We all know that milk is very nutritious and the calcium in it is needed for strong bones and teeth. But we are always muddled and, in a conundrum, when it comes to choosing between cow milk or buffalo milk. Well, the variants just don’t stop here, we even get goat and camel milk in the market but it’s not as popular as cow or buffalo’s milk, at least in India.
Each milk type has its own benefits and nutritional value so let’s see how Cow milk is different from Buffalo milk.
- Water: Cow milk presents high water content over buffalo milk. With less solid contents, water forms 90% of cow milk and is considered as a great alternative to keep you hydrated.
- Fat: Buffalo milk is high on fat and hence creamier and richer in taste. Fat content in cow milk is approximately 3-4% while buffalo milk has nearly double of it at 7-8%, making it heavy and keeping you fuller for a longer time while cow milk is easy to digest.
- Cholesterol: If you are suffering from any health issues like PCOD, hypertension, kidney issues or obesity, buffalo milk is for you as its low on cholesterol content of 0.65 mg/g, while cow milk records 3.14 mg/g of cholesterol.
- Preservation: Buffalo milk has a longer shelf life compared to cow milk as it has high peroxidase activity, which is a kind of enzyme. Cow milk needs to be consumed within 1-2 days’ time.
- Protein: Buffalo milk has around 10-11% more protein compared to cow milk, making it more difficult to digest. This is one of the reasons why they say no buffalo milk for babies.
- Calories: With higher protein and fat content, buffalo milk for sure has more calories of the two. Every 100ml of buffalo milk has 100kcals while cow milk has just 70kcals.
- Color: Cow milk is more yellowish in color. The Beta- carotene pigment present in buffalo milk gets converted to colorless Vitamin- A, which gives it a creamy white texture.
For elderly people and child, cow milk is more apt as it’s easy to digest but again due to 90% being just water, its loosing on the nutrients part. However, its low fat, protein and calorie count makes it perfect for weight watchers. On the flip side, if you wish to strengthen your bones and are looking at gaining weight, buffalo milk is for you. Also, it aids sound sleep at night.
Food made with buffalo milk that tastes better is dahi (curd), paneer (cottage cheese), kheer, payasam, Ghee and malai kulfi and cow milk being less creamy is better for other sweets.
So, after knowing their color, texture and consistency difference, you can tell the two milk’s apart. However, both these variants have their own benefits and you need to choose your preference based on your requirement. Add coco to make a cup of hot chocolate as you cuddle up before your sleep or add it in your coffee or tea or drink it plain , but make sure you enjoy it and make it a part of your daily routine.
15 replies on “Cow⁹ Milk v/s Buffalo Milk”
Excellent knowledge sharing on nutrition
Thank you
Many pointers here were new to me, like I didn’t knew that Buffalo milk is low in Cholesterol . Yes both milks have their own benefits.
We only het Cow’s milk here. And I really miss chai or coffee made with buffalo milk. I agree, food made with buffalo milk is much tastier.
personally I love Buffalo milk.. thats what I had as a kid.. and for kiaaj I keep changing sometimes cow, sometimes buffalo sometimes nom dairy.. one of the reason being cowl milk hampers iron absorption .. so one must take into consideration
Thanks a lot for explaining the difference in so many parameters for us to understand it very well. I personally like buffalo milk and like the things made with it. Can you also share in a blogpost about the low fat , tone and double tone milk packets and what are pros and cons of each.
Hey… sure I will do a blog on that soon too
I have never bad buffalo milk in my life. We drink cows milk only in Kerala. But from your post I could see how healthy buffalo molk is. Thanks for the information
Buffalo milk is the best for cholesterol control. The cows milk vs buffalo milk debate has always been there. Your post has analyses the pros and cons of both in detail
This is a helpful Post with a lot of information around something that we see commonly but don’t know which is the best to choose
Although cow milk has many benefits I prefer buffalo milk since it’s very creamy and I can make fresh batches of homemade ghee every 10 days. Also, buffalo milk tastes so much better!
This debate has always been on, but I feel that both are good for their own purposes. Like we use cow’s milk for ghee and use buffalo milk for shakea and tea.
There are different schools of thought when it comes to dairy products and especially milk, but we prefer our daily consumption in the form of tea or masala milk, etc. We now use buffalo’s milk, earlier were consuming cows.
This is such a simple and perfect way you have differentiated between both kinds of milk, which usually makes parents more confusing which one to get for kids and everyone at home!!
My family has always preferred buffalo milk die to the richer taste and the better milk products. Tea made with buffalo milk tastes much better as well.