Nutritional Facts on Goat's Milk

With the specter of osteoporosis hanging over your head as you age, getting enough calcium in your diet is critically important to avoid the condition, and drinking goat's milk can help. An excellent source of this mineral, goat's milk has a variety of other nutritional benefits as well. While commonly found made into tangy goat cheese, this type of milk may be used as an alternative to cow's milk for drinking, baking, yogurt production and more.

Nutrition Basics

Goat's milk provides 168 calories and 10.1 g of fat per 1-cup serving. In comparison to cow's milk, this is slightly more calories and fat -- a 1-cup portion of whole fat cow's milk contains 149 calories and 7.9 g of fat. Quite a bit of the fat in one serving of goat's milk derives from saturated fat: 6.5 g. You should avoid consuming more than 15 g of saturated fat each day. Goat's milk is a good source of protein, with 8.7 g per cup. Each serving also provides 10.9 g of carbohydrates.

Vitamins

Including goat's milk in your diet will provide a boost in your intake of vitamin B-2, also known as riboflavin. Each serving of this milk has 20 percent of the daily recommended intake of this vitamin, based on a 2,000 calorie diet, which makes goat's milk a good choice for helping your body to effectively use vitamin B-6 and manufacture red blood cells. A serving also provides you with 10 percent or less of the vitamin A, vitamin C, thiamin, vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12, niacin, pantothenic acid and vitamin D that your body requires each day.

Minerals

Goat's milk serves up one-third of the calcium you need in your daily diet for the health of your nerves, bones, teeth, heart and muscles. It also provides you with a rich source of phosphorus -- each serving of goat's milk has 27 percent of the daily recommended intake. The phosphorus in goat's milk may also help prevent or break up kidney stones. In addition, goat's milk contains 14 percent of the potassium you need each day, as well as lesser amounts of iron, magnesium, zinc and copper.

Benefits

Drinking goat's milk is a healthy option at any age, but it has particular benefits for the elderly. Research published in the 2010 issue of the journal "Current Pharmaceutical Design" correlates the consumption of goat's milk by older people with improvements in allergies and inflammatory diseases, such as arthritis. These benefits result due to the goat's milk ability to regulate the immune system.

Health Concerns

You should only purchase goat's milk from reputable sources, and be wary of unpasteurized varieties, referred to as raw goat's milk. This is particularly important if you are immune-compromised, elderly, pregnant or very young. Raw goat's milk can transmit unhealthy bacteria, including Salmonella, Listeria and E. coli. All of these bacteria may make you sick. Consult your physician immediately if you think you have contracted a bacterial illness.