Milk's Benefits
In the last 50 years, fluid milk consumption has decreased. However dairy product consumption like cheese and butter has increased. Milk is wholesome and delicious, and its benefits can sometimes take a backseat with other conversations that are occurring in the food industry today.
Milk is packed with 13 essential nutrients. Expand the list below to see the way each nutrient benefits us.
Protein
Builds and repairs healthy tissue and supports a healthy immune system.
Calcium
Phosphorous
Zinc
Selenium
Iodine
Potassium
Vitamin A
Vitamin D
B-Complex Vitamins
Even with all of its nutrients, milk has other benefits as well.
Satiety
This just means that milk is naturally filling and leaves you feeling full. Milk isn't usually considered a "diet food," it can give you a feeling of fullness without having to consume much of it. In conjunction with its nutritional value, this property of milk can also be beneficial to diminishing food insecurity.
Antioxidant & Anti-Cancer
In all categories of food, antioxidants are important. They prevent oxidative stress that can cause neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, and cancer. Milk picks up where plants lack, containing both water and fat soluble antioxidants. Milk’s fat-soluble antioxidants prevent oxidative stress in the brain, heart nervous tissue and lungs.
Milk contains Conjugated Linoleic Acid which inhibits growth in many cancer cells in humans, and in studies has shown to reduce tumor growth in animal trials. Early studies are showing that even small amounts of CLA exhibit the anti-cancer benefits.
Many people avoid milk because it doesn't sit well with their stomach. If it's not good for some people, how can it be good for others?
Lactose Intolerance
Just because some people are lactose intolerant- doesn’t mean dairy is bad for everyone.
If dairy upsets the stomach, it’s because the body doesn’t have the lactase enzyme that breaks down and digests the lactose, which is the sugar in milk. The possession of this enzyme can be genetic, or it can go away over time if you do not put it to use. So, if your parents didn’t consume much or any dairy you may not have the lactase enzyme, or if you stop consuming dairy for a period of time the lactase enzyme will go away. Through processing of many dairy products like yogurt and cheese, the milk sugar, lactose, is broken down making these products more easily digested by lactose intolerant people.
Cheers to Milk
Milk is one of the most complete foods in the food supply. Jam packed with nutrients at a low cost, it is beneficial to all communities, and will play a big role in solving food insecurities. If milk and your body don’t get along, try a lactose-free milk, A2A2 milk, enjoy some Greek yogurt, or a hard cheese. Cheers!
Here are the sources for this week:
Thank you for reading! As always send me any comments or questions you have! On the next blog, I'll be talking about plant-based beverages.
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