Research

Energy balance

Donkey milk consumption improves antioxidant defenses, reduces inflammation, and enhances mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle and liver, offering a hypoallergenic alternative to cow milk.

Donkey milk offers superior antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits compared to standard cow milk, along with being hypoallergenic. It is a viable alternative for those with milk allergies or those seeking enhanced metabolic health markers, though it is less accessible and more expensive.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Rats treated with this milk showed an improvement in antioxidant defense mechanisms and detoxifying enzyme activity... DOM intake was found to increase superoxide dismutase activity... rats treated with a dietary supplementation of milk from cows fed with a high F:C ratio showed beneficial effects on lipid metabolism, inflammation, oxidative stresss, and antioxidant and detoxifying defenses by modulation of mitochondrial efficiency in the liver and skeletal muscle
Fabiano Cimmino et al. · Journal of Dairy Science · 2023

Why this rating

Based on animal models (rats/mice) and compositional analysis; human clinical trials are limited or not detailed in this review.

Source

Invited review: Human, cow, and donkey milk comparison: Focus on metabolic effects

Fabiano Cimmino et al. · Journal of Dairy Science · 2023

DOI 10.3168/jds.2022-22465

narrative_reviewCited 54×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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