A drink of good health

Diet

Milk has been maligned in recent times, but the case for it is far stronger than the case against it.

There is an entire lobby that hates milk and many arguments have been put forward to make humans stop drinking the dreaded stuff. The truth is that milk is one of the most nutritious foods and one can't go wrong with it, unless you happen to be lactose intolerant.

Even a country like the US, which is obsessed with food and food allergies, recommends through the United States Department of Agriculture the drinking of milk as part of its food pyramid. And for those who are lactose intolerant, the USDA advises the addition of enzymes that reduce lactose in milk.

Milk, as is well known, contains iodine, vitamins B12, A, D and K, riboflavin, biotin, pantothenic acid, potassium, magnesium, selenium and thiamine. Each of these are important for maintaining good health without having to resort to popping multiple vitamin pills and other supplements for proper nutrition. And yet poor old milk has gotten itself such a bad name in recent times.

One of the most specious arguments against drinking of milk by humans is that no other animal continues to drink milk once they enter adulthood. To take that argument further, no other animal apart from humans cooks its food, opens restaurants, lays tables to eat at or builds concrete houses or complex transportation systems to reach food outlets.

But milk's demonisation, it would seem, is on the wane. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, "At moderate levels, though, consumption of calcium and dairy products has benefits beyond bone health, including possibly lowering the risk of high blood pressure and colon cancer. While the blood pressure benefits appear fairly small, the protection against colon cancer seems somewhat larger, and most of the latter benefit comes from having just one glass of milk per day. Getting more than this doesn't seem to lower risk any further."

While the pro- and anti-milk lobbies fight it out and until research reaches any conclusion that is proven beyond a shadow of doubt, it would be safe to continue consuming moderate amounts of milk and milk products on a daily basis. Cheers.