Milk is a highly nutritious fluid that is used to make many variety food or dairy/milk products such as yogurt, butter, cream and cheese. It has become the major part of modern life as it contains almost every nutrient that your body requires.
The nutritious composition of milk includes phosphorous, Vitamin B2 and B12, Vitamin D, calcium, protein and many more.
Milk, Whole, 3.25% Fat – (100 Grams) – General Information
| Calories | 61 |
| Protein | 3.2 gm |
| Water | 88% |
| Carbs | 4.8 gm |
| Fiber | 0 gm |
| Sugar | 5.1 gm |
Milk proteins
It contains all essential amino acids and approx 3.3% protein. Milk protein can be divided in 2 groups that include casein (80%) and whey (20%). it is good for skin, muscles, hair and body growth. These protein components of milk helps muscles relax and contract and repair damaged tissues.
The presence of essential amino acids in milk play crucial role in many body functions as antibodies, hormones and enzymes. These proteins are the main source of energy for body.
Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 is not a single vitamin. It is group of essential vitamins. It deficiency can cause many serious health issues such as Paralysis. This vitamin is very essential for developing strengthening nervous system.
Most of the people in the world suffer from deficiency of this vitamin to some extent. The symptoms of vitamin deficiency are:
- Feeling tired easily
- Drowsiness throughout the day
- Numbness n limbs
- Mood swings, etc.
Most of people suffering from vitamin deficiency are vegetarian. We do not get the required quantity of vitamin through the cooked vegetables. The best source of vitamin B12 is milk and few fruits are also rich in Vitamin B12.
It is found that if we include 250 ml of milk in or daily diet; we may recover the vitamin B12 deficiency.
Calcium
Calcium is also very important for nervous system and strength of bones. Calcium deficiency is mostly found in women after the age of 40. Calcium deficiency can be due to two reasons:
- Lack of calcium intake
- Body is not able to absorb calcium
In case of first scenario, milk can play an important role. Milk has a good content of calcium. Also the calcium in milk is easily absorbed by body. So, the person suffering from calcium deficiency should include milk or milk products in his/her daily diet.
Vitamin D
As we just saw that people having good intake of calcium also suffer from its deficiency. The reason for this is that their body is not absorbing the calcium present their diet. Vitamin D and phosphorus help in calcium absorption.
That means, if you are having a good quantity of calcium in your diet, but you are not having Vitamin D in required quantity, then also you ma suffer from calcium deficiency.
But need not to worry. Milk has adequate amount of vitamin D too along with calcium. So it provides calcium and also helps in its absorption. Vitamin D is therefore important nutrient for bones. It helps in utilizing calcium to strengthen the bones.
Fat
Though it is not a nutrient, but still it is essential as it provides energy to body for its functioning. It would be great to know that milk is a good source of fat too.
The saturated fat present in milk is never responsible for any sort of cardiovascular problem. Energy is produced when the fat is burnt while digestion. Fat is also necessary as it provides lubrication.
Other benefits
Milk can also be beneficial in its various forms of dairy product. The most useful form of milk is Yogurt. Yogurt is equally nutritious as milk. It has proteins, vitamins, potassium, vitamins, etc.
It is formed by adding bacterial culture to the milk that produces lactic acid. Due to which the milk gets thick and sour. This is because the lactic acid produced by bacterial culture coagulates the protein content of the milk. Protein solidifies after coagulation and hence milk thickens.
The yogurt has a great probiotics utility.
So milk is a great diet in itself. It is therefore termed as “the complete food” by many dieticians. It is easily available and provides great nutrition to our body. If used as curd it also acts as probiotics.
