Milk, who doesn't love it?
Milk is said to be the "closest thing to perfection", but as many people praise it, as many people denigrate it.
Milk has saturated fatty acids and cholesterol, so it bears the insult of "hurting the heart", and some studies say that it is "carcinogenic" and "will die early if you drink too much".
A recent study of more than 1.9 million people [1] suggests that people who drink milk are fatter.
Is milk really that bad? We let the scientific evidence speak for itself!
Image source: Stand Cool Helo
In fact, the study just mentioned also said that drinking milk often does not hurt the heart, but is good for the heart - reducing the risk of coronary heart disease [1].
(Source: International Journal of Obesity official website)
Specifically, people who drink milk regularly have lower cholesterol levels.
Drinking 1 cup of milk (about 250 ml) a day reduces the risk of coronary heart disease by 14%!
This is not the first time that science has "justified" milk.
In 2018
A Lancet survey of 130,000 people in 21 countries[2] showed that people who consumed more than 2 servings of dairy products (equivalent to 1 kilogram of milk) per day compared to those who did not consume dairy at all.
16% reduction in overall risk of death
23% reduction in risk of cardiovascular death
33% reduction in risk of stroke
The author specifically pointed out that stroke is the first major cause of death in Chinese, and Chinese who drink less milk should promote milk drinking!
In 2020
The team of academician Gu Dongfeng of Fuwai Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences suggested through a study involving more than 90,000 people[3]:
Compared to people who never drink milk
People who drink 150 to 300 grams of milk per day
Risk of cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality
23% and 19% reduction, respectively
Unfortunately, the relevant mechanism is not very clear.
In 2020
The study, published in the Chinese Medical Journal, speculates that milk is rich in nutrients such as protein, calcium, and potassium, which help improve dyslipidemia and hypertension [3].
In 1994
Studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition say that milk fat in milk is good for lipid control [4].
But one thing is for sure, as a Chinese, you may drink too little milk!
Milk consumption in European and American countries, with an average of more than 300 kg per person per year;
Chinese drink only 21.7 kg of milk per year.
These two figures are 15 times worse[5]!
As for the so-called milk "carcinogenic" and "drinking too much and dying early" research, either for some Westerners who drink too much milk, or use animals to do research, and the diet of Chinese is fundamentally different.
The current mainstream view is that drinking milk in moderation is good for health. Dietary guidelines in various countries also recommend that people drink milk [5].
(Milk interchange table.) Source: Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents)
In order to make you look more intuitive, we made a histogram based on the data in the table.
(Source: Made your own)
It is not difficult to see that although many Western scholars have concerns about milk, they are still very honest, and the recommended intake of milk is much higher than that in China.
Image source: Stand Cool Helo
For Chinese, drinking milk in moderation (300 ml per day) is beneficial and harmless.
In terms of Chinese dietary habits, drinking milk has five major benefits [6].
01
Provides high-quality protein
300 ml of milk contains about 9 grams of protein, reaching 16.4% of the recommended daily amount for adult women.
The digestibility of milk protein is as high as 90%, and the proportion of essential amino acids is also in line with the needs of the human body, which is the "superior student" in protein.
02
A significant source of calcium
Drinking 300 ml of milk can consume more than 300 mg of calcium, which is close to 40% of the recommended daily calcium intake target.
Milk also contains vitamin D, lactose, amino acids and other factors that promote calcium absorption, and the body has a high absorption and utilization rate of calcium in milk.
03
Contains a variety of vitamins and minerals
Milk is a good source of B vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin D, zinc, and potassium. Drink 300 ml of milk, you can achieve the recommended intake of 10% to 32%.
04
Promotes digestion
The lactose in milk can regulate the amount of gastric acid secretion, can help gastrointestinal peristalsis and the secretion of digestive juices, and can promote the absorption and utilization of minerals such as calcium, iron and zinc.
05
Prevent some diseases
Drinking milk in moderation promotes increased bone density in adults and reduces the risk of colorectal cancer, hypertension, and diabetes [6-7].
Prevention of kidney stones [8].
Under the premise of controlling total energy intake, drinking milk can reduce body fat content, prevent obesity[9], and prevent and alleviate gout [10].
Image source: Stand Cool Helo
The Chinese Nutrition Society recommends [5] that adults should consume 300 grams of milk or a considerable amount of dairy products per person per day.
How to drink enough of this number? Try a few things:
1. Choose alternatives
If you don't like the taste of milk, or have lactose intolerance, you can use yogurt, milk powder or cheese instead (yogurt preferred).
The conversion ratio can be referred to the following table [5]:
(Milk interchange table.) Source: Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents)
It should be reminded that yogurt and milk powder should try to choose low sugar, and cheese should choose low salt.
2. Find a good partner
Milk and milk powder can be steamed with noodle steamed buns, and can also be beaten with fruit to make milkshakes.
Milk steamed custard and milk soaked cereal are also good.
Yogurt can be mixed with fruit and salad, and it is also very delicious to accompany nuts.
3. A small number of times
Whether it is milk or yogurt, you can drink it in small quantities many times.
For example, a glass of milk (200 to 300 ml) for breakfast, a small cup of yogurt (about 100 ml) in the afternoon;
Or have 1 slice of cheese for breakfast and a glass of milk in the afternoon.
In short, it is easy to drink enough 300 grams of milk a day for as long as you want.
Hang out and see what kind of surprises milk can bring you!
Conveniently forward this article to the circle of friends, and drink milk with friends~
Review expert: Hu Changli | Ph.D., Key Laboratory of Functional Dairy products, China Agricultural University
bibliography
[1] Vimaleswaran K S, Zhou A, Cavadino A, et al. Evidence for a causal association between milk intake and cardiometabolic disease outcomes using a two-sample Mendelian Randomization analysis in up to 1,904,220 individuals[J]. International Journal of Obesity (2005), 2021.
[2] Dehghan M, Mente A, Rangarajan S, et al. Association of dairy intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 21 countries from five continents (PURE): a prospective cohort study[J]. The Lancet, 2018, 392(10161): 2288-2297.
[3] Wang X Y, Liu F C, Yang X L, et al. Association of cardiovascular diseases with milk intake among general Chinese adults[J]. Chinese medical journal, 2020, 133(10): 1144.
[4] Steinmetz K A , Childs M T , Stimson C , et al. Effect of consumption of whole milk and skim milk on blood lipid profiles in healthy men. [J]. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1994(3):612-618.
[5] Edited by Chinese Nutrition Society, Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2016)[M]. People's Medical Publishing House, 2016.
[6] Chinese Nutrition Society, ed., Food and Health: Consensus on Scientific Evidence[M]. People's Medical Publishing House, 2016.
Zheng Feifei,Fan Zhihong. Dairy product intake and diabetes risk prevention and control[J]. China Dairy Industry,2014,42(6):34-37.
Lan Xiaofang,Fan Zhihong. Research progress on the relationship between calcium and dairy intake and kidney stone risk[J]. China Food and Nutrition,2016,22(3):59-63.
[9] Li Shuejing,Fan Zhihong. Dairy intake and body quality control[J]. China Dairy Industry, 2017, 45(2): 22-25.
Dong Yang,Fan Zhihong. Dairy food and gout prevention and control[J]. China Dairy Industry,2015,43(3):46-49.
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