With the improvement of living standards, children nowadays have milk to drink every day, which is simply a source of immense happiness. But precisely because of this, many parents don't know how to drink milk correctly, which is a science in itself!
Just like how we pair ingredients when cooking for better nutrition, if children drink milk in the wrong way, it not only fails to provide them with nutrition but can also have adverse effects and burdens on their bodies.
Actually, there's a great deal of knowledge hidden in the way we drink milk! If done incorrectly, not only will the child's nutrition not be supplemented, but it could also affect their health. Below, the editor has summarized several common incorrect ways of drinking milk for parents.
1. Milk paired with eggs can lead to a feeling of hunger quickly.
Eggs and milk are almost a standard for breakfast. But a standard doesn't equal scientific, nor does it mean it's nutritious. Why is that?
After a night's consumption, the body urgently needs a breakfast rich in carbohydrates to replenish energy in the morning. Although milk and eggs are rich in protein, protein can only perform its proper, higher-level functions when there is an adequate supply of carbohydrates. Otherwise, it will "burn" itself to provide heat, meaning it serves merely as a source of calories, wasting the original function of the protein.
Therefore, even if the breakfast portion seems sufficient, the child will quickly feel hungry, making it difficult for them to concentrate, which seriously affects learning efficiency.
Solution: Staple foods must not be missing at breakfast. While drinking milk and eating eggs, it should be paired with bread, steamed buns, etc.—to provide the body with sufficient carbohydrates and facilitate the absorption of milk.
2. Milk heated in a microwave oven for a long time leads to severe nutrient loss.
The weather is still a bit cool, so many mothers will heat the milk in the microwave oven for convenience and speed. The intention of giving the child warm milk is good. But the key is the heating method is wrong.
The microwave oven heats extremely fast; it can feel scalding hot in just 2 minutes. However, the temperature that preserves the nutritional value of milk should not be too high. The longer milk is heated in the microwave, the more severe the nutrient loss, with the loss of vitamin C being the most significant.
Secondly, the protein in milk, when subjected to high temperatures, changes from a sol state to a gel state, leading to the formation of sediments, which seriously affects the quality of the milk.
Solution: You can heat the milk in a hot water bath. This way, you don't have to worry about nutrient loss at high temperatures, nor fear that the milk will be too hot and scald the child.
3. Milk with chocolate may cause delayed growth and development.
Some children don't like the taste of milk, so mothers will melt chocolate into it to make chocolate milk—supplementing protein while also providing enough energy, killing two birds with one stone.
This practice may seem very logical, but the components of the two are different. When they combine, they might have a counterproductive effect. Milk is rich in calcium and protein, while chocolate contains oxalic acid. When milk and chocolate combine, calcium can easily react with oxalic acid to form calcium oxalate, an insoluble precipitate. This substance cannot be absorbed by the body and may cause dry hair, diarrhea, calcium deficiency, or delayed growth and development.
Moreover, the components in milk can also affect the beneficial components in chocolate, such as antioxidant and anti-thrombotic agents, which cannot be effective when milk is present.
Solution: You can add a little honey. It has a sweet taste, making it more palatable for children. Moreover, the magnesium in honey has a sedative effect on the central nervous system, regulating psychology, relieving tension, and reducing stress. A cup before bedtime can be beneficial for sleep.
4. Milk with medicine can significantly reduce the effectiveness of the drug.
Children are unwilling to take medicine, which is a problem that troubles most mothers. To coax the child, some mothers will mix the medicine into the milk and have them drink it together. This is clearly a very wrong practice!
I believe most people know that medicine can only be taken with water. Any type of drink can potentially reduce its original efficacy. This is especially true for milk—it significantly affects the body's absorption rate of the drug, causing a marked decrease in the drug's concentration in the blood.
Secondly, milk contains elements like calcium and iron. When they combine with drugs such as tetracyclines and erythromycins, they form stable chelates or insoluble salts, making the drug difficult to be absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract and seriously affecting its efficacy.
Therefore, mothers, don't make such a basic mistake anymore. Also, it's best not to drink milk for one to two hours before and after taking medication.