3.28.2009

Guernsey - Gorgeous Island, Great Cows


I just finished reading a very good book called "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society." The book makes one fall in love with the Channel Island, so afterwards I spent some time looking at Guernsey online. Along the way, I discovered that there are all sorts of benefits to Guernsey cows that I never knew of.

I already knew that milk from Jersey and Guernsey cows is naturally much lower in hormones than that of Holsteins. The raw milk we drink comes from Jersey cows. And I also knew that they were, in my opinion, the prettiest cows. What I did not know is this:

Guernsey milk contains 12% more protein, 30% more cream, 33% more vitamin D, 25% more vitamin A and 15% more calcium than average milk. Also, 96% of Guernsey cows produce only A2 Beta Casein protein milk, compared with most cows which make primarily A1 milk, and Jerseys whose milk contains about 40-50% A2 protein. The A2 protein has been touted in recent studies to benefit milk allergies, lactose intolerance, heart disease, and even autism. Guernsey milk produces a better curd for cheese making, converts more feed to milk than Holsteins, matures earlier but lives and produces milk longer.

And, of course, they are just very, very cute!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think the A2 potential benefits in Guernsey milk is very exciting and hopefully some sort of serious research will be sorted really soon. Check out www.guernseya2milk.com as full of information around the A2 thing.