Milk is an essential nutritional product, but there are many misconceptions about nutrition among the general public. I. The thicker the milk, the better
Some people believe that the thicker the milk, the more nutrients the body gets, which is unscientific.
So-called overly concentrated milk refers to adding more milk powder and less water to milk, making the concentration exceed the normal standard. If infants and young children often consume overly concentrated milk, it can cause diarrhea, constipation, loss of appetite, or even refusal to eat, and can also lead to acute hemorrhagic enteritis. II. The more sugar added, 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 added in a specific amount, generally 5 to 8 grams of sugar per 100 ml of milk.
What kind of sugar is best to add to milk? Sucrose is the best choice. When sucrose enters the digestive tract, it is broken down by digestive fluids into glucose, which is absorbed by the body. Glucose has a low sweetness.
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 to 100°C), producing a harmful substance called glycosylated lysine. Therefore, the boiled milk should be cooled to lukewarm (40°C to 50°C) before adding the sugar to dissolve it. III. Milk with chocolate
Adding chocolate to liquid milk causes a chemical reaction between the calcium in the milk and the oxalic acid in the chocolate, forming "calcium oxalate." As a result, the calcium, which originally had nutritional value, becomes a substance harmful to the human body, leading to calcium deficiency, diarrhea, delayed development in children and adolescents, dry hair, increased risk of fractures, and a higher incidence of urinary tract stones. IV. Taking medicine with milk for two purposes
Milk can significantly affect the human body's absorption rate of drugs, causing the concentration of drugs in the blood to be significantly lower than in those who take the same drug without milk, within the same period. Taking medicine with milk can also easily form a film on the surface of the drug, causing chemical reactions between minerals such as calcium and magnesium in the milk and the drug, forming water-insoluble substances. This not only reduces the drug's efficacy but may also be harmful to the body. Therefore, it is best not to drink milk for 1 to 2 hours before and after taking medication. V. Feeding infants with yogurt
Yogurt is a healthy drink that aids digestion, and some parents often feed it to infants. However, the antibiotics produced by lactic acid bacteria in yogurt, while inhibiting the growth of many pathogens, also destroy the growth conditions for beneficial normal flora in the human body and can affect normal digestive function, especially in infants with gastroenteritis and premature infants. VI. Adding orange or lemon juice to milk to enhance flavor
Both orange and lemon are high in fruit acid. When fruit acid encounters the protein in milk, it causes the protein to denature, thereby reducing its nutritional value. VII. Adding rice porridge or congee to milk
Milk contains vitamin A, while rice porridge and congee are mainly starch-based and contain lipoxidase, which can destroy vitamin A. VIII. Milk must be boiled
If boiled to 100°C, the lactose in milk will caramelize, and caramel can induce cancer. Secondly, after boiling, calcium in milk will precipitate as calcium phosphate, reducing the nutritional value of milk. Milk can be safely pasteurized by heating it at 70°C for 3 minutes or at 60°C for 6 minutes. IX. Exposing bottled milk to sunlight to increase vitamin D
Some people put bottled milk in the sun, but this practice is not worth the loss. While the milk may gain some vitamin D, it loses vitamin B1, vitamin B2, and vitamin C. X. Using condensed milk instead of milk
Influenced by the idea that "concentration equals essence," some people use condensed milk as a substitute for milk. This is clearly wrong. Condensed milk is too sweet and must be diluted with 5 to 8 times its volume of water. However, when the sweetness reaches an acceptable level, the concentration of protein and fat is often half that of fresh milk. If water is added to condensed milk to make the protein and fat concentration similar to fresh milk, the sugar content becomes too high.