MILK – ESSENTIAL FOR NOURISHMENT
Milk a Without Question an Important Part of a Healthy Diet
What is Milk?
Milk may be defined as the whole, fresh, clean, lacteal secretion obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy milch animals, excluding that obtained within 15 days before or 5 days after calving or such periods as may be necessary to render the milk practically colostrums-free and containing the minimum prescribed percentages of milk fat and milk-solids-not-fat. In India, the term 'milk', when unqualified, refers to cow or buffalo milk, or a combination of the two. Milk naturally provides 15 essential nutrients for normal growth and for the maintenance of good health. In addition to its unique nutritional value, milk is fortified with vitamin D. This vitamin plays an essential role in bone health as well as many others. Milk is considered an ideal food. It contains almost all those essential nutritions which are required for the growth of the human body.
The Importance of Milk in the Diet:
- Although milk from the cow is processed, it is not an engineered or fabricated food.
- It is about 87 percent water and 13 percent solids. The fat portion of the milk contains fat soluble vitamins. The solids other than fat include proteins, carbohydrates, water soluble vitamins, and minerals. These nutrients in milk help make it nature’s most nearly perfect food.
- Milk products contain high quality proteins. The whey proteins constitute about 18 percent of the protein content of milk. Casein, a protein found only in milk, contains all of the essential amino acids. It accounts for 82 percent of the total proteins in milk and is used as a standard for evaluating protein of other foods. Protein is needed to build and repair body tissues and to form antibodies which circulate in the blood and help fight infection.
- Milk contains the following nutrients: calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium.
- The calcium found in milk is readily absorbed by the body. Phosphorus plays a role in calcium absorption and utilization. Phosphorus is needed in the proper ratio to calcium to form bone. Milk provides these two minerals in approximately the same ratio as found in bone. Milk is also a significant source of riboflavin (vitamin B2) which helps promote healthy skin and eyes, as well as vitamins A and D.
- In adults, a calcium deficiency, along with other factors, may result in bone deterioration called osteoporosis. The recommendations for calcium is 1,000 milligrams for adults, 1,300 milligrams per day for adolescents, 500-800 milligrams per day for young children and 1,200 milligrams per day for adults over 51 years of age. It is difficult to obtain adequate calcium without milk and milk products in the diet.
- About 73 percent of the calcium available in the food supply is provided by milk and milk products.
Food and Nutritive Value of Milk:
Milk is an almost ideal food. It has high nutritive value. It supplies body-building proteins, bone-forming minerals and health-giving vitamins and furnishes energy-giving lactose and milk fat. Besides supplying certain essential fatty acids, it contains the above nutrients in an easily digestible and assimilable form. All these properties make milk an important