Why cows make fattier milk at night
Circadian Rhythm Enhances mTORC1/AMPK Pathway-Mediated Milk Fat Synthesis in Dairy Cows via the Microbial Metabolite Acetic Acid.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Blood acetic acid increases at night despite *lower* rumen acetic acid levels, suggesting enhanced absorption rather than increased production.
Normally, higher blood levels would be expected to come from higher rumen levels. This inverse pattern suggests a circadian-regulated transport mechanism, not just microbial output.
Practical Takeaways
Dairy farmers might consider timing milk collection or feed delivery to align with nighttime metabolic peaks for higher-fat milk.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Blood acetic acid increases at night despite *lower* rumen acetic acid levels, suggesting enhanced absorption rather than increased production.
Normally, higher blood levels would be expected to come from higher rumen levels. This inverse pattern suggests a circadian-regulated transport mechanism, not just microbial output.
Practical Takeaways
Dairy farmers might consider timing milk collection or feed delivery to align with nighttime metabolic peaks for higher-fat milk.
Publication
Journal
Journal of agricultural and food chemistry
Year
2024
Authors
Xingwei Jiang, Huijun Geng, Chenguang Zhang, YuanYuan Zhu, Miaomiao Zhu, DingPing Feng, Dangdang Wang, J. Yao, Lu Deng
Related Content
Claims (5)
Cows might make fattier milk at night because their gut bacteria and body chemicals change with the time of day.
Acetic acid might help control how dairy cows make fat in their milk by turning certain genes on or off, depending on how much and how long they're exposed to it.
In dairy cows, a substance made by gut microbes (acetic acid) might affect milk fat by turning on certain cellular switches (mTORC1 and AMPK) that control fat-related genes.
When certain gut bacteria in cows are more active at night, it might help them make milk with more fat — kind of like how our body uses food differently depending on the time of day.
In dairy cows, vitamin B6 goes up in the stomach at night, and this might help move more acetic acid into the blood by turning on a protein called MCT1.