Why older women shouldn't drink milk. Dairy products for adults - harm or benefit

What is life without milk? This is a source of calcium, protein, vitamins and everything that is so useful for our body. But not everything is so simple. Scientists have found out whether milk should be included in the diet of people of all ages.

I can't bear it!

Let's figure out what happens to milk in our body. The dissociation of lactose, a disaccharide that is part of milk, occurs under the action of the lactase enzyme. With age, the concentration of lactase decreases - in adults this enzyme is much less than in children.

In representatives of some populations, the enzyme ceases to be produced in early childhood, hypolactasia develops, milk intolerance develops - this happens, for example, among residents of Japan and China, where historically people use a small amount of milk. In European countries, hypolactasia is less common - in many adults, lactase activity persists throughout life. The symptoms of milk intolerance are quite unpleasant - bloating and diarrhea that occur after eating dairy products, such as ice cream.

Lactose tolerance is determined by the presence of a specific mutation in the genome. The genetic variant that provides long-term expression of lactase is quite widespread - this is due to the fact that the ability to digest milk gives its owners a number of advantages over those who lack this ability. Drinking milk is simple and affordable way get protein, calcium, phosphorus and B vitamins.

Scientists believe that the fermentation of milk, that is, the production of yogurt or cheese from it, was one of the ways that allowed our ancient ancestors, lacking a mutation responsible for the synthesis of lactase, to introduce milk into their diet and consume most useful nutrients in it without harm to health.

When fermented milk products are obtained, bacteria break down lactose, so kefir, curdled milk and yogurt do not pose a danger to those who suffer from milk intolerance.

Milk against fractures

The main argument of milk supporters is the importance of drinking it for strengthening bones, because it contains calcium. Scientists, however, found that among the inhabitants of countries where adults traditionally drink little milk, and countries where milk is drunk a lot and often, the risk of fractures is about the same.

The situation was different when it came to children. The bones of children who were allergic to milk were significantly less durable than those who did not have such an allergy. Even supplements and alternative sources calcium were not able to strengthen children's bones like milk. In general, milk is really useful for children - it strengthens bones, but drinking milk does not affect the strength of bones in adults and the risk of fractures.

Scientists agree that milk for adults is an optional component of the diet, although it is quite important. For those who suffer from hypolactasia or simply do not like all the milk, it is recommended to use other sources of calcium - green leafy vegetables, legumes. It is worth remembering that they are less rich in protein, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus and all that is found in milk - this means that you also need to take care of adding them to the diet.

If you decide to drink milk every day - choose whole, selected

If you consume milk every day, it will bring considerable benefits to your body.

Thanks to the calcium contained there, bones and teeth are strengthened.

Vitamin D, which is also found in milk, will help strengthen the immune system. In addition, it increases the absorption of calcium.

Vitamin D is also involved in the formation of happiness hormones, in particular serotonin.

The same protein affects sleep, as it has a relaxing and calming effect.

Since milk protein is digested very easily, it is indispensable for colds. It produces substances that fight infection.

Milk is prescribed for hypertensive patients, as it has a diuretic effect.

It helps with heartburn by reducing the acidity of the stomach.

Milk improves appearance skin thanks to vitamins, including vitamin A. It restores its elasticity.

The list of benefits of milk is quite long and it is endless.

However, store-bought milk has its drawbacks. Before bottling, it is homogenized, i.e. thoroughly mixed. As a result of this procedure, the air oxidizes milk fats. In addition, the drink is subjected to heating, and when high temperatures useful substances (for example, enzymes) simply disintegrate. Such a product will not bring any benefit to the body.

Is it bad to drink milk every day?

AT recent times added to feed for cows various drugs to protect them from disease. Antibiotic injections are also practiced. All these substances are found in milk, and then in the human body. It does not add to his health if you drink milk every day. With daily use, you need to be careful people prone to completeness. Excessive consumption of this drink can also lead to various types allergies. Drinking milk every day is harmful for those who are lactose deficient. In this case, it is simply not able to be digested in the body, causing pain in the abdomen. That is why milk is drunk in large quantities every day is not recommended.

It is best to consume natural fresh milk in moderation. Consider a glass of this drink as a serving of food. Do not mix it with other products and after taking it, try not to eat for 1.5 hours.

Thus, useful or harmful daily use milk, largely depends on the characteristics of your body and on what kind of milk you drink. Any product will not hurt if you use it in moderation, taking into account the state of your health.

It is difficult to name any other product that causes such a number of such conflicting opinions. Why is milk useful? Full fat or low fat, pasteurized or raw, it is always the subject of heated debate.

One thing we know for sure, milk is the first product that a person tries in his life. There is no disagreement here. In order for the baby to grow up healthy, he needs to consume this valuable product daily. Is milk good for adults? On this account, scientists have their own opinion. The point here, they argue, is not at all in milk, but in its effect on everyone. individual organism. If a person has any problems with digestive system it can actually be harmful. Again, only if you prefer fatty species milk. Therefore, the question of whether milk is healthy must be approached strictly individually.

For healthy body it is practically irreplaceable source vitamins, microelements and mineral salts. This is calcium, which is disproportionately more than in cereals and vegetables. Why is milk useful? One liter of milk, for example, contains half daily allowance essential amino acids our body needs. It contains a large amount of potassium, which has the most beneficial effect on the output excess fluid from our body. People suffering from osteoporosis, it is simply necessary. This disease is provoked by a strong leaching of calcium from the body and, as a result, high bone fragility. Calcium contained in milk is absorbed by the human body by more than ninety-six percent, that is, almost completely. No other product can boast such high performance.

Why is milk useful? This product contains about twenty-five types of different vitamins, so people suffering from beriberi, it is undoubtedly useful. Think about a cold. Our grandmothers treated her with this healing drink. We didn't think about it beneficial effect but just drank milk and felt better. Experts explain it miraculous properties the fact that our body needs immunoglobulins to quickly defeat the infection. And they are formed precisely from protein, which in this product is absorbed very quickly.

Is milk good for adults? Certainly useful. But for some this product is really not suitable. Firstly, these are those people who have a low content of lactase in the body. If after drinking a glass of milk in your stomach begins strong seething, bloating and others discomfort, milk will have to be abandoned. But this is not a problem, because it can easily be replaced with any other delicious fermented milk products. Content in them useful substances no less, but their consumption will not lead to a "revolution" in the stomach. Is milk good for people of retirement age? Experts say that after fifty-five years, milk consumption should be limited to one or two glasses a day. The whole cause is atherosclerosis, to which people in old age are most susceptible. contained in milk, contributes to the gradual accumulation of lipoproteins in the body, which leads to the development this disease. Some people simply cannot tolerate the milk antigen "A". As a result, it is possible that skin rash, itching, and in serious cases, even the development of an attack bronchial asthma. If you know about such a reaction of your body to this product, best solution will be completely excluded from the diet.

It must be said that less than twenty percent of the mature population has such intolerance. For all other adults, experts highly recommend drinking milk. Many people know about the benefits of milk and use it as one of the best medicines for heartburn, and after drinking a glass of milk an hour before bedtime, you will sleep sweetly all night.

Alexander Baturin, professor, doctor medical sciences, Deputy Director for scientific work GU Research Institute of Nutrition RAMS:

The inclusion of milk in the diet not only provides the body with complete animal proteins, optimally balanced in amino acid composition, but is also an excellent source of easily digestible calcium and phosphorus compounds, as well as vitamins A, B2, D. Simultaneous intake of the above nutrients promotes defensive forces organisms from various adverse factors external environment.

The calcium contained in milk is very necessary for women (especially in menopause), children, teenagers, the elderly. Calcium is needed for normal development healthy teeth and bones and plays important role in metabolism.

In the same time milk fat, like any other - animal, entering the body in in large numbers, can contribute to the development of atherosclerosis, increase the level of cholesterol in the blood serum, metabolic processes in the liver. Therefore, in case of metabolic disorders, diabetes, obesity, as well as in old age, preference should be given to low-fat milk 0.5-1%.

Tell me, what dose of milk should be consumed for the normal maintenance of useful substances in the body?

Marianna Trifonova, nutritionist, chief physician center of aesthetic and restorative medicine "Emerald":

The average annual rate of milk consumption for an adult, recommended by the Research Institute of Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, is 392 liters - this is a little more than a liter per day.

One glass of milk (200 ml) contains 25% of daily allowance calcium, 22% DV vitamin B2, 21% DV vitamin D, 18% DV phosphorus, 13.5% DV protein.

However, it must be remembered that the rate of milk consumption depends on a number of factors, such as gender and age characteristics, physical activity, seasonality, pregnancy, and diet (for example, if you eat foods with high content calcium - broccoli, sardines, peanuts, black beans, your milk norm will be lower). Therefore, in order to determine your individual milk intake, it is important to consult a professional nutritionist, and at the same time find out if you suffer from milk intolerance.

They say that milk is a very useful product, nutritious, increasing our vitality. Many people believe that milk cannot be drunk, that after seven years the human body does not have the necessary enzyme for its complete digestion (lactose). This is true?

Marianna Trifonova:

Indeed, in ancient times, adults did not consume milk, since when the period breastfeeding ended human body stopped producing lactase, an enzyme necessary for digestion milk sugar. However, several millennia ago in Europe there was a mutation of the gene responsible for the production of lactase. The gene stopped "turning off" with the passing of childhood. Of course, individual people individual intolerance to milk, the so-called hypolactasia, can be observed.

All healthy children under the age of 3-5 years have high lactase activity. As they grow older, there is a decrease in the production of the enzyme, which is due to the action of the lactase gene. Between 10 and 18 years, the level of lactase production inherent in each person is finally formed, which remains in subsequent years. Decreased enzyme activity occurs in different ethnic groups with varying frequency. individual intolerance to milk Eastern Slavs and Europeans in general less than 10%.

I am 87 years old. I heard that at my age milk is bad. Is it so?

Marianna Trifonova:

There are many common misconceptions about milk. One of them is that milk is allegedly unhealthy for older people. Indeed, a few millennia ago, only children could drink milk. When the period of breastfeeding ended, the body stopped producing lactase, as a result of which the ancient adults were completely intolerant of milk. However, in the course of evolution, the gene responsible for the production of lactase ceased to “turn off” with the passing of childhood, and today adults can drink milk with peace of mind. Moreover, there are a number of so-called “age-related” diseases, such as osteoporosis, for the prevention of which it is absolutely necessary to introduce milk and dairy products into the daily diet.

Is it true that milk can be used instead of protein shakes for more effective muscle building?

Alexey Tikhonov, world and European champion in figure skating:

You correctly noted that people who want to increase muscle mass, often consume additional doses of amino acids. For example, they drink the so-called protein shakes. But in fact, synthetic amino acids are absorbed by our body in a very limited quantity. It is much more useful and effective in this sense to eat meat, vegetable protein, milk and dairy products, since the protein in this case is absorbed almost completely. That is, in order to achieve maximum results and become the owner beautiful figure, we need only a balanced diet rich in natural proteins and intense physical activity.

I would like to know which milk is natural milk?

Mikhail Dryashin, Chief Editor site www.omoloke.com:

Most likely, when wondering about the naturalness of milk, you are afraid that the milk you buy is obtained by diluting dry milk powder. In accordance with technical regulations“On Milk and Dairy Products” such products have the right to be called not milk, but only a milk drink. At the same time, what milk drink obtained from powder, should be reflected in the information on the package. So any milk from a bona fide manufacturer that is on store shelves is natural.

What should I find out to know if milk is good for me?

Mikhail Dryashin:

Milk is useful for the vast majority of the population of our country. Exceptions are very few and related to certain diseases or individual intolerance to milk sugar or protein. To find out if milk is good for you personally (in case there are suspicions of the opposite), you should contact your doctor.

For many years I have been buying milk from the market with my hands. How safe is it?

Mikhail Dryashin:

Fresh milk obtained from a healthy cow is the most beneficial for health, but often unsafe: within a few hours after milking, bacteria from the air begin to enter it. To minimize the risk of poisoning, thermal methods of milk processing have been invented. Most fully preserve all the benefits of fresh milk helps modern method processing - ultrapasteurization. In just a few seconds, the milk is heated and instantly cooled, after which it is immediately filled into multi-layer carton packaging under sterile conditions. Such milk is marked with the Higher Dairy Standard sign. Pay attention to the foods you eat, because they affect the state of our health.

The stores offer a large selection of milk in different packages: plastic, glass, cardboard. What milk to choose?

Mikhail Dryashin:

Milk in plastic bottles is only a part of the products presented on the shelves. Plastic bottles have many advantages - they are convenient, stable, weigh a little. However, they also have disadvantages: the problem is that plastic bottle does not provide milk with complete protection from light. Light, primarily sunlight and the light of fluorescent lamps, which, as a rule, illuminate the trading floors of stores, destroys milk proteins and fats, which are oxidized under its influence. In addition, light can lead to the loss of vitamins contained in milk. Light-tight packaging, such as a carton bag, preserves the benefits of milk much more effectively.

What is standardized milk?

Svetlana Denisova, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Chief Physician of the Children's Polyclinic "Healthy From Young" on Schelkovskaya www.zdorovsmol.ru:

Normalized milk is milk with a certain, guaranteed mass fraction fat. Traditional values ​​are 1.5% for milk with low content fat and 3% for standard category milk, but there are also milks as low as 0.1 and 0.5% fat. Simply put, normalization is milk brought to the required fat content.

They say that milk is very useful product, nourishing, boosting us vitality. Many people believe that milk cannot be drunk, that after seven years the human body does not have the necessary enzyme for its complete digestion (lactose). This is true?

Svetlana Denisova:

Lack of the enzyme lactose occurs in both very young children and the elderly. Most often, this condition is temporary and is associated either with the immaturity of the gastrointestinal tract (in young children), or with chronic diseases(in adults). Milk is a very useful product - it has all the necessary nutrients, as well as calcium, phosphorus, B vitamins. Milk is especially useful for children, pregnant and lactating women and the elderly.

For a long time I was not drawn to milk: it caused discomfort from drinking. And now it's the other way around. Is it normal?

Svetlana Denisova:

Discomfort when drinking milk happens with digestive problems, after suffering intestinal or viral infections. After recovery, the tolerance of products, including dairy products, is restored. In addition, despite the fact that cow's milk has the same composition, it has a different taste and different processing, and the human body reacts differently to these parameters.

Milk appears in a person's life from birth (first maternal, then cow's) and many continue to use it all their lives. But more and more often in various programs and articles about healthy eating we are told about the undesirability of milk consumption by adults. Let's look at this issue, referring to scientific data.

Milk is an extremely healthy product and contains most critical components necessary for human health, namely:

• Milk proteins are in the easiest form for assimilation by the body (colloidal-dispersed state).
• Milk proteins contain about 20 well-balanced amino acids.
• Milk protein is the only soluble protein in the human diet that neutralizes some harmful substances. This property is associated with the presence of sulfur-containing amino acids in the milk protein.
  That is why many enterprises harmful conditions Labor introduced free delivery of milk.
• Milk proteins lactoglobulins have antibiotic properties and are related to the formation of antibodies.
• Milk contains macro- and microelements in an optimal ratio for assimilation. The role of milk is especially great in providing the human body with calcium and phosphorus, which are contained in milk in significant quantities and in the optimal ratio.
• Milk contains a significant amount of the following vitamins:
  retinol (A),
  calciferol (D),
  riboflavin (B2),
  pyridoxine (B6).
• Milk is a carrier of many hormones and immune bodies (agglutinins, precipitins, antitoxins, opsonins, etc.).

The answer is very simple.

It's all about lactose –
substance from the group simple sugars, which in cow's milk about 4.8%.
Quite a few people in gastrointestinal tract there is no lactase enzyme, which breaks down lactose into glucose and galactose. These people are intolerant of lactose-containing milk, but often safely consume kefir, where the lactose is partly consumed by the kefir yeast.

When the human body does not produce the enzyme lactase, which breaks down milk sugar lactose, consumed milk leads to the development of unwanted microflora in the intestine.

Getting into the intestines in an unsplit form, lactose becomes food for the bacteria living there. By eating lactose, bacteria produce waste products in the form of gas.
A person suffers from abundant gas formation, the stomach "swells".

When does a person use kefir or other dairy products, lactic acid bacteria and yeast contained in it inhibit the activity of microflora, thereby reducing the adverse effects of lactose.

Why don't all adults have the enzyme lactase? In fact, humanity has learned to digest lactose quite recently.

Due to the development of cattle breeding, a gene mutation occurred several thousand years ago, which made it possible to preserve the ability of an adult organism to produce the enzyme lactase.

Previously, the body stopped producing lactase as soon as the baby stopped feeding. breast milk.

Milk producers have long been puzzled by the question:
if lactose is not broken down in the body, can it be broken down in milk before consumption?

This possibility appeared as early as the 1970s, when the first commercially applicable enzymes for lactose hydrolysis were obtained.

At the same time, the first low-lactose products appeared. The problem was that low-lactose milk tasted unnaturally sweet.

How to make lactose-free milk indistinguishable in taste from regular milk?

The most successful approach to solving this problem was the Finnish dairy concern.
The patented membrane filtration technology produces naturally tasting milk with less than 0.01% lactose.

Now milk without any unpleasant phenomena in the intestines, can be consumed by everyone without exception.
In addition, low-lactose milk contains fewer calories than usual. Which is quite natural, because it does not contain milk sugar - lactose. At the same time, the original mineral composition, beneficial features milk is completely preserved.