Milk is an indispensable food in people's lives. It is nutritious, affordable, and easy to consume. However, drinking it "right after boiling" can lead to some "common-sense" mistakes that significantly reduce its nutritional value. I. The thicker the milk, the better
Some parents believe that the thicker the milk, the more nutrients their children get, but this is not scientific.
So-called "overly concentrated milk" refers to adding too much milk powder and too little water, making the milk's concentration exceed the normal standard. Some parents also add milk powder to fresh milk for fear it is too thin. In fact, the concentration of milk for infants and young children should be proportional to their age, increasing gradually by month. Even for newborns within one month, the ratio of water added to milk should be gradually reduced based on their digestion. If infants and young children often drink 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 lead to acute hemorrhagic enteritis. This is because the organs of infants and young children are delicate and cannot withstand excessive burden and pressure. When milk powder is mixed too thickly or milk powder is added to fresh milk, the concentration of nutrients exceeds the digestive and absorption limits of the infant's gastrointestinal tract, making it not only difficult to digest but potentially damaging the digestive organs. Therefore, when feeding infants and young children with milk, the amount of water added should be determined based on the quality of the milk and the child's age. II. The more sugar added, 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 in a specific quantity, generally 5-8 grams of sugar per 100 ml of milk. If too much sugar is added, it is more harmful than beneficial to the growth and development of infants and young children. Excess sugar in the infant's body can cause water retention, making muscles and subcutaneous tissues soft and weak. Such babies may appear chubby but have poor physical resistance, a condition medically known as "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. When sucrose enters the digestive tract, it is broken down by digestive fluids into glucose, which is absorbed by the body. Some parents specifically buy glucose for their children, which is completely unnecessary. Glucose is less sweet, and using too much of it can easily exceed the recommended amount, and children may refuse it because it's not sweet enough.
There is also the question of when to add the sugar. Some parents heat the sugar together with the milk. In this case, lysine in the milk will react with the sugar at high temperatures (80°C-100°C) to form a harmful substance, glycosylated lysine. This substance is not absorbed by the body and can be 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. III. Adding chocolate to milk
Some parents 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 originally nutritious calcium becomes a harmful substance to the human body, leading to calcium deficiency, diarrhea, delayed development in children and adolescents, dry hair, easy fractures, and an increased incidence of urinary tract stones. IV. Taking medicine with milk for two birds with one stone
Some believe that taking medicine with a nutritious substance like milk is beneficial, but this is extremely wrong. Milk can significantly affect the speed at which the human body absorbs drugs, causing the drug concentration in the blood to be significantly lower than that of those who take medicine without milk within the same period. Taking medicine with milk can also easily form a coating on the drug's surface, 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 efficacy but may also harm the body. Therefore, it is best not to drink milk 1-2 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 infants. 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 and can affect normal digestive function. Infants and young children with gastroenteritis and especially premature infants, if fed yogurt, may experience vomiting and necrotizing enteritis. VI. Adding orange or lemon juice to milk to enhance flavor
To make children love drinking milk, adding orange or lemon juice seems like a good idea. In reality, however, orange and lemon are both high-in-fructose fruits. When fructose encounters the protein in milk, it causes the protein to denature, thereby reducing its nutritional value. VII. Adding rice soup 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 soup and congee are mainly starch and contain lipoxidase, which destroys vitamin A. Children, especially infants, if they have an insufficient intake of vitamin A, will experience delayed development and be weak and prone to illness. Therefore, even for nutritional supplementation, the two should be consumed separately. VIII. 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 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. Placing bottled milk in the sun to increase vitamin D
Some parents learned from advertisements that to supplement calcium, you also need to supplement vitamin D, and that sunbathing is a good way to get it. So they placed bottled milk in the sun. In fact, this is得不偿失 (not worth the loss). The milk may gain some vitamin D, but it loses vitamin B1, B2, and C. These three nutrients decompose in sunlight, causing partial or complete loss. Moreover, lactose in the milk will 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 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 instead of milk for their children. This is clearly wrong. Condensed milk is too sweet and must be diluted with 5-8 times its volume of water. But when the sweetness is acceptable, the concentration of protein and fat is also half that of fresh milk, which of course cannot meet the growth and development needs of infants and young children and can lead to no weight gain, a pale complexion, and being prone to illness. If water is added to the condensed milk to make the protein and fat concentration close to fresh milk, the sugar content will then be too high. Feeding a child such "milk" can easily cause diarrhea. Furthermore, if a child gets used to an overly sweet taste, it will make it difficult to introduce complementary foods later on.