❤️ Digestion

Digestion is how the body breaks down food and takes in what is useful from it. Milk is digested differently by different people, and it depends on the kind of milk. Three things matter here: lactose, the protein casein and the size of the fat globules.

Lactose is milk sugar. To digest it, you need the enzyme lactase. If you have too little of it, you get bloating and stomach pain. This is lactose intolerance. Casein clots into a curd in the stomach. Cow's milk forms a firmer curd. Human milk forms a soft, loose one, because it has less casein. Small fat globules, like those in goat's milk, are easier for enzymes to reach. But scientists say there is still little evidence that goat's or camel's milk is digested noticeably better.

Fermented milk products are usually easier to tolerate than milk. The starter bacteria have already eaten part of the lactose. The FDA says this effect of yogurt comes from live cultures, not from “living” raw milk. Breast milk contains special sugars called oligosaccharides. They do not feed the baby directly; instead they feed the helpful bacteria in its gut.