Milk consumption is popular from 7000 years. In ancient time, it was assumed that people who don’t get enough sunlight should drink milk. This thought came into light when those people were not able to get sufficient vitamin D due to areas who don’t get sunlight, and they used milk as a supplement.
Initially, only European were drinking the milk, and the trend was popular in Balkans city. There is a specific health gene that allows the human body to tolerate lactose present in fresh milk.
During ancient time, milk was used as a luxury food which shows the royalty. This practice was famous in Egypt. Cows and sheep were highly honored possession because of their ability to give milk. A French microbiologist called Pasteur introduced his concept of pasteurization.
Pasteurization is a process that followed to make milk safe and edible.
The process of pasteurization heats the milk to a particular temperature and time to kill the harmful bacteria present in the milk. Currently, these processes happen in the machines and pack the milk with essential nutrients.
Health experts recommend consuming at least one glass of fresh milk every day to the age group of toddlers and adults. Milk is an essential reservoir of calcium and vitamin D. It contributes 3.2 grams of protein, 3.3 grams of fat, 4.8 grams of carbohydrates, 0.08 grams of omega-3, and 0.12 grams of omega-6. It is the natural composition of total cream milk.
There are several substitutes that are conventionally made to provide the nutrients available in the milk. However, milk is the natural source of many nutrients that provide good benefits than the side effects.
Nutritional Value of Milk
Table of Contents
Serving Size: 10 grams
- Water – 89.92[g]
- Energy – 42 [kcal]
- Protein – 3.37 [g]
- Total lipid (fat) – 0.97 [g]
- Carbohydrate – 4.99 [g]
- Fiber, total dietary – 0 [g]
- Sugars, total – 5.2 [g]
- Calcium, Ca -125 [mg]
- Iron, Fe – 0.03 [mg]
- Magnesium, – 11 [mg]
- Phosphorus – 95 [mg]
- Potassium, K 150 – [mg]
- Sodium, Na – 44 [mg]
- Zinc, Zn – 0.42 [mg]
- Vitamin C, (total ascorbic acid) – 0 [mg]
- Thiamine -0.02 [mg]
- Riboflavin – 0.19 [mg]
- Niacin – 0.09 [mg]
- Vitamin B-6 – 0.04 [mg]
- Folate, DFE – 5 [µg]
- Vitamin B-12 – 0.47 [µg]
- Vitamin A, RAE – 14 [µg]
- A Vitamin – 47 [IU]
- Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) – 0.01 [mg]
- Vitamin D (D2 + D3) – 0 [µg]
- D Vitamin -1[IU]
- Vitamin K (phylloquinone) – 0.1 [µg]
- Fatty acids total saturated – 0.63 [g]
- Monounsaturated Fatty acids -0.28 [g]
- Fatty acids (total polyunsaturated) 0.04 [g]
- Cholesterol – 5 [mg]
- Caffeine – 0 [mg]
- Sources include: [2] USDA
Supplies Calcium
Consuming fresh milk gives you lots of calcium. According to the Institute-of-Medicine-Committee from the United States, nearly 72% of calcium found in milk, yogurt, and cheese as well as dairy goods such as pizza, dairy desserts, and lasagna. Apart from this, nearly 7% of calcium found in vegetables, 5% from grains, 4% from legumes, 3% fruits, 3% meat, fish and poultry.
Calcium helps to protect your body from highly chronic diseases such as arthritic conditions, bone loss, migraine headaches, obesity, and premenstrual syndrome. It also helps your body to function properly and lose extra fats and weight. Calcium is a vital mineral that helps in mineral density measurements of bone that depends on calcium as the main support. Therefore, milk is an affordable and quickest source available for calcium.
Enhance Heart Health
Although half of the focus of calcium relates to bones, it also helps to a shown reduction in cardiovascular ailments and stroke risk. According to the long-term studies of Japan have shown a positive correlation between everyday calcium intake and lower the risk of atherosclerosis, stroke, and heart disease.
The peptides are available in the milk believed to limit the production of ACEs (angiotensin-converting-enzymes), which raise the blood pressure. Therefore, take some milk to strengthen your heart health. The potassium and magnesium content act as vasodilators, which lower the blood pressure and boost blood flow to the main organs in the body. It also lowers the stress to your cardiovascular system and heart.
According to the dietary guidelines of 2010, an individual should consume 4,700 mg calcium per day except for those people who have hypercalcemia with a renal disorder or those taking medications.
The American’s dietary consumption of potassium expected to be 1,755 mg per day. The-American-Journal-of-Clinical-Nutrition put light on the data from the National-Health-and-Nutrition-Examination-Survey that only 2% of US adults faced with the normal daily intake target of potassium.
Therefore, add fresh milk to your diet and have a healthy heart.
Increase bone strength
Drinking fresh milk helps to build a strong skeleton and manage bone health from fetal life to old age. It also prevents the risk of osteoporosis and bone loss. During the teenage time, the body needs more calcium, approximately 400mg calcium every day.
Make sure that you will require vitamin D and magnesium to stop bone loss. It is possible that women entering into menopause and having estrogen fluctuation can develop the risk of bone loss, which is a reduction in bone density.
Consuming enough milk provide the best solution for limiting bone loss. The 100 grams of fresh milk give 120-124 mg of calcium, and 11-14 milligrams of magnesium, which are recommended daily value of 40% and 10% of calcium and magnesium need.
Dental Care
Drinking fresh milk provides benefits for dental health. Experts suggest children and adults consume milk every day. Milk helps to protect the outer surface of tooth enamel against acidic substances.
Milk is the best energy drink, which prevents children from consuming unhealthy beverages. It also reduces the risk of tooth decay and gum problems.
Rehydration
Maintaining your body hydrated is a necessary part of the human body, and your body requires regular fluid to refill the managed liquids for processing different body functions.
Milk is a vital source of hydration as it has a good quantity of water molecules. Milk is considered as best rehydration because 80% of body mass is made up of water, and it restores the essential functions of your body.
Active children require to consume milk every day as it works effectively to prevent dehydration than the other beverages, said by the research from McMaster University. Particularly drinking milk is important in summer day. Milk provides essential nutrients such as calcium, carbohydrates, protein, and electrolytes.
Drinking milk while playing sports add the benefits of balancing sodium quantity lost in the sweat and helps your body to preserve the fluid in a better way. Also, milk provides the essential proteins required for children for muscles growth and development.
Skin Care
Consuming fresh milk also benefits skin health. Did you hear about Queen Cleopatra from the Nile? She was a beautiful woman because she was taking a milk bath every day.
Mixing honey and milk make your skin beautiful and soft. From ancient time, milk is famous for managing smoothen and a fair complexion. Therefore, milk is used in several cosmetics.
Treat dry skin
Drinking fresh milk helps to treat the dry skin. You can also apply fresh milk on the affected part and wash it to get moisturized skin.
Nourish Skin
Milk is the best nourishing ingredient for skin. It brings smoothness in your skin texture. Milk contains lactic acid that assists in eliminating dead skin cells and rejuvenating your skin by making it fresh.
Drinking fresh milk provide plenty of vitamin A and improve your skin from its antioxidant. It also helps to remove the effects of free radical damage happen from cellular metabolism, which can lead to premature aging skin and result in aging spots and wrinkles.
Glowing skin
Drinking a fresh cup of milk also provide glow in your skin. You can drink milk every day to get the essential nutrients to the skin and make it look glowing. The presence of lactic acid in the milk works as an exfoliant, while enzymes make skin smooth.
Radiant skin
A milk bath is popular from the ages of kings and Queens. The royal kingdom was able to get lots of milk so that they were drinking and also having a milk bath. You can also drink two glasses of milk per day to get huge benefits.
Youthful Complexion
The presence of lactic acid in fresh milk promotes to produce youthful complexion. You can combine a pinch of saffron to obtain more benefits. The milk protein benefits to create collagen to make your skin healthy and firm.
Cures Stomach Problems and Indigestion
Nearly 3% of cow milk protein and 80% of which produced from casein. The basic role of casein is to take the minerals to the required areas.
For example, casein binds with phosphorus and calcium and provide them to your digestive tract. These minerals stimulate metabolism by exciting the relief of digestive fluids in your stomach.
Casein also binds with small amino acid strings, termed peptides. These casein-peptide systems limit pathogen outbreaks in the GI tract by covering slimy mucin that confines them. Therefore, milk proteins and calcium are able to manage indigestion, ulcers, gastritis, heartburn because of GERD, stomach cancers, or bacterial infections.
Lowers Risk of Diabetes
Drinking fresh milk also benefits type-2 diabetes. All types of milk are not suitable for diabetic people. The essential nutrition and protein in the milk provide saturated fats and carbohydrates to control the sugar levels. You will need to check the dietary information to consume suitable milk.
Promoting Diet & Vitamin Intake
According to the research, consuming milk helps to improve essential intake of vitamin and minerals. An individual who consumes a pack of milk increase calcium requirement every day. On the other hand, an individual who consume only carbonated drinks lower the calcium levels by 1/3.
Acidity Reduction
According to the report from Annals-of-Internal-medicine, milk consumption helps to lower the acidity from the body. Consuming cold milk also relieve your acidity.
Nutritious Food
The milk is a nutritious food that provides several minerals and vitamins and keeps your health strong. One glass of milk provides vitamin A and vitamin B, which helps to promote eyesight by raising red blood cell counts. It also assists in the utilization of carbohydrates for energy. Its content of potassium helps in nerve functions and magnesium promote muscular functions. The protein present in the milk helps to repair body tissues and increase muscles growth.
Induces Sleep
Most of the people believe that drinking hot water trigger sound sleep but replace hot water with hot milk and look at how you feel sleepy.
According to different studies, taking hot milk with Horlicks before bedtimes helps to decrease sleep disturbance. The small sleep disturbance occurs because of the quick release of neurotransmitters, hunger, and cellular process. Those mall movements interrupt your sleep and cause you crankiness. Several theories tell that how lactobacillus-fermented milk can manage hunger contractions and relieve your gut and promote your sleep.
Around the world, milk is considered as important as oxygen.
Prevents Cancer
According to the report of Dr. Lampe JW, from Division-of-Public-Health-Science, (Fred-Hutchinson-Cancer-Research-Center, from Seattle- Washington in the American-college-of-Nutrition journal, milk consumption provide relief to people who are suffering from cancer. This study recommends that a diet containing dairy products increase the life expectancy in people diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
Relaxer
Drinking fresh milk helps to relax your nerves and soothe your mind. It has magnesium and potassium which work as vasodilators. It also helps to reduce the symptoms of cramps and PMs. Drinking a warm glass of milk relax your sore muscles and body. It also makes you sleep better.
Rich Protein
A 100grams of full-fat milk provide 3.2 gram of protein. Protein is essential for body functions. It is an essential macronutrient to help the body to produce enzymes, cartilage, muscles, skin tissue. It also helps you get sound sleep.
Weight loss
As milk is an excellent food for calcium, it helps to boost fat cells breakdown and prevent fat absorption in your body. It also provides healthy fats that linked with several health benefits, including lowering the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Milk also contains low calories with high protein that build muscles and energy. Furthermore, it also has hunger preventing a hormone called the peptide YY that make you feel fuller for a long time and assist in weight loss. Milk consumption also helps to prevent obesity and abnormal weight gain.
Soothes Heartburn
Often eating spicy and acidic foods that cause heartburn. Drinking fresh milk can helps to relieve the heartburn. The texture and coolness of milk reduce the burning sensation occurred by acidity. You can consume fat-free skimmed milk.
Reduce dark circles
Stress and less sleep cause to develop dark circles. It helps to lower the sleep deprivation on your eyes as it has moisturizing and soothing effects. You can put cotton balls in cold milk and put them on eyes until they leave their coldness. It will quickly be lowering the puffiness around your eyes.
Electrolyte Replacement
The electrolyte is important because they carry nutrients to an essential part of your body. When doing the strenuous workout, you may sweat, and your electrolytes levels get reduced such sodium and potassium. It also helps to restore these important components. It helps to promote nerve conduction and fulfill electrolytes.
Better immunity
The presence of vitamin D in the milk helps to strengthen your immune system. The good bacteria found in organic milk helps to increase immunity and lower the chances of allergies. The content of whey protein present in the milk provides immunoglobulins and beta-glucans, which fight flu and cold and assist in natural detoxification of the body.
Good for eye health
Fresh milk consumption gives you a sufficient amount of vitamin A, vitamin B12 that benefits eyes health. Milk is important for kid’s health in developing and improving eyesight.
Improves intelligence
Drinking whole milk is essential for brain development for children because of its healthy fats. It also helps neuron formation in the children. The content of magnesium in milk promotes intelligence in children health, while it prevents forgetfulness in adults.
Post-workout drink
You can consume fresh milk as a post-workout drink. The presence of whey protein in the milk helps to break down quickly to produce amino acids and enters in the bloodstreams to convert it into the protein after a workout. The protein from milk is essential for the muscles to recover after a workout.
Milk protein is a rich chain of amino acids which work as natural muscles building supplement. Milk also provides electrolytes, carbs, fats, and necessary nutrients to gain muscles. Also, milk is affordable food to get several nutrients.
Reduces hunger pangs
Drinking cold milk prevent frequent hunger. The fat present in the milk helps to digest food slowly and make you feel full stomach by reducing hunger.
Energy booster
The content of lactose, a carbohydrate in the milk helps to boost the energy. Your body utilizes sugar from them to renew energy storage.
Drinking a glass of fresh milk helps to restore your energy level. Adding chocolate in the milk provide more benefits than other energy drinks.
Less stress
Drinking fresh milk relieve your stress after tiring day. It helps to soothe your tired nerves and muscles. The content of vitamin B12 also promotes nerve health.
Depression
The vitamin D presence in the milk helps your body to produce hormones called serotonin, which reduces depression and improve appetite, sleep, and mood.
Sustains fertility
From the ancient world, ovulation-related problems have reduced by using milk. Drinking fresh milk helps to promote fertility. It also supports pregnancy. Pregnant women should consume milk on a regular basis to get vitamin D, calcium, and proteins for good fetus health. It provides benefits to a newborn baby in the early stages and provides good insulin levels by reducing chances of type 2 diabetes.
Optimizes child health
Drinking fresh milk fulfills the calcium need in children for bone development. Children suffering from calcium deficiency have slow growth. Adding milk in children’s food intake promote growth. Milk also provides carbohydrates, vitamins, and proteins which children deny to eat directly.
Soothes bad throat
Drinking warm milk also helps to soothe your bad throat. You can add a pinch of pepper and turmeric, which work wonder for relieving your throat and reducing cough and irritation. You can also prepare some tea to feel energetic and reduce infection.
First aid
Whenever someone gets poison, then the person should be taken to the doctor. In some circumstances, when you are unable to reach a doctor, you can give milk to the person to reduce poison effects. Milk helps to dilute the poison and slow down the digestion process.
Prevent osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is a disease of joint that creates swelling and pain in your joints. Drinking a glass of low-fat milk every day helps to improve the condition in women. It will have little effect on men than women. This benefit of milk is still in research.
Prevents colon cancer
Colon cancer occurs in the large intestine. It is a third and most common cancer in the world. Drinking fresh milk helps to prevent colon cancer. It provides a high impact on growing cancer in the colon. The important component of milk that prevent colon cancer include probiotics, vitamin D, calcium, butyric acid, sphingolipids, and conjugated linoleic acid.
Stronger nails
Milk provides essential mineral zinc, that is essential for keeping nails stronger. Having zinc deficiency causes brittle, white spots, and yellowness on the nails. Regular consumption of milk helps to provide shiny and healthy nails.
Promotes hair growth
Milk consumption also helps to provide healthy hair growth. The presence of calcium in the milk prevent hair loss and promote hair growth. It also assists in the production of creation, which is an essential element for hair growth.
Caution
Some people experience lactose intolerance and feel difficulty digesting milk. There will some important symptoms such as diarrhea, gas, stomach pain, bloating. If your kids get side effects of milk, make sure to contact your doctor. Adults can have lactose free milk, which prevents side effects.
What are the possible Side Effects and Risks?
Lactose Intolerance
Lactose is the sugar found in milk and other milk products. The small intestine generates an essential enzyme called lactase to break it into glucose. When you have less lactase, your stomach can not absorb lactose effectively and leads to lactose intolerance.
The undigested lactose pass from the intestine as it was earlier. As it enters the colon, the bacteria cause to break it to generate glucose along with fluid, which leads to gas formation. It will have symptoms of nausea, gas, bloating, and gastric discomfort.
Milk Allergy
Milk allergy is a response by the body from the immune system to milk protein. Getting milk allergy can be life-threatening even if you consume a small amount of milk, then also it will cause allergy.
Most of the time milk allergy occurs in infants or 1-year old children, while lactose intolerance may happen in adolescence.
Hormonal Imbalance
Fresh milk also benefits to balance the hormones. Estrogen is one of the important hormones available in milk.
Normally, the human body produces estrogen but the excess estrogen cause to create problems like cancers such as breast cancer, testicle cancer, and prostate cancer.
Bacterial Infections
Drinking raw milk of goat, cow, buffalo, or sheep can cause chronic and acute pathogenic infections. Using unpasteurized milk contain harmful bacteria such as E. coli, Samonella, Staphylococcus aureus, Campylobacter, Brucella, Coxiella, yersinia, and listeria.
It is common that bacteria from raw milk cause diarrhea, vomiting, fever, headaches, and abdominal pain. In rare cases, it can cause life-threatening ailments such as kidney failure, paralysis, stroke, hemolytic uremic syndrome, or even death. Therefore, it is important to consume healthy and safe milk.
Important
- Milk can provide benefits and also side effects. Therefore, keep in mind these following things.
- Have a test to check if you have protein allergy or lactose intolerant.
- Check the source of milk and its process and pasteurization.
- Check for brand and content of the milk.
- Read the nutritional labels.
What is a good time to drink the milk in a day?
Consume milk in the morning for building strength and muscles. Performing physical activity in the morning is good.
Consume milk at night for improving digestion, sleep and gut health
Can you take milk on an empty stomach?
Yes, you can consume milk on an empty stomach and in the morning. If you are not a lactose intolerant, it may take some time to digest.
On the contrast, some researchers recommend a detox first. You can have milk after detoxing your body with lemon juice or apple cider vinegar water. It will help to balance pH in the gut and manage the gastric activity.