Some parents believe that the thicker the milk, the more nutrients their child will get, which is unscientific. So-called "overly concentrated milk" refers to adding too much milk powder and too little water to the milk, making its concentration exceed the normal standard. Some parents, fearing that fresh milk is too dilute, add milk powder to it. In fact, the concentration of milk for infants and young children should be proportional to their age, increasing gradually by month. Even for newborns under one month old, the proportion of water mixed with milk should be gradually reduced according to their digestive condition. If infants and young children often consume overly concentrated milk, it can cause diarrhea, constipation, loss of appetite, or even refusal to eat. Over time, their weight will not increase and may even lead to acute hemorrhagic enteritis. This is because the organs of infants and young children are delicate and cannot bear the heavy burden and pressure. Milk powder prepared too thickly, or milk powder added to fresh milk, increases the concentration of nutrients beyond the digestive and absorption limits of the infant's gastrointestinal tract. This not only makes it difficult to digest but may also damage the digestive organs. Therefore, when feeding infants and young children with milk, the amount of water to be added should be determined based on the quality of the milk and the child's age.
II. The More Sugar, the Better
It is a common belief among many parents that unsweetened milk is hard to digest. Sugar is added to increase the calories supplied by carbohydrates, but it must be done in moderation. Generally, 5-8 grams of sugar are added per 100 milliliters of milk. If too much sugar is added, it is detrimental to the growth and development of infants and young children. Excess sugar entering a baby's body can cause water retention, making muscles and subcutaneous tissues soft and weak. Such a baby may appear chubby, but their body's resistance is poor, a condition medically known as a "mud-paste" physique. Excess sugar stored in the body can also become a risk factor for certain diseases, such as cavities, myopia, and arteriosclerosis. What kind of sugar is best to add to milk? Sucrose is the best choice. After entering the digestive tract, sucrose is broken down by digestive juices into glucose, which is absorbed by the body. Some parents specially buy glucose for their children, which is entirely unnecessary. Glucose has a low sweetness level, and using too much of it can easily exceed the recommended amount. Furthermore, children might refuse to drink it because it's not sweet enough. There is also the question of when to add the sugar. Some parents mix sugar with milk and heat them together. This causes lysine in the milk to react with sugar at high temperatures (80°C - 100°C), producing a harmful substance called glycosylated lysine. This substance is not only unabsorbable by the body but is also harmful to health, especially for children. Therefore, you should first let the boiled milk cool to lukewarm (40°C - 50°C) before adding the sugar to dissolve it.
III. Milk with Chocolate
Some parents believe 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. Adding liquid milk to chocolate causes a chemical reaction between the calcium in the milk and the oxalic acid in the chocolate, forming "calcium oxalate." As a result, the originally nutritious calcium becomes a harmful substance, 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 is a Two-for-One Deal
Some people believe that taking medicine with a nutritious substance like milk must be beneficial. In fact, this extremely wrong. Milk can significantly affect the body's absorption rate of drugs, causing the concentration of the drug in the blood to be significantly lower than in those who take their medicine without milk, over the same period. Taking medicine with milk can also easily form a coating on the surface of the drug, causing chemical reactions between minerals like calcium and magnesium in the milk and the drug, forming insoluble substances. This not only reduces the drug's effectiveness but may also harm the body. Therefore, it is best not to drink milk one to two hours before or after taking medication.
V. Feeding Infants with Yogurt
Yogurt is a healthy drink that aids digestion, and some parents often feed it to their babies. However, the antibiotics produced by lactic acid bacteria in yogurt, while inhibiting the growth of many pathogens, also destroy the growth conditions for the body's beneficial normal flora and can affect normal digestive function. This is especially true for infants and young children with gastroenteritis and premature babies, as feeding them yogurt may cause vomiting and necrotizing enteritis.
VI. Adding Orange or Lemon Juice to Milk for Flavor
To make their child love drinking milk, adding orange or lemon juice might seem like a good idea. However, oranges and lemons are both high in fruit acid, and 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
Some parents believe this practice can provide complementary nutrition. In fact, this is very unscientific. Milk contains vitamin A, while rice porridge and congee are primarily starch-based and contain lipoxidase, which destroys vitamin A. Children, especially infants, who have an insufficient intake of vitamin A will experience delayed development and become weak and prone to illness. Therefore, even for the purpose of supplementing nutrition, the two should be consumed separately.
VIII. Milk Must be Boiled
The temperature required for milk pasteurization is not high. 70°C for 3 minutes or 60°C for 6 minutes 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.
IX. Exposing Bottled Milk to Sunlight to Increase Vitamin D
Some parents, having learned from advertisements that calcium supplementation requires vitamin D and that sun exposure is a good way to get it, place bottled milk in the sun. However, this practice is not worth the loss. The milk may gain some vitamin D, but it loses vitamin B1, vitamin B2, and vitamin C. These three nutrients decompose in sunlight, causing them to be partially or completely lost. Moreover, the lactose in the milk can ferment in the sun, causing it to spoil.
X. Using Condensed Milk Instead of Milk
Condensed milk is a dairy product made by evaporating fresh milk to two-fifths 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 for their children. 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 is acceptable, the concentration of protein and fat is also half that of fresh milk, which is obviously insufficient to meet the growth and development needs of infants and young children and can lead to poor weight gain, a pale complexion, and frequent illness. If water is added to the condensed milk to make the protein and fat concentration similar to fresh milk, the sugar content will then be too high. Feeding a child such "milk" can easily cause diarrhea. Furthermore, if a child becomes accustomed to an overly sweet taste, it will make it difficult to introduce other complementary foods later on.