What’s in goat milk that raises platelet count? NDRI at it

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, October 13

Several doctors recommend goat milk to dengue patients to increase blood platelets. What’s in it that enhance their count?

This is the subject of study of scientists at National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) here.

They are working on a project “Profiling of milk proteome in different species of farm animals and comparative evaluation of host defence proteins”, said Dr AK Srivastava, Director, NDRI.

“It is yet to be determined which factors of goat milk are responsible for enhancing platelets. Soon, we will have evidence to prove goat milk is beneficial to dengue patients,” he told The Tribune.

A three-month experiment on rats showed goat milk significantly decreased triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), known as “bad” cholesterol, and increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), known as “good” cholesterol, Srivastava said.

The research brought out that goat milk decreased cholesterol in liver and increased cholesterol excretion in faeces.

Besides having nutritional value, goat milk has medicinal properties. “People who suffer from lactose intolerance can digest goat milk better than cow milk,” he said.

The NDRI Director said goats were among the first animals to be domesticated and they were considered poor person’s cow, and ensured livelihood for over 5 million households in India.

The country ranks second in terms of goat population, Srivastava said, adding “globally, goats contribute to about 2 per cent of milk production. In India, their contribution is double”.