Goat Milk Powder Facts
One of the most common question we often hear when it comes to baby formula is: What about goat milk powder formula? Is it really better than cow’s milk formula? And which is the best one ?
In general, goat milk formula can be a very good option for babies – especially for babies who just aren not able to tolerate cow’s milk formula well.
So Is goat milk formula healthier than cow’s milk?
The answer is simple: It depends. Goat milk can be better, but a lot of factors will determine whether it’s really better for your baby.
1 Goat milk & cow milk are similar nutritionally. Goat milk is a little bit higher in some vitamins and minerals, but cow’s milk has more folic acid and B12 than goat milk. This doesn’t matter for formula though, because all formulas are fortified and they include the right balance of vitamins & minerals to compensate for breast milk.
2 Organic standards. This is much important – but neither goat or cow milk wins here – it actually depends on the farm & the producer.
3 Tolerability. Goat milk is quite often said to be a ‘hypoallergenic’ alternative to cow’s milk as many families stated that it’s less troublesome for their babies who are sensitive to cow’s milk proteins.
4 Protein composition.
Goat milk powder formulas adapt their protein to be safe and thus make it suitable for little ones and they add whey to balance this out.
The ultimate question is: What goat milk formula is the best?
There aren’t many options available on goat’s milk formula as there are for cow’s milk. But there are a few high quality goal milk formulas. The top four that I have found are Holle Goat, NannyCare,Kabrita USA and Sammy’s Milk.
Of these formulas, Holle Goat is by far the best goat milk powder formula on the market today.
If I was going to give my own child a goat milk baby formula, I would choose the Holle Goat. Holle is unique because it contains the most beneficial type of palm oil. It is certified glyphosate-free and adds whey protein to model the whey-casein ratio of breast milk. It also adds lactose to model the carbohydrates in breastmilk (vs. maltodextrin which reduces quality formulas use). Most of all, it has no glucose syrup solids added. It has DHA/ARA added.
Holle is also offering 10% off all orders.
Here are more details on what to look for in a goat’s milk formula!
Ideally organic, or at least non-GMO/Free-range. If the milk is imported from Germany or NZ that’s even better, because you would end up with higher standards for the treatment of animals and the best processing of milk. Fact: Holle Goat milk powder is the only formula that’s officially organic.
A formula that simulates breast milk with their whey/casein ratio: to avoid all digestion issues, constipation, gas, any kind of discomfort in babies! This can be actually accomplished by: a whey/casein ratio similar to breastmilk. Since breast milk contains a lot more whey than casein – and goat milk powder also contains much more casein than whey – it’s crucial that formula adds goat whey protein.
Much Addition of lactose, to stimulate breast milk. Do you know that Breast milk contains more than one and a half times the amount of lactose as goat milk. So, it’s really essential that goat’s milk formula adds carbohydrates to meet babies’ needs.
No synthetic ingredients like taurine, L-Carnitine etc are used.
No maltodextrin or syrup solids are used.
DHA/ARA and Prebiotics added.
Plus the right composition of fatty acids (this just saves you from the time & energy to supplement yourself!) Since 20-25% of the fat in breast milk is palmitic acid, which mostly exists in a specific structure, it’s necessary that the fat in goat milk infant formula must simulate this structure.
(Note: Holle is the only formula that uses a fat blend with beta palmitate. This blend is originally designed to simulate the fat which is naturally found in breast milk. Holle does use hexane to extract their DHA/ARA, but it also assures that there is no hexane present in their final product.)
So how do the other formulas measure up?
The table below describes the best three goat milk powder formulas available on the market today. You can check on the product name to find a reliable distributor of the formula.
Nanny Care
No Non-GMO/Organic certifications, but their milk is sourced from Germany which has much higher standards than the US. There are no soy based ingredients, maltodextrin, and only two of the synthetic ingredients that I recommend avoiding. They are ranked lower than Holle because they don’t have a whey-casein ratio as close to breastmilk as Holle. Also they don’t have DHA or prebiotics added in them.
Holle Goat
This is the only officially organic formula available! Even though it’s organic, it does have a whey-casein ratio similar to breastmilk, and I have heard it can constipate babies less than Kabrita or NannyCare. It also uses maltodextrin and palm oil, which I really like. And it has DHA or prebiotics added.
Sammy’s Milk
They use molasses instead of lactose which I don’t really find much attractive – since that’s just added sugar. They had some recall a while back, so I have been a little skeptical about it. But still they are free range and Non GMO, they don’t have palm oil or soy added. Plus they don’t use hexane to extract their DHA. So it’s kind of a toss up between whether you prefer organic or non-hexane extracted DHA + no palm oil when you are comparing Sammy’s Milk to Holle!
