Milk may look the same, but there's actually a lot to know about it. Today, let's take a look at some common misconceptions about drinking milk.
Mistake One in Drinking Milk: The More Sugar, The Better
It's a common belief that milk without sugar is hard to digest. Adding sugar is meant to increase the calories supplied by carbohydrates, but it must be done in moderation. Generally, 5-8 grams of sugar are added per 100ml of milk. If too much sugar is added, it does more harm than good. Excess sugar in the body can cause water retention, making muscles and subcutaneous tissues soft and weak. 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 then absorbed by the body. There's also the question of when to add the sugar. Some people are used to heating the milk and sugar together. This causes lysine in the milk to react with the 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 down to lukewarm (40°C-50°C) before adding the sugar to dissolve it.
Mistake Two in Drinking Milk: The Thicker, The Better
Some people believe that the thicker the milk, the more nutritious it is. This is unscientific.
So-called "overly concentrated milk" refers to adding too much milk powder and too little water, making the concentration exceed the normal standard. Some people also add milk powder to fresh milk for fear that it is too thin. In fact, consuming overly concentrated milk frequently can cause diarrhea, constipation, loss of appetite, or even refusal to eat. Over time, it can lead to acute hemorrhagic enteritis.
Mistake Three in Drinking Milk: Killing Two Birds with One Stone by Taking Medicine with Milk
Some people believe that taking medicine with something nutritious must be beneficial, but this is extremely wrong. Milk can significantly affect the human body's absorption rate of drugs, causing the drug concentration in the blood to be significantly lower than in those who take the medicine without milk, over the same period. Taking medicine with milk can also easily cause a film to form on the surface of the drug. The calcium and magnesium minerals in the milk can then react chemically with the drug to form 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 1-2 hours before and after taking medication.
Mistake Four in Drinking Milk: 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. Liquid milk combined with chocolate causes the calcium in the milk to react with the oxalic acid in the chocolate, forming "calcium oxalate." As a result, the originally nutritious calcium turns into a harmful substance, which can lead to calcium deficiency, diarrhea, delayed development in children, dry hair, increased risk of fractures, and a higher incidence of urinary tract stones.
Mistake Five in Drinking Milk: Adding Orange or Lemon Juice to Milk for Flavor
To make it taste better, adding orange or lemon juice to milk might seem like a good idea. However, both orange and lemon are high in fruit acid. When fruit acid comes into contact with the protein in milk, it causes the protein to denature, thereby reducing its nutritional value.
Mistake Six in Drinking Milk: 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)," drink 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 to your liking, the protein and fat content is often only half that of fresh milk.
Mistake Seven in Drinking Milk: Milk Must Be Boiled
Typically, the temperature required for milk pasteurization is not high; 3 minutes at 70°C or 6 minutes at 60°C is sufficient. If milk is boiled, the temperature reaches 100°C, and the lactose in the milk will caramelize. Caramel can induce cancer. Secondly, after boiling, calcium in the milk can precipitate as calcium phosphate, reducing the nutritional value of the milk.