What are the types of milk? How to choose
Are dairy products low in sugar or high in calcium? Are they non-fat or full-fat? Are they brain nourishing or slimming? Faced with so many milk varieties, many people don't know how to choose. Here are some common types of milk and how to choose dairy products.
1. Low-fat milk
According to the fat content of milk, milk can be divided into whole milk (fat content is 3.5% -4.5%), semi-skim milk (1.0% -3.5%) and skim milk (generally less than 0.04%). Calculated by drinking 250mL of whole milk each time, the fat in it will bring us about 80kcal of calories (about ten minutes of walking), accounting for more than 10% of everyone's daily fat needs. If you add 150mL of yogurt during afternoon tea, these calories should not be underestimated for a person trying to maintain a perfect figure! Therefore, low-fat milk or skim milk is often favored by girls.
However, the component of milk that has the greatest impact on flavor is also fat. As the most complex lipid substance in composition and structure, milk fat has a rich connotation of more than 400 kinds of fatty acids, giving milk a rich and unique aroma and a full and mellow taste. Therefore, milk without milk fat will taste lighter, and even if some food flavors are added, it will definitely not compare to the rich experience of smell and taste of whole milk.
However, while removing fat, the fat-soluble vitamins in milk also had to be buried, and vitamin D was the first to bear the brunt. This may be the price of "losing weight".
2. Low-lactose milk
Dare to drink a whole glass of milk in one breath? Is your stomach starting to rumble? Hehe, don't worry, you're not alone!
Most Asian adults are lactose intolerant to some extent. In fact, from weaning onwards, our ability to synthesize lactase has begun to deteriorate, and our ability to break down lactose has also decreased. The lactose trapped in the intestines is broken down by bacteria, producing a lot of gas, which causes all kinds of embarrassing situations and even makes you run to the bathroom.
Fortunately, the degradation of lactase synthesis is not completely irreversible, and gradual "exercise" can still bring progress. In addition to the familiar yogurt, lactose intolerant people can start with low-lactose milk and regain your body's "milk memory".
Although different brands of low-lactose milk have different names, they all use lactose hydrolysis technology in principle, which helps you "digest" most of the difficult lactose molecules in advance in the factory. There is no nutrient loss, and there is no stomach trouble, so you have no reason to refuse milk. With the increase in drinking, it won't take long for your lactase synthesis system to restore part of your labor capacity!
3. Fortified milk
In the daily diet, milk is one of the best sources of calcium, whether it is free calcium (about one-third of the total) or calcium caseinate-calcium phosphate complex (about two-thirds), which is very suitable for human digestion and absorption, and the absorption rate can be as high as 32%. And high-calcium milk plays an icing on the cake - although the added calcium component is inferior to milk calcium in "quality" due to different structures, the "quantity" advantage of about 35% is still obvious.
At the same time, many milk manufacturers also add vitamin D to high-calcium milk, which plays a role in promoting calcium absorption and regulating blood calcium balance, which can be said to complement each other. For adolescents, expectant mothers and nursing mothers, as well as the elderly with increased calcium loss, high-calcium milk is a good choice.
In addition to the old-fashioned calcium and VD, there are many other types of nutritional enhancers in milk. For example: a variety of vitamins and minerals, which are necessary for normal physiological activities of the human body and are suitable for adolescents with strong metabolism; lactoferrin, which has certain antibacterial and antiviral activities, is suitable for children with weak resistance; polyunsaturated fatty acids such as DHA and EPA, which are important components of the retina and nervous system, can be properly supplemented by children, the elderly and mental workers.
In addition, due to the "convenience" needs of modern urbanites, soluble dietary fiber is increasingly added to milk, which can help friends with poor intestinal function to enhance intestinal peristalsis and prevent and improve constipation problems.
4. Seasoned milk
Flavors of milk, while not adding much "nutrition," can enrich the selection.
For most drinkers, milk is still the most common in breakfast, so whole grains that meet everyone's eating habits have entered the "milk altar". In addition, in order to cater to the taste of the Chinese, domestic milk brands also have many flavors of red dates, honey, walnuts, peanuts and other flavors for everyone to choose from. Although you can't expect any magical effects of these ingredients, it is very practical to change the taste often and coax yourself to eat breakfast well.
By the way, all non-dairy ingredients added to milk will affect the balance of the emulsion system to some extent, so some stabilizers, emulsifiers and other ingredients will be "included" in the ingredient list. However, don't worry. Food additives are not terrible, as long as they are used normally according to the standards, they will not cause adverse effects on the human body.
