I posted an Anti-Inflammatory recipe a few days ago and it was very popular, so I thought I would do a little bit more about inflammation and sheep’s milk yogurt .
Inflammation is a very natural response of the body to injury or infection. However, chronic inflammation (inflammation over a long period of time) can lead to a number of health problems, including heart disease, cancer, and arthritis.
Sheep's milk yogurt is a fermented dairy product and contains bioactive compounds, including probiotics, lactoferrin, and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). These compounds have been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties.
Live sheep's milk yogurt is made by fermenting sheep's milk with live yogurt cultures. These cultures contain beneficial bacteria, called probiotics, which are known to have a number of health benefits, including improving gut health, boosting immunity, and reducing inflammation.
Probiotics
Probiotics are live microorganisms that are similar to the beneficial bacteria that naturally live in the human gut. Probiotics are thought to work by improving the balance of gut bacteria, which can have a number of health benefits, including reducing inflammation.
Lactoferrin
Lactoferrin is a protein that is found in sheep's milk and other biological fluids. Lactoferrin has a number of anti-inflammatory properties, including inhibiting the production of inflammatory cytokines and reducing the migration of inflammatory cells. Sheep’s milk has a much higher amount of Lactoferrin than cows milk.
Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)
CLA is a type of fatty acid that is found in sheep's milk and other ruminant animal products. CLA has a number of health benefits, including reducing inflammation. There is a higher proportion of CLA in sheep’s milk compared to cows milk.
The scientific evidence to date suggests that the anti-inflammatory properties of sheep’s milk yogurt is likely due to the presence of probiotics, lactoferrin, and CLA.
Because the cow’s milk dairy industry is much larger and more people consume cow dairy products, a lot more scientific studies have been funded and carried out on cow dairy, however this is changing. More research is needed to confirm the health benefits of sheep’s milk but studies to date are very promising. Please also remember we are not a medical source, and you should only ever take medical advice from qualified experts.
References
- Importance of Bioactive Substances in Sheep's Milk in Human Health: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8122369/
- Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Probiotics: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6566362/
- Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Lactoferrin: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6722854/
- Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Conjugated Linoleic Acid: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4929920/
- Anti-inflammatory effects of probiotic yogurt in inflammatory bowel disease patients - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2219330/
