Don't worry, it's the exact word.
Have you ever wondered what milk really is? No? Well I did, I did some researches and now I share what I have studied and understood.
First of all, according to the animal species, milk has different components and it does considerably vary in its fats percentage (really high, for example, in sea mammals where in seals and cetaceans they can reach 50%. Also cloven-hoofed animals as moose, yaks and reindeers produce high calories milk). In any case:
• Water is always the principal component;
• Fats, especially sautéed ones, are the principal energetic source in milk, generally found under the form of phospholipids and glyceride esters of long and short chains of fatty acids like:
Butanoic butyric acid;
Hexanoic caproic acid;
Octanoic caprylic acid;
Decanoic capric acid;
Docecanoic laurid acid;
Tetradecanoic myristic acid;
Hexadecanoic palmitic acid;
Octadecanoic stearic acid;
(saturated ones) and also
Caproleic acid cis-9 decanoic;
Myristoleic acid cis-9 tetradecanoic;
Cis-6 hexadecenoic palmitoleic acid;
Cis-6 octadecenoic petroselinic acid;
Cis-9 octadecenoic oleic acid;
Trans-9 octadecenoic elaidinic acid;
Trans-11octadecenoic vaccenic acid;
Linoleic acid, cis-cis-9,12 octadecadienoic acid;
(unsaturated ones).
The present carbohydrates, the second energy source of milk, are made up in all the animal species almost entirely of (disaccharide) lactose.
Lactose is the osmotically more active compound of the milk, with a relatively constant concentration in all the types of milk.
Milk secretion is isotonic to blood, thanks to the recall of water from the blood to the breast due to lactose.
The amount of produced milk is directly proportional to the amount of synthesised lactose.
There are other carbohydrates, mainly oligosaccharides composed of glucose, galactose, fucose, glucosamine, N-acetylglucosamine, galactosamine, N-acetylgalactosamine, and sialic acid generally conjugated to proteins (glycoproteins), such as k-casein, other than calcium sensitive ones for its solubility over a wide range of Ca++ concentrations and its low phosphorous content.
2/3 (two thirds) of the proteins are represented by the phosphoproteins family generally called casein (k-casein for example).
Apparently the concentration of proteins in the milk of the different species is inversely proportional to the concentration of carbohydrates.
The protein content of milk tends to be higher in species that are characterised by the rapid growth of puppies after birth.
The carbohydrate content, instead, is higher in milk of slow-growth species (like humans).
Don't forget the possible presence of mineral substances, vitamins, aromatic substances (not chemicals, but meant as the responsible for the flavour and the smell), somatic cells (mostly macrophages) and bacteria.
Minerals or milk salt, are traditionally names for a variety of cations and anions with bovine milk. Calcium, phosphate, magnesium, sodium, potassium, citrate and chloride are all included as minerals and they typically occur at concentration of 5-40 mM (milli-molar). The milk salt strongly interact with casein, most notably calcium phosphate. It is present in excess and often much greater excess of solubility of solid calcium phosphate.
In addition to calcium, milk is a good source of many other vitamins: A, B6, B12, C, D, K, E, thiamine, niacin, biotin, riboflavin, flolates and panthothenic acid are all present in milk.
The possible presence of pathogens, always possible in raw milk, with an average random incidence over time of around 20% of the milking, is linked to the state of health of the animal and to hygiene deficiencies and to the milking process and the environment status.
However, the risk is always present which is why adequate heating (boiling) is universally recommend by the Health Bodies.
PH of the milk ranges from 6.4 to 6.8 and it changes over time. Milk from other bovines and non-bovine mammals varies in composition, but has a similar PH.
This should calm down your thirst, for a while.
Here you can see a simplified representation of a lactose molecule, broken into glucose and galactose.
