This is the second of my recent experiments with replacements for cow’s milk. This time the replacement isn’t plant-based, but instead I’ve been trying out goat’s milk products from St Helens Farm.
St Helens asked me if I would try replacing my regular dairy with produce made from Goats milk and report on how it made me feel. Goat milk is lower in lactose, contains less allergenic proteins and smaller fat globules that may make it easier to digest. People with an intolerance to cows milk reportedly often see a reduction in symptoms such as asthma, eczema and catarrh.
The hamper that arrived was full of amazing goodies, butter, cheese, milk and yoghurt, enough to replace any kind of dairy I had been consuming! It also came with some cute mugs to drink my morning coffee in and a beanie baby goat that in truly original fashion I am calling Goaty McGoatface.
I replaced all my cow’s milk dairy with goats produce for a full 2 weeks to give it the best chance to see if it made any difference to my digestive system and small issues I occasionally have like catarrh.
Some of the products from the basket mysteriously disappeared before I even got to try them, so I can tell you that Mr Chick at least found the soft goats cheese delicious. The hard goats cheese was lovely, slightly tangier than cows cheese and paler in colour.
The large pots of yoghurt were delicious in smoothies, or as a topping on dessert.
Massive winner, though, was these little flavoured yoghurt dessert pots. They were totally delicious, rich and creamy, an I will be hunting them down again!
I am asthmatic and I do suffer from catarrh. Sometimes it is worse than others, and I often wonder if dairy exacerbates it. I did feel like I had less issues in the 2 weeks I was using goat milk products, but obviously this isn’t a controlled experiment, so I can’t say for sure whether there is a relationship. As for bloating and digestive issues that I occasionally suffer from, I can’t say I felt there was much difference after the switch to goats milk personally, but it’s worth a try if it’s something you suffer from!
I’d be perfectly happy to make the switch to goats milk permanently. I thought the milk was creamy and delicious in smoothies and I’ll certainly be taking a closer look at the alternatives available to regular cows milk products from now on. I think we tend to just grab what we’re used to and unless we have a definite health problem its easy to forget about the alternatives.
You can find out more about St Helens Farm and the products that are available on their website.
