Camel’s milk - the health wonder

These days - apart from all the beggars and other persons looking for handouts because of Ramazan – there is a new lot of persons, mostly females, who ring the bell or knock on the gate incessantly when there is no electricity – the camel milk sellers. With a couple of female camels and their calves in tow, these women raucously insist you buy their milk. At Rs80 a kilo, many housewives do succumb and purchase some for their needs while others baulk at the idea and refuse point blank with a look of disgust! My maid insisted it be bought because she said it is very good for the eyesight, so she got some to take home!

Curiosity and the need to know had me searching the web. Research and shared experiences from an increasing number of persons around the world demonstrate that camel milk facilitates healing in our bodies. According to information available on the many sites devoted to camel milk and its properties, it has been proved that it heals food allergies and gut problems – the antibodies and immune properties of camel milk contributing to its viral and bacterial fighting abilities; it contains insulin and is effective in diabetes, including the gestational variety. Since children with autism routinely have immune system challenges: inability to fight bacterial, viral and other infections and states of chronic inflammation, allergy, and autoimmunity, camel milk has promising health and healing benefits.

A large part of camel milk’s healing power stems from the unique and hardy immune system of camels. Camel milk is highly nutritious and contains only 2% fat, the molecules of which are joined to protein, so there is no stress on the liver to process it. Being higher in some nutrients and lower in others, camel milk is rich in vitamin C, iron and calcium. It is considered a complete food and can be consumed exclusively while meeting all nutritional requirements and should be consumed raw and un-pasteurised, because the raw milk contains the most nutritional and immune properties. Only when the quality and safety of the milk is in question should someone pasteurise it.

Camel milk is not reactive to children with autism and even non-allergenic to those with the most sensitive allergy to milk and casein. Children with severe food allergies react well to it and astonishingly, fully recover from their allergies including those to other foods. Camel milk has an amasing immune profile. The immunoglobulin (IGS) and protective proteins in camel milk contribute to camel milk’s incredible infection fighting and eradication capacity. Camel IGS are able to penetrate into tissues and cells that human ones are unable to therefore they are able to get into the kidney or inside a cell, where they are also able to completely neutralize the enzyme activity of an infectious agent such as a bacteria or virus.

After reading all this, hands up all those in favour of camel’s milk! It is already available in most ME countries and will soon be on the shelves in the US and Australia, while Pakistan should also opt for this alternate source of milk in a big way, keeping in mind its healing qualities and the fact that camels thrive in this warm climate.