Nowadays the vast majority of the United States and other developed countries are moving away from cow and goat’s milk and instead are turning towards the use of plant-based milks.
There may be some reasons for the change-over, and there are some people who may have been born with a genetic weakness and therefore are not able to digest animal milk. But if that is not the case, and the person isn’t suffering from congestion, then I’d like to make an argument for the use of cow’s or goat’s milk if at all possible.
But first, let’s take a look at why slowly over the past several decades people have moved away from animal milks and more into the use of plant-based milks.
The first reason is that as more pharmaceuticals became popular which disturb the gut microbiome and the liver, people slowly lost the ability to digest animal milk since the protein in gluten and dairy are the two most difficult to digest, and unless your digestion is working well, these two foods are the first to become problematic. Which explains why there is such a large segment of the population also sensitive to gluten. So if you have ever taken antibiotics, birth control pills, steroids, acid reflux medicines and many other medications, then you have definitely disturbed both the gut and the liver, the seat of your digestion.
In this case, you must fix your digestion and then you should be able to go back to animal-based milks. It usually takes about a year or two working with a good Ayurvedic physician who is experienced in fixing your digestion after taking these medications.
Many people claim that milk is inflammatory. It actually isn’t – what is happening is that if the gut and liver are off in the way I just described, then the digestive tract turns the milk into ama visha – a hot and inflammatory toxin. It’s not that the milk is inflammatory, but it is turning into a toxic inflammatory substance in the body from its improper digestion. Again, in this case you must fix the digestion so that the milk digests properly, and then it will alkalinize the body.
The next reason people turned away from animal milk is because we didn’t know the best kind of milk to purchase and we also didn’t know the correct way to take it.
First, grass-fed cows produce milk with more omega-3’s compared to grain-fed cows. It is estimated that only 1% of dairy cows are fully grass-fed, so you need to seek it out. Luckily, it is more readily available nowadays than it was just a few decades ago.
Second, when you milk a cow and you let the milk sit, the cream rises to the top. This is called non-homogenized milk and this is the way nature intended it. The homogenization breaks the fat globules into tiny particles but now the fat in the milk and the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, are more susceptible to oxidation.
In some people the smaller fat globules interact differently with our body’s digestive enzymes, which is why some people with existing sensitivities feel worse on homogenized milk. They report more bloating, mucus production and stomach discomfort. The possible reasons for this are because the smaller fat droplets bind differently to proteins and digestive enzymes and the milk empties from the stomach slightly faster, changing the timing of digestion.
Next, most people don’t know that milk should be boiled before you drink it. In Ayurveda we recommend boiling the milk for many reasons: it makes it less mucus-forming, it reduces its heaviness as it reduces its kapha-promoting qualities, making it easier for our agni or digestive fire to process and assimilate it. Boiling the milk breaks the fat molecules down into very small particles for better absorption and assimilation into our cells and it can kill any harmful microbes in the milk, especially if the milk is raw.
Most people who consume milk cold will become congested as it sits stuck in the body’s physical channels, clogging them. Channels such as the throat, sinuses, lungs and ears.
Ayurveda uses milk as a carrier, (known as an “anupana”) for spices such as turmeric, cinnamon and cardamom, which means it carries them through the fatty cell wall and into the cells for better absorption, plus the milk reduces the possible digestive irritation from the spices.
For example, turmeric is very heating and creates upset in the liver, which is already a very hot organ by nature. But by cooking the turmeric into the milk, it will reduce the heating quality of the turmeric.
Plus, the absorption of curcumin, the active ingredient in the turmeric, vastly improves by heating the milk. This is because curcumin is fat soluble and is poorly absorbed in its raw powder form. It needs both heat and fat to be absorbed into the cells.
In fact, research has shown that curcumin dissolves very poorly in cold water or cold milk. But when heated its solubility increases up to 10-12x in hot liquids, and at the same time the compound becomes more bioactive, which means it is better dispersed and less clumped. Curcumin absorption improves 4-5x when combined with fats because curcumin binds to fat micelles, which escort it through the intestinal wall. Full fat milk does this naturally. Low fat milk does this less effectively.
Micelles are tiny, organized clusters of molecules that form in liquids when the molecules have both water-loving (hydrophilic) and fat-loving (hydrophobic) parts. They act like little carriers that can trap fat-soluble substances helping them dissolve in water based environments like our digestive systems.
The micelle has a hydrophilic head which interacts with water and a hydrophobic tail which interacts with fat-soluble molecules. This arrangement makes substances that normally don’t dissolve in water (like the curcumin in turmeric or the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K) mixable in watery environments like your intestines.
The bile salts released from the liver form micelles in the small intestines. These micelles trap dietary fats and fat-soluble nutrients. This allows enzymes like lipase to break down fats efficiently and for nutrients to be absorbed into our cells.
So micelles are important because they increase absorption of fat-soluble nutrients, and without micelles, these compounds would mostly pass through the digestive tract without being absorbed into the bloodstream.
Milk fat globules act like natural micelles emulsifying fats and helping the fat-soluble compounds to be absorbed.
A simple analogy would be to think of a micelle like a tiny cargo ship in water: the outside is friendly to water (hydrophilic) and the inside hides the fat-soluble cargo (hydrophobic). It carries it safely through a watery environment until it can be absorbed.
And back to our turmeric analogy: when you mix turmeric with milk the curcumin gets trapped inside the fat micelle, then the micelles travel through the watery environment of your gut, where the enzymes and bile can then help deliver the curcumin into your intestinal cells, increasing its absorption 10-20x more than turmeric in water.
Boiling the milk helps disperse the curcumin evenly into the micelles by preventing the clumping and ensuring more curcumin is “carried” efficiently.
The bottom line here is that milk acts like a natural delivery system. Its micelle carries curcumin safely through your watery intestines, making it much more bioavailable. Plant-based milks don’t have enough fat to form micelle-like structures.
Let this be a reminder to those of you who are taking turmeric or even worse, curcumin supplements. You’re not only wasting your time, but you are aggravating the liver since powdered turmeric is an irritant to the liver.
A 2023 study measuring plasma levels of curcumin, researchers found that after taking curcumin supplements the resulting blood concentrations were “still significantly below what would likely be required for a therapeutic effect.” The researchers stated this is due to the fact that curcumin is poorly soluble and unstable in the body, limiting its clinical potential when taken as a supplement.
They even went so far as to state that excessive curcumin intake may even have adverse effects on organ systems. They concluded that curcumin is poorly absorbed after oral ingestion. Very little enters the bloodstream and what does may be metabolized before it can act.
Rice milk, low fat almond milk, cashew milk with less than 2% nuts and water-based milks do not have enough fat to carry curcumin into the cells effectively.
And this same idea can be applied to foods that we cook into milk. For example, cooking oatmeal with milk helps absorb any beta-carotene (a fat-soluble vitamin) into the cells more than just boiling oats in water.
And, Ayurvedically speaking, animal milk (especially warm cow’s milk) balances Vata much more effectively than plant-based milks because of its unique combination of qualities (or gunas) that directly counter Vata’s nature.
Vata is one of the three doshas which need to be balanced at all times within our physiologies. To balance these doshas, if they become elevated, you must do the opposite. For example, Vata is cold, light, dry and quick. To balance it then, foods must be warm, nourishing, unctuous (oily) and heavy or grounding. Animal milk, especially cow’s milk naturally contains all of these qualities. Plant-based milks usually do not.
Cow’s milk is naturally “Vata-pacifying” because of its qualities: it is unctuous, heavy, has a sweet taste and mentally calming or sattvic. Plant-based milks tend to be light, dry, less nourishing, less oily and not as sattvic. In fact, warm cow’s milk is perhaps THE most Vata-pacifying food.
Most plant milks contain 90-97% water, very little natural fat, may have stabilizers, gums and emulsifiers and lower nutrient density overall. Ayurveda considers these qualities light and airy, which can increase Vata if used regularly. Even nut milks, unless made very thick and fresh, don’t match the unctuousness of boiled cow’s milk.
Babies can survive on animal milk – mother’s milk, cow’s or goat’s milk – but they cannot safely survive or thrive when given solely plant-based milk during the first year of life. Just giving a baby only almond milk, oat milk, rice, coconut milk, etc. can be dangerous for infants and can lead to severe malnutrition if given other than in a formula or with the addition of some animal or breast milk.
They are too low in calories, too low in protein, too low in essential fats and are missing critical nutrients like Vitamin B12, iron, iodine, DHA and calcium. They do not support brain development or immune system development the way breastmilk or infant formulas can.
Animal milk is the only food that can make Ojas in one day. All other foods take about a month to siphon through the 7 tissues (blood plasma, blood, muscle, fat, bone, bone marrow, and reproductive fluids). Ojas is made at the end of the 7th tissue. All foods, except animal milk, spend 3-5 days in a tissue, nourishing it, before moving onto the next tissue.
But cow and goat’s milk can make Ojas in one day.
Ojas is the subtle essence of all bodily tissues, which gives us vitality, strength, immunity to diseases and mental clarity. Foods that build Ojas are nourishing, heavy, unctuous, sweet and calming. Milk, especially cow’s milk, is considered one of the best ojas-producing foods.
Plant-based milks, by contrast are generally less Ojas-promoting because they are light, diluted with 90-97% water, low in fat or protein, which means they are less unctuous and are processed or fortified and not naturally nourishing.
And I think the final reason so many have switched away from animal milk is that we’ve been told since we’ve been born that cholesterol is bad for us. Let’s define this a little better. The real issue is that we don’t want to clog our arteries. And while yes, there are some foods which contain animal protein which could clog your arteries and other physical channels, such as red meats, hard aged cheeses, and cold dairy products, there are some foods which have no cholesterol which could also clog the arteries and other channels. Foods such as nut butters, tofu, edamame, soy milk, chocolate, winter squashes, artificial vegan cheeses and margarines, and other processed foods.
And then there are foods such as ghee and boiled good quality milk which I’ve just described, which do not clog the arteries or other channels of the body. Could ghee and whole cow’s milk make your cholesterol go up? Yes, but they will not clog your arteries. We must learn to make this distinction. Clarifying the butter and boiling the milk ensures adequate absorption out of the channels and into our cells, keeping our arteries nice and clean.
I talk about this issue in greater detail in my upcoming book on raising healthy children Ayurvedically, due out sometime in 2026. Stay tuned for more details.