9 Mistakes to Avoid When Drinking Milk: Adding Chocolate Can Easily Lead to Kidney Stones
I. Is the thicker the milk, the better?
Some people believe that the thicker the milk, the more nutrition the body gets, but this is not scientific. So-called "overly concentrated milk" refers to adding more milk powder and less water to milk, making its concentration exceed the normal standard. Some people also add milk powder to fresh milk because they are afraid it is too thin. However, 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. This is because the organs of infants and young children are delicate and cannot withstand the heavy burden and pressure.
II. Is 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 done in moderation, generally 5-8 grams of sugar per 100 ml of milk. What kind of sugar is best to add to milk? Sucrose is the best choice. After sucrose enters the digestive tract and is broken down by digestive juices, it is absorbed by the body as glucose. 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.
III. Milk with Chocolate?
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. Liquid milk combined with 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 calcium, which was originally nutritious, 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. Feeding Infants with Yogurt?
Yogurt is a healthy drink that aids digestion. 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, affecting normal digestive function. Infants and young children with gastroenteritis and premature infants should not be fed yogurt, as it may cause vomiting and necrotizing enteritis.
V. Taking Medicine with Milk?
It is best not to drink milk 1-2 hours before or after taking medicine, because milk can affect the body's absorption rate of the drug. It can also easily form a film on the surface of the drug, causing chemical reactions between the calcium and magnesium minerals in the milk and the drug, forming insoluble substances. This not only reduces the effectiveness of the drug but may also be harmful to the body.
VI. Adding Rice Soup or Congee to Milk?
Milk contains vitamin A, while rice soup and congee are mainly composed of starch, which can destroy vitamin A. For children, especially infants, insufficient intake of vitamin A can lead to delayed development and poor health, making them prone to illness.
VII. Must Milk be Boiled?
Generally, 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, and the lactose in the milk will caramelize, and caramel can induce cancer. Secondly, after boiling, the calcium in the milk will precipitate as calcium phosphate, reducing the nutritional value of the milk.
VIII. Exposing Bottled 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 sun exposure is a good way to get it. So, they followed the advice by placing bottled milk in the sun. However, this is得不偿失 (the loss outweighs the gain). The milk may gain some vitamin D, but it loses vitamin B1, vitamin B2, and vitamin C. These three nutrients decompose in sunlight, leading to partial or complete loss; moreover, the lactose in the milk will ferment in the sun, causing it to spoil.
IX. 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 essence," use condensed milk as a substitute for milk. This is clearly wrong. Condensed milk is too sweet and must be diluted with 5-8 times its volume of water. However, when the sweetness is acceptable, the concentration of protein and fat is also half that of fresh milk. If water is added to the condensed milk to make the protein and fat concentration close to that of fresh milk, the sugar content becomes too high.