Would you drink human milk instead of cow's milk?

[ohko]

Okay, so the title of this thread is clickbait because ScribbleHub apparently really likes clickbait-y things. That said, it's kind of a serious question that floated into my head while I was writing one of my stories, so please give me your thoughts.

Exhibit A. Cow's milk is not ideal for humans
Evolutionarily speaking, cow's milk evolved to contain components ideal for cows, and human milk evolved to contain components ideal for humans. Despite the widespread consumption of cow's milk, there are numerous research studies that suggest that cow's milk is bad for human babies below one years old. The reason for this is that there are many proteins, minerals, and other components of cow's milk that babies can't digest well, and cows in general have tons of cow hormones in them. Young infants fed cow's milk also have a higher incidence of autoimmune disease. It is highly recommended that babies either breastfeed or drink infant formula (which is a special milk formulation that is NOT cow's milk), and google will tell you that cow's milk is bad for babies.

Although adults can drink cow's milk fine since we have stronger stomaches (minus those lactose intolerant people), the fact that cow's milk is bad for human babies is probably an indicator that cow's milk simply is not ideal for human consumption. Human milk is probably biologically better for human consumption than cow's milk.

Exhibit B. Humanized animals are becoming increasingly prevalent in the 21st Century
Humanized animals are animals that have been genetically modified to express human genes and tissues. Currently, humanized mice are already extensively used in biomedical research. The scientific field has also made a lot of progress on creating pigs that grow human hearts. The premise behind this research is that there usually aren't enough organ donors, so there's a lot of value in being able to grow a human organ inside an animal and then transplant it into the human patient.

Anyways, given the fact that this technology exists, it would actually be very reasonable for a scientist to say: "Let's engineer an animal to produce human milk".

Essentially, it would be feasible to take a cow and genetically modify it to express human milk proteins. You could also grow human mammary tissue on a cow. Within a hundred years or so, it would be perfectly reasonable to walk inside the supermarket and find a bottle of human milk that was produced from a cow. The package label would probably advertise how human milk is better for humans, and also highlight the negative aspects of cow milk.

The Poll Question:
Would you drink human milk produced from a cow? Why or why not?

 

[Deleted member 45782]

Do we count the time we drank human milk as a baby?

No to the Poll Question. No.

 

[ohko]

Do we count the time we drank human milk as a baby?

I'm mainly interested in what kind of milk you would drink as an adult!

 

[Deleted member 45782]

I'm mainly interested in what kind of milk you would drink as an adult!

goat milk. cow milk. almond milk. soybean milk.

i've not tried goat milk but i remember a nice substitute teacher in 2nd grade, said they were allergic to milk or something so only goat milk they can drink.

 

[KoyukiMegumi]

I will stick to the moo moo milk rather than the human one.

 

[Aaqil]

 

[Deleted member 45782]

AA come say your preference. Tell us your secret bro. What is your favorite milk to deep cookies in? ?

 

[NotaNuffian]

... why, why are we going one big circle back to human milk?

My answer is I don't care, as long as it is good and we all know that healthy does not equal good.

Ps. Tried cow, goat, human (when I am sevenish) milk to no issue.

Almost managed to drink horse milk, I hate my uncle from KSing during the mongolia trip.

 

[DarkeReises]

Good thing I actually read the post, cause basing it just off the poll I was thinking if we were just talking from a woman's tits(which is something I've always wanted to try, even if it isn't good, cause why the fuck not? though probably never will, even if viable) but honestly I'm with NotaNuffian as long as it's good I'd drink it, don't really care otherwise.

 

[Sabruness]

Good thing I actually read the post, cause basing it just off the poll I was thinking if we were just talking from a woman's tits(which is something I've always wanted to try, even if it isn't good, cause why the fuck not?

+1 to this.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

Human milk can transmit HIV and other diseases that humans get. Cow's milk is typically pasteurized.

Also, how did I not get tagged in this since practically everyone on the site knows I'm lactating right now?

 

[Deleted member 45782]

Also, how did I not get tagged in this since practically everyone on the site knows I'm lactating right now?

It's a secret..?

 

[RepresentingCaution]

It's a secret..?

Moms always find out sooner or later

 

[Deleted member 45782]

Moms always find out sooner or later

...

 

[ohko]

Human milk can transmit HIV and other diseases that humans get. Cow's milk is typically pasteurized.

Also, how did I not get tagged in this since practically everyone on the site knows I'm lactating right now?

To be fair, unpasteurized cow's milk is also dangerous. The CDC website has a warning about the diseases that can be transmitted and dangers of drinking unpasteurized cow's milk.

I think realistically speaking, if genetically humanized cow's milk was ever sold in a supermarket, it would absolutely also be pasteurized. You wouldn't want to drink a stranger's milk (human or animal) any more than you would want to use a stranger's toothbrush. Sterilizing commercial food products is absolutely necessary.

 

[Jemini]

The premise in the OP is off. Cow's milk is not healthy for human babies. However, once we grow older and our stomach acid goes from a PH of 5 as an infant to a PH of 2 as an adult, human milk is not exactly healthy either.

Really, most components of the nutrients in milk are the same regardless of species. A few proteins are different, but we have the machinery in our bodies to modify those proteins. The key difference between cow's milk and human milk is that cow's milk has 4% fat and human milk has almost 0% fat. If you want something closer in nature to human milk, just drink skim milk. It's cow's milk with the fat removed. In terms of how your body will react to it as an adult, it's pretty darn close to human milk.

Bottom line, the truth is that drinking milk once you are past your infant stage is unnatural for any species. Humans are about the only creatures in the world who do it, and once you are out of the infant stage you are not really doing yourself any better by drinking human milk over the milk of any other creature.

 

[ohko]

The premise in the OP is off. Cow's milk is not healthy for human babies. However, once we grow older and our stomach acid goes from a PH of 5 as an infant to a PH of 2 as an adult, human milk is not exactly healthy either.

Really, most components of the nutrients in milk are the same regardless of species. A few proteins are different, but we have the machinery in our bodies to modify those proteins. The key difference between cow's milk and human milk is that cow's milk has 4% fat and human milk has almost 0% fat. If you want something closer in nature to human milk, just drink skim milk. It's cow's milk with the fat removed. In terms of how your body will react to it as an adult, it's pretty darn close to human milk.

Bottom line, the truth is that drinking milk once you are past your infant stage is unnatural for any species. Humans are about the only creatures in the world who do it, and once you are out of the infant stage you are not really doing yourself any better by drinking human milk over the milk of any other creature.

Yup! I think you're certainly right about it not mattering so much for adults. The difference is probably similar to the degree that people talk about organic vs. non-organic milk. The hormones that cows are given do end up inside the milk, which is part of the reason why some people advocate organic milk over non-organic milk.

I think you're entirely wrong about the fat percentage though. Human milk contains more fat than cow's milk.

Refer to the wikipedia article on breast milk which has a detailed breakdown on the composition and differences of various kinds of milk.

To quote:

Comparison to other milks[edit]​

All mammalian species produce milk, but the composition of milk for each species varies widely and other kinds of milk are often very different from human breast milk. As a rule, the milk of mammals that nurse frequently (including human babies) is less rich, or more watery, than the milk of mammals whose young nurse less often. Human milk is noticeably thinner and sweeter than cow's milk.

Whole cow's milk contains too little iron, retinol, vitamin E, vitamin C, vitamin D, unsaturated fats or essential fatty acids for human babies.[65][66][67][68] Whole cow's milk also contains too much protein, sodium, potassium, phosphorus and chloride which may put a strain on an infant's immature kidneys. In addition, the proteins, fats and calcium in whole cow's milk are more difficult for an infant to digest and absorb than the ones in breast milk.[66][69][70]

 

[RaidenInfinity]

Is there catgirl milk?

 

[Biggest-Kusa-Out-There]

Where's the lactose intolerant gang?

 

[Jemini]

Yup! I think you're certainly right about it not mattering so much for adults. The difference is probably similar to the degree that people talk about organic vs. non-organic milk. The hormones that cows are given do end up inside the milk, which is part of the reason why some people advocate organic milk over non-organic milk.

I think you're entirely wrong about the fat percentage though. Human milk contains more fat than cow's milk.

Refer to the wikipedia article on breast milk which has a detailed breakdown on the composition and differences of various kinds of milk.

To quote:

I think you're reading that breakdown a bit wrong. It said human breast milk contains 4.2 grams of fat per 100 millileters. That is a little bit of a confusing read-out and hard to track in a percentage measurement, but it's not as much fat as you are reading it as. The issue is that it really throws you off due to the fact that the units are different, one measuring in a unit of weight and the other in a unit of volume. However, my gut says that you will probably find it's significantly less than the 4% you have in cow's milk.

You could also be correct that I was off about the near 0% thing. I'd just picked that up on hear-say from someone who in-turn said they'd heard it from a lactation specialist in the late 80s. (Just when they were starting to learn about why human breast milk is better than formula, contrary to the messaging of the previous era.)

But, yes, I am sticking to my guns on the point that it is irrelevant to adults. To infants, you definitely DO NOT want to give them cow's milk. That is supported by the wiki article as well. For adults though, it doesn't really matter. In fact, the article you linked stated cow's milk is richer in proteins and other nutrients. This would mean the cow's milk is actually better in that sense. It's only that a human infant does not possess the ability to digest all that stuff.