Is milk really healthy?

Answer

Dear Wim,

Milk is a healthy food for everyone. You can see that it also has a special place within the ‘active food triangle’ (www.vig.be). Milk (and milk products) mainly provide us with proteins with an excellent ratio of essential/non-essential amino acids and calcium. You need proteins for the growth and maintenance of the muscles; You need calcium for strong bones.

It is true that milk also contains fats and these are mainly saturated fats. We do not need these in the context of a healthy diet. It is therefore best to opt for semi-skimmed or skimmed milk. The proteins and calcium remain the same, only the fat content has decreased. Theoretically, skim milk would be best, but a lot of people don’t really like it and it also burns easily with hot preparations such as sauces or puddings. Children up to the age of 4 should always be given whole milk products; they still need these fats (and energy). Even for the very elderly who often suffer from malnutrition, it may be appropriate to use whole milk.

Milk also contains milk sugar or lactose. To be able to split this and absorb it in the body you need the enzyme ‘lactase’. Some people lack this enzyme, so drinking milk can lead to stomach and intestinal problems. However, this is much more common in African countries than in Western Europe.