A reader recently asked if camel’s milk was different from cow’s milk and if it could be considered a good Paleo alternative. He cited claims that camel’s milk is gluten free, casein free, lower in fat, and contains insulin. Periodic thepaleodiet.com contributor Pedro Bastos dug through the research to provide a side-by-side comparison of Dromedary camels (the major breed of Arabian camels) to the standard cow’s milk we can all find in the supermarket:
- Obviously camel milk is gluten free, as is any milk or meat that hasn’t been in contact with gluten containing foods. Casein is the major protein in Dromedary camel’s milk, which represents 52-87% of total protein (camel’s milk is 2.15 to 4.9% protein).1 The casein fractions and their ratios are not exactly identical to cow’s milk.1
- Fat content of Dromedary camel’s milk ranges from 1.2 to 6.4% (average: 3.5%).1 In cow’s milk, fat varies between 3,4 to 5,4%2, which is similar to camel’s milk. Nevertheless, it appears that milk from thirsty camels has a lower fat content.1
- There is indeed some evidence that camel’s milk may decrease postprandial glucose (possibly because it might contain bioavailable insulin or insulin-like molecules).1 Although this would appear beneficial, it could also have a dark side, such as causing insulin resistance when consumed in high amounts and perhaps triggering type 1 diabetes in genetically susceptible individuals (as it appears to be the case with cow’s milk3). Molecular mimicry between camel’s insulin and human insulin may be a possible cause. To my knowledge, this hasn’t been confirmed, but it is plausible, since it occurs with bovine insulin present in cow’s milk3-7.
- There is some preliminary evidence for the use of camel’s milk in Autism,8 possibly because if it is used to replace cow’s milk, the different protein fractions of both types of milk may affect Autism differently.8
- Because cow’s milk and camel’s milk do not contain the exact same protein fractions, people with allergy to cow’s milk might not react to camel’s milk.1,9
- Dromedary camel’s milk does contain lactose, which varies between 2.4 to 5.8% (average: 4.4%),1 although pasteurization may reduce it to less than 2.4%.10 Indeed, there is a study from Brazil suggesting that camel’s milk is tolerated by people with diagnosed lactose intolerance.10 However, I am skeptical of this study, since it was not a double-blind experiment and also because only clinical symptoms were analyzed,10 which is not a very reliable method to assess lactose tolerance.11
