of these milks to your bucket list!
Milk: it does a body good.