MILK: ANGEL OR DEVIL?

“There are no good or bad foods, everything depends on the amount and frequency of consumption”

ANGEL

Cow’s milk and its derivatives (and also sheep, goat, etc.) are among the foods that generate most controversy, nutritionally speaking. Some diets speak of the wonders of milk, while others remind us that it is not desirable. Is it really so good? Is it really that bad?

It is said that milk is the most complete food and easy to consume. The chemical composition of milk differs from one type of animal to another, but always contains a large percentage of water, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals. Whatever the origin, lactose is sugar, or carbohydrate, which is found naturally in milk. To digest it the human body needs the enzyme lactase which is normally produced in the gut.

Lactose intolerance is due to the decrease or absence of lactase in the digestive tract and produces flatulence, intestinal colic and diarrhea. This progressive decrease in the enzyme lactase can start from as early as two or three years of age due to unknown causes, or may occur as a result of an attack on the intestinal mucus by viruses, bacteria, antibiotics or chemotherapy, infectious diarrhea, celiac disease, etc.

The problems of lactose intolerance are reduced by replacing milk with fermented products such as yogurt, as in the fermentation process the majority lactose is converted into lactic acid which is good for our intestines. The beneficial effect of yogurt is its content in Lactobacillus Bifidus, since it repopulates the intestinal bacterial flora, preventing the appearance of undesirable bacteria that cause putrefaction and infection, while the acidity of lactic acid promotes growth of beneficial Lactobacillus colonies.
In modern yogurt with active Bifidus, lactobacillus decrease 24 hours after its preparation, so to take advantage of them would have to make yogurt at home. The industry is aware of this problem and is working hard to bring to market yoghurts with lactobacillus more “active”. In the process of fermentation of many cheeses, especially cured and semi-cured, lactose is converted into glucose and galactose or lactic acid, and so are also well tolerated.

Milk can be considered an excellent protein food; a person consuming only two liters of milk all day would satisfy the majority of the daily protein requirement for an adult. Casein is the principal and most abundant milk protein, and this forms the coagulum in cheese. The casein in cow’s milk does not have the same composition as the casein of human milk, so can cause allergic reactions in some infants and children.

Milk fat is rich in saturated fat and contains 14 mg of cholesterol per 100 g of milk. A glass of whole milk contains 24 mg of cholesterol, a slice of bacon contains the same amount of cholesterol. This is one of the reasons for recommending the consumption of skimmed or semi-skimmed milk.

Milk is among the foods that contain the most comprehensive range of vitamins, and is a food that provides above all vitamin A. Milk also contains vitamin D, whose role is mainly to prevent rickets as vitamin D deficiency causes poor absorption of calcium and phosphorus. After removing the fat from milk to produce skimmed milk the milk contains virtually no vitamins A or D unless it has been enriched. It should be noted that in industrial processes through which the milk is heat treated, much of the original vitamin content is destroyed (the price of technology to ensure a germ-free milk), so the vitamins are usually added later.

Milk is rich in minerals: phosphorus, sodium, iron, potassium, magnesium, sulfur, copper, zinc, iodine … One of the main reasons for recommending the consumption of milk is its high calcium content as milk and dairy foods provide the most dietary calcium. Skimmed and semi-skimmed milk has the same amount of calcium as whole milk. Calcium absorption from milk and its derivatives is easier than other foods, thanks to its natural sugar content, lactose, and proteins. Milk and its derivatives are an important contribution of sodium to normal diet, although milk seems a sweet food it hides a significant amount of salt. However, milk is poor in iron, one of the few shortcomings that can be seen in this food.

Recommended daily servings of milk (Spanish Community Nutrition Society, 2004):
Children: 2-3 servingsAdolescence: 3-4 servingsAdults: 2-3 servings Pregnancy: 3-4 servings
Lactation: 3-4 servings  > 65 years: 3 servings
One serving equals:1 serving = 1 cup of milk (200-250 ml milk)1 serving = 2 yoghurts  1 serving = 40-60 g cheese cured or semi cured1 serving = 80-125 g fresh cheese

DEVIL

The main criticisms made of dairy foods focus on the absence of adult animals that naturally consume milk, on the nutritional composition of cow’s milk and on the dairy industry in general.

Common sense tells us that milk is for infants and that in nature adult animals do not breastfeed, and generally animals do not feed from females of another species. Immediately following milking, the milk begins to break down at a blistering speed. We sterilize it using heat, turning it into “clean milk”, but does it have the same benefits, and it is equally comparable to breast milk?

As we have seen, milk consists of carbohydrate (lactose), protein (casein), fat (saturated and cholesterol), minerals (calcium) and vitamins (A, D). Both official and alternative diets agree that the concentration of fat and cholesterol in whole milk is superior to foods that are known to be rich in cholesterol. They also agree that there are increasing cases of lactose intolerance.

Where they principally differ is in talking of the milk protein, hormons and calcium absorption. In mainstream medicine there is talk of people with allergies to cow’s protein (casein), but it is not recognized that non-hydrolyzed casein (fragment) is a viscous substance that is used as glue in watch making and carpentry. The human baby entirely assimilates caseins from the milk from its mother, but cannot do the same with the casein of cow’s milk, which enters the small intestine partially digested. This problem is worse in adults.

Cow’s milk contains natural hormones necessary for rapid development of calves. The most important are growth hormones, but every time we drink a glass of milk we are also ingesting pituitary hormones, steroid, pancreatic, thyroid, adrenals, sex, etc. Can these hormones necessary for the infant calf cause alterations to other “species”? Any mammal excretes toxins through her milk, these include pesticides, antibiotics, chemicals, hormones and even white blood cells from mastitis, what is commonly called “pus” (the law allows milk containing between a million and a million and half white cells per millilitre).

The need to consume dairy products stems from two reasons: firstly, concerns about calcium and secondly the psychological attachment to breastfeeding.
In fact we can feed perfectly well, without nutritional gaps of any kind, without dairy products.

Important sources of calcium include sesame, nuts (especially almonds) and beans in general.
We can also get calcium from the same source as cows, sheep and goats: green vegetables rich in calcium and magnesium. The most suitable for humans are low in oxalate content (broccoli, parsley, watercress, cabbage, turnip, etc.).
Moreover, some substances promote the absorption of calcium, as is the case of vitamin D.

The truth is that with calcium we should worry more about losing it than obtaining it. Large quantities of proteins, tea, sugar and fizzy drinks, among others are foods that promote loss of calcium.

Arancha Coromina  Dietitian-Nutritionist

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Posted by editor on 2010-04-04 Filed under April 2010, Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry