# Human milk healthier than cow milk?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-milk-healthier-than-cow-milk/106888>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 2, 2002, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-milk-healthier-than-cow-milk/106888 "2002-05-02T16:45:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-milk-healthier-than-cow-milk/106888/21 "2002-05-04T17:58:42Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by DeniseV \*  
> \*\*
> 
> If that protein number is correct for the human milk, that’s a good argument for not drinking it as an adult - crummy protein content. \*\*

Well, it has to do with the bioavailability, and I don’t have good information for that because the data I have is for babies, not adults. Cow’s milk and human milk have about the same amount of iron for example, but a baby can use 49% of the iron in human milk yet only 10% in cow’s milk. No idea if that’s still true for adults.

The one major strike against human milk is the cholesterol content. Babies and toddlers need cholesterol for brain development, but adults do not need it and in fact need to watch how much they ingest. Human milk has loads of it and cow’s milk doesn’t. So for a baby, human milk is better, but cholesterol may make it worse so for adults. I don’t know how to balance all these things out for the adult human.

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2002, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-milk-healthier-than-cow-milk/106888/22 "2002-05-05T00:48:03Z")

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Is human milk healthier than cow milk?

No, but it is more aesthetically packaged.

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