Autumn is a difficult period for our body. Temperature contrasts, lack of sunlight and vitamins — all this, of course, affects health and mood. To avoid problems, you need to carefully monitor the diet. One of the main sources of vital nutrients is milk. This valuable product should be an indispensable component of the family’s daily menu.
The composition of milk is unique: it contains vitamins, micro and macro elements, proteins, amino acids and many other useful substances. There are about 80 valuable elements in total, and in an ideal form for assimilation by our body. Therefore, if you and your family members do not have medical contraindications to drinking milk, it is recommended to drink it every day, especially for children. And in order for the “health drink” to bring maximum benefit, you need to be able to choose it correctly. What kind of milk is really healthy? Where to buy it? What to pay attention to? We tried to find answers to the main questions.
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Criterion 1. Origin of milk
When pouring milk into a glass, you should always know its origin. The health status of the cow, the conditions of its keeping and even the mood of the animal directly affect the quality and safety of the product. That is why buying milk on the market is always risky. After all, you will never know where he lives, where he grazes and what the cow that gave milk eats, and whether she has any diseases. No matter how sweet and “tested” the grandmother in the market is, she herself may not be aware that her cow has any ailments. They can only be identified by a veterinarian. Plus, villagers often graze animals near roads, industrial plants, etc. Together with the grass, dangerous heavy metals and other substances enter the cow’s body, which inevitably “complement” the composition of milk.
The situation is quite different on farms — milk suppliers for large industrial producers. The law obliges them to ensure constant monitoring of the health of cows, their nutrition, housing conditions, and also to have appropriate certificates.
Criterion 2. Purity and naturalness
The best milk is freshly milked, only from under the cow. But do not look for it in the market.
The fact is that the bactericidal substances produced by the mammary gland of a cow protect milk from harmful microorganisms for only two hours.
After that, they break down, milk begins to be populated by a variety of microflora, including pathogens.
Thus, already two hours after milking, the souring process starts. To keep milk from spoiling before it’s bought, some “smart” salespeople put baking soda, antibiotics, and other unexpected additives in it. It is difficult to detect them on your own, so it is better not to risk it. It is much more correct to buy store-bought milk from trusted manufacturers. At modern factories, milk undergoes gentle heat treatment, which purifies milk from bacteria, while maintaining beneficial properties.
Criterion 3. Security
Milk is a favorable environment for the development of bacteria. To prevent the product from spoiling, it is important to cool it immediately after milking, and also to maintain the correct temperature during transportation. This is exactly what farm enterprises do that supply milk to customers.
They have the appropriate equipment, which means they can guarantee the safety of the product.
What’s on the market? You will never know when the milk bought from your grandmother was milked, in what dishes it was poured and at what temperature it was stored and transported. It can “live” and E. coli, and staphylococcus, and streptococcus, and a host of other dangerous microorganisms.
Criterion 4. Useful properties
Homemade milk bought “on tap” can, of course, be boiled. But then, along with the pathogenic flora, most of the useful substances will die, and it is for them that we buy milk. Boiling is detrimental to vitamins C, A, B and D.
Calcium under the action of high temperature is transformed into a compound that is poorly absorbed by the human body. And milk protein is completely destroyed.
The situation is different with UHT milk. It undergoes a gentle heat treatment, as a result of which dangerous microorganisms and their spores die. At the same time, almost all useful substances in milk are preserved in their original state. The secret is that during ultrapasteurization, milk is instantly heated and kept at a very high temperature (137–140°C) for only 4 seconds, and then quickly cooled and poured into aseptic packaging. Due to the fact that milk is completely free of bacteria, it can be stored at room temperature for a long time.
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Criterion 5. Sealed packaging
UHT — healthy and safe — milk is bottled in multilayer cardboard bags. They protect the product from the negative effects of all environmental factors (moisture, light, oxygen), and also do not allow microorganisms to penetrate inside.
Milk in such a package is tasty, healthy and can be stored for a long time without a refrigerator, of course, as long as the package is closed.
So you can safely stock up, take a bag of a healthy drink to work, walk, or give the children to school as a healthy snack.
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The opinion of the editors may not coincide with the opinion of the author of the article.
