Twelve questions about milk
As we all know, drinking milk is not only beneficial to the growth and development of children and adolescents, but also helpful to the bone health of adults. Want to simply drink pure milk, but it is easy to be confused by a wide variety of milk with different names on the market. How to choose the milk that suits you? Understand the following 12 questions, and you will never be confused when buying milk.
1. Buy milk at room temperature or low temperature?
People who have time to buy milk often, have the conditions to refrigerate, and have higher requirements on milk flavor: choose low-temperature milk.
People who don’t have time to buy milk often, have no refrigeration conditions, and like to hoard goods during sales promotion: choose normal temperature milk.
Normal temperature milk (ultra-high temperature sterilized milk) is milk produced and processed by ultra-high temperature instantaneous sterilization technology and filled into aseptic packaging. Due to the high sterilization temperature, although nutrients such as protein and calcium in milk will not be lost, folic acid and B vitamins will be lost, and the flavor of milk will change slightly. After high-temperature sterilization, the sweet taste of milk will fade and the taste will be stronger. Some people think it has a strange taste, while others prefer this "strong" flavor.
Normal temperature milk is usually packaged in sterile composite paper, which can keep milk at room temperature for a long time without refrigeration and preservatives.
Cold milk (that is, fresh milk) usually refers to pasteurized milk. Compared with normal temperature milk, pasteurized milk has a relatively low sterilization temperature, so its flavor, taste and vitamins are better preserved.
In addition, some heat-sensitive bioactive substances in milk, such as lactoferrin, are also retained more. However, in terms of supplementing protein and calcium, there is little difference between normal temperature milk and low temperature milk.
The shelf life of low-temperature milk is short, generally 2-mdash; 8 days, need to be refrigerated in the refrigerator, suitable for people who are convenient to shop and refrigerate food at ordinary times. If conditions do not allow, just buy normal temperature milk.
If you drink it directly, low-temperature milk can enjoy a sweeter milk flavor.
If milk is used for cooking, baking or making coffee, it is more suitable to have a strong taste of normal temperature milk.
2. Is pasteurized milk fresher and more nutritious?
Generally speaking, pasteurized milk is fresher. Compared with normal temperature milk, there is no difference in most nutrients of pasteurized milk, such as protein and calcium. But on the whole, the nutritional value of pasteurized milk is relatively higher.
Making pasteurized milk requires low sterilization temperature and high basic conditions of milk itself, so it is generally the best milk source to make fresh pasteurized milk.
3. Is low-fat skim milk better than whole milk?
People who drink a lot of milk and need to lose weight strictly can choose low-fat milk.
The dietary guidelines for China residents do not recommend low-fat or skimmed milk. For ordinary people, it is not recommended to choose low-fat milk or skim milk. If you remove the fat from milk, you will lose more than 85% of the fat-soluble vitamins. Vitamin A and vitamin D in milk are vitamins that are easy to lack in Chinese. At the same time, milk fat is not all saturated fat, but also contains some beneficial fatty acids, such as conjugated linoleic acid.
People who lose weight may wonder whether drinking milk will gain weight, which mainly depends on the milk intake. If you drink 300 grams of whole milk every day according to the dietary guidelines of China residents, the fat intake through milk is 9.3 grams according to the fat content of 3.1%; If you change to skim milk, you will consume about 1.5 grams of fat according to the fat content of 0.5%. Therefore, replacing whole milk with skim milk will reduce 7.8 grams of fat, less than 1 tablespoon of cooking oil.
4. Is the reconstituted milk watered?
Restored milk is simply milk made from milk powder and water — — Not milk mixed with water, but milk powder mixed with water.
China has fewer milk producing areas and fewer milk sources, and the price of raw milk is more expensive. Therefore, it is a more economical way to restore imported milk powder to liquid milk. However, the flavor of this reconstituted milk is really much worse, so sugar and other things are often added to flavor it. The most typical one is the "Wangzai milk" that many people loved to drink when they were children.
5. What kind of "milk" is mixed with water?
If the words "milk drink" are marked on the package, it is milk mixed with water. Therefore, when purchasing related products, be sure to read the instructions on the package carefully.
6. Is school milk the best place for children?
As milk for school students, school milk is not sold in shopping malls. The basic principles of implementing the "Student Drinking Milk Program" in China are safety, nutrition, convenience and low price. Therefore, children can usually drink pure milk that can be bought in the market.
7. What is zero lactose milk?
Zero lactose milk is milk from which lactose is removed, which is suitable for people who are lactose intolerant. Many people are familiar with lactose intolerance. People who are lactose intolerant will have symptoms such as gas production, burping, abdominal distension and diarrhea after drinking milk.
The lactose content in milk is about 4.5%, which can be reduced or removed by modern technology. The lactose content in low lactose milk is ≤ 2%, and the lactose-free lactose content is ≤ 0.5%。 In this way, people with lactose intolerance can also drink milk.
It should be noted that lactose in milk does not disappear out of thin air, but one molecule of lactose is degraded into two molecules of monosaccharide. Therefore, it is necessary to remind diabetic patients that zero lactose milk will have a higher glycemic index and is not suitable for diabetic patients.
8. Is high calcium milk more calcium?
First of all, it depends on whether you are very calcium deficient; Secondly, look at what calcium is added to the high-calcium milk.
Milk is rich in calcium, and there are about 100 milligrams of calcium per 100 grams of milk. High-calcium milk contains at least 120 mg of calcium per 100 grams of milk, which is not much higher.
The absorption rate of natural milk calcium in milk is very high, but in order to save costs, some enterprises add calcium carbonate to "high-calcium milk", and the absorption rate of this calcium in human body is relatively low. When it is put together with milk, its significance is even weaker. If you want to buy high-calcium milk, you can choose products with milk calcium.
9. What is extra strong milk?
Generally speaking, extra concentrated milk is concentrated milk. This kind of milk has higher protein content and more fragrant milk flavor, but it should be noted that the fat content is also higher. However, some manufacturers have removed part of the fat of extra-thick milk intimately, so pay attention to the nutrition label when buying.
10. What is A2 milk?
Only contains A2 type β -casein, but not type A1 β -Casein milk is A2β -Casein milk, referred to as A2 milk. At present, no research has found that this kind of milk is more nutritious, but the price is often higher.
Studies have proved that A2 protein is more easily digested and absorbed by human body, and will not cause dyspeptic symptoms. If you have discomfort symptoms such as bloating and diarrhea as soon as you drink milk, and you still can’t get better after drinking lactose-free milk, you can try A2β -Casein milk. If there is nothing uncomfortable about drinking milk, just drink ordinary milk.
11. Is organic milk worth buying?
Organic milk is milk produced according to organic standards. Organic milk is safer, but its nutrients are not higher than ordinary milk.
Need to be reminded that organic milk will be much more expensive than ordinary milk, please choose according to your own economic situation.
12. Is the higher the milk in protein, the more worth buying?
Attention! More than 90% of milk is water, so you can’t expect to drink milk to supplement protein. Ordinary milk contains 3 grams of protein per 100 grams. Even if some high-protein milk can contain 5 grams of protein per 100 grams of milk, if you drink 300 grams of milk every day according to the recommendation of China Nutrition Society, you will only consume 6 grams of protein more than ordinary milk, so you might as well eat more meat.
However, if Gao protein’s milk is native, not concentrated high protein, it really shows that the milk source is good, so please choose according to your own economic situation.
(The author is a registered dietitian of China Nutrition Society and a well-known popular science blogger)