Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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Hi all,

As previously mentioned, I live in Spain and one of the great things about it are the artesanal cheese and yogurts available here... a big chain supermarket even sells raw sheep's milk cheese at unebelievable prices! Likewise I can get Goat's milk kefir at the neighborhood grocery as well.

So, my question is, do sheep and/or goat products qualify as "dairy" ? I.e. what are the differences between cheese/yogurt from these animals and from cows? Do they have different effects?

edited Jun 3 2010 at 10:18

asked Jun 3 2010 at 10:08

Joan
767●5●15

Blue -the Thrifty Mom · Accepted Answer · 2010-06-03 13:24:16Z UTC

I've had dairy goats for over 20 years and sheep for more than 10.

Regarding possible lactose intolerance, goats milk is able to be drunk by many lactose intolerant people because it's naturally homogenised and thus more easily digested. It also - like human milk - lacks the alpha S1 casein that is found in cows milk.

Any dairy is still "dairy" and so is not strictly Paleo, but if you are interested in being Lacto-Paleo (that's what I am) but are worried about lactose intolerance or casein problems, then I'd definately try the goats milk!

I have no info on the sheeps milk other than 1) they are bloody hard to milk, and 2) sheeps milk makes the Best. Feta. Evar. :)

pfw · Answer 2 · 2010-06-03 11:00:50Z UTC

In terms of paleo orthodoxy, yes, dairy is dairy regardless of the animal it comes from.

The differences are usually in the amount of lactose and type of casein, which may be significant if you are lactose intolerant or casein sensitive/allergic. However, if you are none of those things, then the only difference is in the nutrient distributions.

Basically, you have to do some self-experimentation. Cut out all dairy for a month, see if you feel better, worse or no change. Add some back in and see if you feel better, worse or no change. If you're not obviously lactose intolerant or dairy sensitive, look for stuff like mild inexplicable allergies clearing up (less sniffly, less mucus production, etc).

If there really isn't any change, then you are probably dairy adapted and can stop worrying about it :)

moksha · Answer 3 · 2011-02-18 03:15:10Z UTC

The paleo cry “do not eat dairy” is highly suspect – while paleo’s generally have a pretty good f-off attitude towards conventional wisdom, they accept conventional anthropological assumptions that our paleo pals were not smart enough or capable enough to husband animals that provided milk/dairy nutritional adjunct… very likely, they DID! - a close examination of the evidence leads to the conclusion that we very well could have and did keep at least goats – if not other mammals long into our paleo past enjoying the delectable white gold…

Check out the argument here: http://daiasolgaia.com/?p=1302 Ravi @ DaiaSolgaia.com

Marina · Answer 4 · 2010-07-19 05:52:56Z UTC

From what I understand from the nutrition labels, sheep's milk is the way to go if you're not worried about lactose intolerance. It has a bit more lactose than cow's milk, but is also higher in fat, protein and calcium. Goat's milk has less fat and less lactose.

Sweets · Answer 5 · 2011-12-19 23:43:16Z UTC

Have lactose intolerance and still reacted to goat dairy, but it took longer for the reaction to occur as compared to cow dairy. Also have salicylate intolerance; discovered if don't eat tomatoes [uber high in salicylates] my threshold reaction to any dairy is higher.

PilatesGatekeeper · Answer 6 · 2013-03-20 05:49:12Z UTC

In a paleo sense, all dairy is dairy, regardless of the source. However, even though sheep's milk is both higher in fat and lactose than cow's milk, I find I tolerate it much better than cow's milk. I still take a lactase pill just to be on the safe side, but I've never had a reaction to sheep's dairy.

Goat/Sheep Cheeses/Yogurts = Dairy?

6 Answers