Milk Can Play a Big in Health
By Tom Herrin
More than likely, when you were a child, milk was an important part of meals. If you ate school lunches, you had milk with every meal served there. It was a major part of the federal food program. Much of this was due to the fact that we began life consuming it as our primary source of nutrition. As we got older, we drank less and less milk. It may have been a reasonable progression, but it also may have been the beginning of a slow loss of some important minerals.
Milk May Help HDL
Many of us have problems with our good cholesterol. It may be low. Even though many fats can raise bad cholesterol, some believe that milk fat may raise good cholesterol, or HDL. Not only can it help this, but it can do some other things as well. Of course, I am referring to cows' milk. Besides possibly raising good cholesterol, it usually has a pretty good supply of protein. Some studies have shown that taking in more dairy may help people to manage appetite and help to lower body weight.
Milk May Support Stronger Teeth and Bones
We have all likely heard about some of the benefits of consuming dairy products. They have long been believed to help build strong bones and teeth. This is undoubtedly the reason the school meals programs have emphasized so much. While it does contain calcium, it also has potassium and magnesium. Both of these also play a big part in building and maintaining teeth and bones. Another major nutrient in milk is protein. I make sure to drink cows' milk daily simply to supplement my protein. It seems to make a difference.
Some People Have Sensitivities to Dairy
We are all different. Even though dairy works great for some, others may have allergies or some unfavorable reactions to dairy. Whether it is lactose or one of the types of protein that cause reactions, a pretty good alternative is almond milk. It is higher in calcium than dairy products and doesn't contain nearly the amount of fat. I try to drink a glass of almond milk every day since I have had a low calcium level. So far, it seemed to work well to boost it. For the most part, almond milk can be used much like milk from cows.
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