"Can camel milk extend life and lower blood sugar?" Which has higher nutritional value than regular milk?

Author: Li Chun, Chinese registered nutritionist

Reviewer: Ruan Guangfeng, Deputy Director of Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center

gossip

In recent years, camel milk, a "niche milk", has quietly become popular in the market. Many rumors online claim that it has high nutritional value, low fat content, and a richer taste, and is the "white gold of the desert" and "the noblest of milks". There are even many claims that "camel milk can prolong life and lower blood sugar".

So, are the health benefits and nutritional content of camel milk really as good as the legend says?

analyze

Camel milk is a good dairy product, but the nutritional difference between it and other animal milk is not big, and its calcium and iron content is even lower than cow milk. There is also a lack of strong evidence to prove that camel milk can prolong life, and its effect of helping to lower blood sugar needs further research.

High in calcium, iron, and vitamin C? Not as nutritious as milk

Camel milk is often compared to cow's milk in terms of nutrition, with many advertisements claiming: "It has a low lactose content, so people with lactose intolerance can drink it", "It has a very high vitamin C content", "It contains ten times the iron of cow's milk, so it is suitable for people with anemia"... Is this really the case?

Let’s first take a look at the data comparison between cow’s milk and camel’s milk in the “Chinese Food Composition Table”.

Data source: "Chinese Food Composition Table (Standard Edition)" 6th Edition/Volume 2

Through data comparison, I believe it is not difficult to find that the lactose content of camel milk is higher than that of cow milk, and the calcium, iron and selenium content is far lower than that of cow milk.

1. High lactose content, not suitable for people with lactose intolerance

Lactose intolerance is the reason why many friends cannot drink milk. This is mainly because the lactose in milk cannot be digested well, leading to abdominal bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea, etc. after drinking it.

The lactose content in camel milk is no less than that in cow milk. Every 100g of cow milk contains 4.9g of lactose, while camel milk contains 6.5g. Therefore, camel milk is also not suitable for people with lactose intolerance.

2. Calcium and iron are not as good as milk. Don’t trust high calcium and high iron products.

Milk is a food that is low in iron. When I saw the promotion of camel milk being “high in iron”, I was very curious about how high the iron content could be.

After checking the data, it is only 0.1 mg per 100 g, which is far from the claim that the iron content is 10 times that of milk in some propaganda. In fact, it is even lower than that of milk.

Calcium content is the key to milk nutrition. 100g of milk contains 107mg of calcium, while camel milk contains less than half of that, only 50mg. How can this be considered high in calcium? If you want to supplement calcium, it is better to drink milk.

Copyrighted stock images, no reproduction is authorized

3. If you eat normally, that little bit of VC is useless

No data on camel milk VC was found in the latest edition of the "Chinese Food Composition Table", the US Department of Agriculture Food Database, or the Japanese Food Database.

I only found some promotional articles that said camel milk has 3-5 times more VC than cow milk. But in fact, cow milk basically does not contain VC, and even if it is 3-5 times, it is not much. Besides, eating 3-4 winter dates or 1.5 kiwis can meet the VC needs of the whole day, so there is no need to drink expensive camel milk just for that little bit of VC.

It can be seen that a lot of the nutritional propaganda about camel milk is "bluffing". It is meaningless to say that it is xx times that of cow's milk without looking at the specific content.

Can it extend life? Lack of evidence

Those who say camel milk can prolong life mainly argue that there are many centenarians in Xinjiang, and Xinjiang produces camel milk, so camel milk can prolong life.

Without discussing whether the average life expectancy in Xinjiang is higher than that in other places, let's see if the above explanation is very similar to the case of "some people smoke all their lives and live long, so we conclude that smoking makes people live longer"? The author can only say that the existence of the two does not mean that there is a causal relationship.

Lowering blood sugar? It may work, but it’s not necessary

Copyrighted stock images, no reproduction is authorized

Many people buy camel milk for its blood sugar-lowering effect, which is also one of the most vocal promotions of the value of camel milk.

Some businesses claim that one liter of camel milk contains 52 units of insulin, which can help lower blood sugar and promote glucose metabolism. Is it really effective or just an exaggeration?

For this purpose, the author consulted relevant literature at home and abroad.

To be honest, according to current research, camel milk may have the effect of helping to lower blood sugar, but the quality is not high, and it still needs evidence with a larger sample size and more scientific experimental design.

In a 2017 review of 11 clinical trials, the experiments either had small sample sizes or were poorly designed. The quality of evidence that camel milk can lower blood sugar levels is not high for both type 1 and type 2, and different experiments even came to conflicting conclusions.

Diabetes guidelines at home and abroad all mention the role of a reasonable diet in controlling blood sugar. Rather than pinning your hopes on food that has yet to be proven, it is better to improve your diet structure and habits and eat every meal well, which will have a more direct effect.

The market is chaotic, don't buy randomly

Although the nutrition and efficacy of camel milk are somewhat exaggerated, as a kind of dairy product, if you like the taste of camel milk or hold the mentality of "although it has not been proven, it may be useful", and you are not short of money, you can still drink it.

However, there is currently a lack of national standards for camel milk, including camel milk powder, and there are huge differences between products. If you buy them, you must keep your eyes open.

When buying, be sure to look for products that only have camel milk in the ingredient list (left picture). If other ingredients are added in addition to camel milk, such as the one on the right, camel milk does not have as much oat and soy protein powder, so it is not recommended to choose (except for camel milk + nutrients).

Image source: Self-made (material from e-commerce platform)

in conclusion

Camel milk is a good dairy product, but it does not have any special magical effects. Considering that camel milk has no national standard and is expensive, if you really love it and have enough money, you can choose it as a milk.

References:

[1] Yang Yuexin. Chinese Food Composition Table Standard Edition, 6th Edition, Volume 2[M]. Beijing: Peking University Medical Press, 2019.

[2] Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Health Commission. (2021). Average life expectancy of residents in Xinjiang reaches 74.42 years [online]. URL: http://wjw.xinjiang.gov.cn/hfpc/xwxc1/202102/ca6fdacf22204faf9391f8d589a33481.shtml

[3] National Health Commission. (2023). Focus on the World Health Assembly | China makes these efforts to ensure “health for all” [online]. URL: http://www.nhc.gov.cn/wjw/mtbd/202305/316acc433e264ae1935f9ccb9db4cdbe.shtml

[4]MirmiranP,EjtahedHS,AngooraniP,EslamiF,AziziF.CamelMilkHasBeneficialEffectsonDiabetesMellitus:ASystemat icReview.IntJEndocrinolMetab.2017Mar11;15(2):e42150.doi:10.5812/ijem.42150.PMID:29026408;PMCID:PMC5626114.

[5] Chinese Nutrition Society. Dietary Reference Intakes of Nutrients for Chinese Residents (2023 Edition)[M]. Beijing: People's Medical Publishing House, 2023.

[6] Japanese food composition table. http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/syokuhinseibun/1365297.htm [7] US Food and Drug Administration. (2021, September 22). Camel Milk Co. LLC dba Camel Culture. Retrieved [2023, November 23], from https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/warning-letters/camel-milk-co-llc-dba-camel-culture-611518-09222021

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