Milk Tips

We all know that the calcium in milk helps build strong bones, but milk is loaded with eight other essential vitamins and minerals.

• Calcium: Helps build and maintain strong bones. It's also vital for nerve function, muscle contraction, and blood clotting.

• Protein: Important for a number of bodily functions - vital to brain development and the growth of body tissues.

• Vitamin A: Maintains normal vision and skin. Helps regulate cell growth and integrity of the immune system.

• Vitamin B-12: Essential for the growth and health of the nervous system. Linked to normal activity of folic acid and is involved in blood formation.

• Vitamin D: Promotes the absorption of calcium and phosphorus, and influences bone mineralization, the strengthening of bones.

• Potassium: Regulates the body's fluid balance and blood pressure. It also is needed for muscle activity and contractions.

• Phosphorus: Helps generate energy in the body's cells and influences bone mineralization, the strengthening of bones.

• Niacin: Keeps enzymes functioning normally and helps the body process sugars and fatty acids. It is also important for the development of the nervous system.

• Riboflavin: Helps produce energy in the body's cells and plays a vital role in the development of the nervous system.

Is milk healthy ?
From childhood, we are taught that milk is healthy and that we need to consume dairy products for the calcium intake. But today, even doctors say cow's milk can lead to iron deficiency anemia, allergies, diarrhea, heart disease, colic, cramps, gastrointestinal bleeding, sinusitis, skin rashes, acne, increased frequency of colds and flu, arthritis, diabetes, ear infections, osteoporosis, asthma and autoimmune diseases.

These are some finding:

• Milk is also a cause of malabsorption disorders, may be a cause of juvenile diabetes, and may promote prostate and testicular cancer.

• Preliminary findings indicate that insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in children is associated with an intake of cow's milk prior to weaning. An autoimmune mechanism has been used to explain how cow's milk causes the body to produce antibodies. These antibodies attack the pancreatic cells that make insulin. Research continues to clarify these relationships and the role of genes in triggering this auto-immune response.

• Milk and milk products gave the highest correlation coefficient to heart disease, while sugar, animal proteins and animal fats came in second, third, and fourth, respectively.

• Milk and many components of milk (butterfat, milk protein, calcium from milk, and riboflavin)… were positively related to coronary heart disease mortality for all 40 countries studied.

From the time we were children, we listened to our parents tell us of all the benefits of milk and as a result, we were expected to drink at least one glass per day.

As we became older, many of us shucked the idea of drinking milk either because we felt we were too ‘grown’ to have to drink milk, or because we had become conscious of our figures and felt milk would have a detrimental effect on that part of us. In lieu of milk, we switched to other dairy products or vitamins in order to still receive the correct intake of Vitamin D and Calcium.

Strangely, the analogy here is that if we went through that much trouble to still receive the benefits of milk, we knew that there was something in milk that our bodies were able to utilize. According to an article published on the Internet by the Newer Knowledge of Milk, there are several benefits of milk: the ability to prevent osteoporosis, hyper tension, and colon cancer. And most importantly, these benefits are derived from an intake of fluid milk, not simply vitamins or other sources.

Drinking milk also helps reduce the incidence of tooth decay. There is no evidence to support the theory that drinking chocolate milk aids in tooth decay, and as a result, allowing children to drink chocolate milk increases their consumption of milk. One of the major contributing factors to many people shucking the benefits of milk for a substitute source is the belief that drinking milk will cause them to gain weight. There is no evidence that drinking the required servings of dairy products such as milk contribute to a person being overweight.

Clearly lactose intolerant individuals need to supplement with a non-dairy product. But for everyone else, we should shy away from drinking milk. We did it when we were 5, and we can definitely do it when we are 80. The benefits of drinking milk stay the same!