Milk is known as the "near-perfect food" and can provide various nutrients for a baby's growth and development. However, parents should be cautious when giving milk to their baby, as the following misconceptions about milk can potentially harm your baby.
Misconception 1: The thicker the milk, the better it is
Some people believe that the thicker the milk, the more nutrients the body will get, which is unscientific.
The hidden truth: Baby diarrhea, constipation, loss of appetite
So-called "overly concentrated milk" refers to adding too much milk powder and too little water, making the milk's concentration exceed the normal standard. Some people, fearing that fresh milk is too bland, add milk powder to it. However, if infants and young children regularly consume overly concentrated milk, it can lead to diarrhea, constipation, loss of appetite, or even refusal to eat, and can also cause acute hemorrhagic enteritis. This is because the organs of infants and young children are delicate and cannot withstand the heavy burden and pressure.
Misconception 2: Feeding babies with yogurt
Yogurt is a healthy drink that aids digestion, and some parents often use it to feed their infants.
The hidden truth: Baby vomiting and necrotizing enteritis
However, the antibiotics produced by lactic acid bacteria in yogurt, while inhibiting the growth of many pathogens, also destroy the conditions for the growth of beneficial normal flora in the human body and can affect normal digestive function. Especially for infants with gastroenteritis and premature babies, feeding them yogurt can cause vomiting and necrotizing enteritis.
Misconception 3: Milk must be boiled
The hidden truth: Loss of nutrients in milk
The temperature required for milk pasteurization is not high; 3 minutes at 70°C or 6 minutes at 60°C is sufficient. If boiled, the temperature reaches 100°C, causing the lactose in the milk to caramelize, and caramel can induce cancer. Secondly, after boiling, calcium in the milk will form a calcium phosphate precipitate, reducing the nutritional value of the milk.
Misconception 4: The more sugar added to milk, the better
It is a common misconception that unsweetened milk is hard to digest. Sugar is added to increase the calories supplied by carbohydrates, but it must be measured. Generally, 5-8 grams of sugar are added per 100 ml of milk.
The hidden truth: Harmful substances may be formed
What kind of sugar is best to add to milk? Sucrose is the best. Sucrose is broken down by digestive juices in the digestive tract into glucose, which is absorbed by the body. Glucose has a low sweetness, and using too much of it can easily exceed the recommended amount. There is also the question of when to add the sugar. If sugar and milk are heated together, lysine in the milk will react with the sugar at high temperatures (80°C-100°C) to form a harmful substance called glycosylated lysine. This substance is not absorbed by the body and can be harmful to health. Therefore, you should first let the boiled milk cool to lukewarm (40°C-50°C) before adding the sugar to dissolve it.
Misconception 5: Adding chocolate to milk
Some people think that since milk is a high-protein food and chocolate is an energy food, eating them together must be very beneficial. This is not the case.
The hidden truth: Delayed child development, dry hair
Adding liquid milk and chocolate causes a chemical reaction between the calcium in the milk and the oxalic acid in the chocolate, forming "calcium oxalate." Thus, the originally nutritious calcium becomes a harmful substance to the human body, leading to calcium deficiency, diarrhea, delayed development in children, dry hair, increased risk of fractures, and a higher incidence of urinary tract stones.
Misconception 6: Taking medicine with milk to kill two birds with one stone
Some people believe that taking medicine with something nutritious is definitely beneficial, but this is extremely wrong.
The hidden truth: Reduced efficacy of the medicine
Milk can significantly affect the speed at which the human body absorbs drugs, causing the concentration of the drug in the blood to be significantly lower than that of people who take the medicine without milk, in the same amount of time. Taking medicine with milk can also easily form a coating on the surface of the drug, causing minerals such as calcium and magnesium in the milk to react chemically with the drug to form water-insoluble substances. This not only reduces the efficacy of the drug but may also be harmful to the body. Therefore, it is best not to drink milk 1-2 hours before and after taking medication.
Misconception 7: Adding lemon juice to milk for flavor
The hidden truth: Reduced protein
Adding orange juice or lemon juice to milk seems like a good idea, but in reality, oranges and lemons are both high-in-fructose fruits. When fructose encounters the protein in milk, it causes the protein to denature, thereby reducing its nutritional value.
Misconception 8: Adding rice soup or congee to milk
Some people think this can make the nutrients complementary. In fact, this practice is very unscientific.
The hidden truth: Weak and sickly infants and young children
Milk contains vitamin A, while rice soup and congee are mainly starch-based and contain lipoxidase, which destroys vitamin A. Children, especially infants, if they have insufficient intake of vitamin A, will have delayed development and be weak and sickly. Therefore, even for nutritional supplementation, the two should be eaten separately.
Misconception 9: Exposing milk to sunlight to increase vitamin D
Some people learned from advertisements that to supplement calcium, you also need to supplement vitamin D, and that sunbathing is a good way to get it. So they followed the advice by putting bottled milk out in the sun. In fact, this is not worth it.
The hidden truth: Causes milk to spoil
The milk may get some vitamin D, but it loses vitamin B1, vitamin B2, and vitamin C. These three nutrients break down in sunlight, causing them to be partially or completely lost. Moreover, lactose in milk will ferment in the sun, causing the milk to spoil.
Misconception 10: Using condensed milk instead of milk
Condensed milk is a dairy product made by evaporating fresh milk to 2/5 of its original volume and then adding 40% sucrose before canning. Some people, influenced by the idea that "all concentrated things are精华 (essence)," use condensed milk as a substitute for milk. This is clearly wrong.
The hidden truth: Reduced protein
Condensed milk is too sweet and must be diluted with 5-8 times its volume of water. However, when the sweetness meets the requirement, the concentration of protein and fat is also half that of fresh milk. If water is added to the condensed milk to make the concentration of protein and fat close to that of fresh milk, the sugar content will then be too high.