Invited review: Human, cow, and donkey milk comparison: Focus on metabolic effects

Milk is an important food of the daily diet. Many countries include it in their dietary recommendations due to its content in several important nutrients that exert beneficial effects on human health. Human milk is a newborn's first food and plays an important role in the growth, development, a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of dairy science 2023-05, Vol.106 (5), p.3072-3085
Main Authors: Cimmino, F., Catapano, A., Villano, I., Di Maio, G., Petrella, L., Traina, G., Pizzella, A., Tudisco, R., Cavaliere, G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Allergens
Animals
Cattle
cow milk
Diet
donkey milk
Equidae
Female
human milk
Humans
metabolic effects
Milk
Milk, Human
Nutrients
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Summary:Milk is an important food of the daily diet. Many countries include it in their dietary recommendations due to its content in several important nutrients that exert beneficial effects on human health. Human milk is a newborn's first food and plays an important role in the growth, development, and future health of every individual. Cow milk is the type of milk most consumed in the world. However, its relatively high content of saturated fats raises concerns about potential adverse effects on human health, although epidemiological studies have disproved this association. Indeed, dairy consumption appear to be linked to a lower risk of mortality and major cardiovascular disease events. In the last few years many researchers have begun to focus their attention on both the production and quality of cow milk as well as the analysis of milk from other animal species to evaluate their effect on human health. The need to investigate the composition and metabolic effects of milk from other animal species arises from the adverse reactions of individuals in several groups to certain components of cow milk. It has emerged that donkey milk compared with that of other animal species, is the nearest to human milk and an excellent substitute for it. Milk from various animal species shows substantial differences in nutritional composition and distinct metabolic effects. In this review, we discussed the main compositional features and metabolic effects of 3 types of milk: human, cow, and donkey milk. [Display omitted]
ISSN:0022-0302
1525-3198
DOI:10.3168/jds.2022-22465