Milk is an important drink for health. Drinking 2-3 glasses of milk every day can provide your body with calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, protein, vitamins A, B12, C, and D. Milk can also lower blood pressure, and reduce the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. If you feel you are not drinking enough milk every day, you can make simple dietary changes to make it easier for you to get the nutrients your body needs.
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Method 1 of 3: Drink More Milk
Step 1. Drink milk every day
The USDA recommends that children and adults drink 3 glasses of low-fat, fat-free milk, or other dairy products each day to get the calcium and vitamins the body needs.
- Children are recommended to consume whole milk until the age of 2 years, then consume 2% milk thereafter.
- If you don't like the taste of milk, try adding a flavor to the milk, such as vanilla extract, banana, or strawberry juice.
Step 2. Add milk to a warm drink, such as coffee, tea, or hot chocolate
Milk will add a creamy and soft feel to the taste of the drink, also reducing acidity and bitterness.
However, adding milk to tea can reduce the benefits of tea. The protein in milk will prevent the body from absorbing the flavonoids, antioxidants in tea
Step 3. Use nonfat milk powder in recipes containing milk
You can also use powdered milk as a healthy, fat-free substitute for coffee creamer. You can even add milk powder to milk to enrich the vitamin content of milk.
Step 4. Make chocolate milk that is sweet, and liked by children and adults
Mix cocoa powder, vanilla, milk and sugar to taste. This simple recipe can satisfy your craving for chocolate, without the added chemicals like ready-to-buy chocolate milk powder
Step 5. Get creative with milk
You can add milk to various recipes to enhance the taste of the food, as well as add vitamins and calcium to the food.
Step 6. Make smoothies with milk
The milk will thicken the smoothie, and add to its nutritional content.
Mix ice, fruit, and low/fat milk in a blender. If low-fat milk isn't thick enough for your smoothie, mix in some peanut butter for a richer flavor
Method 2 of 3: Changing Your Diet
Step 1. Change the milk you drink
If you're used to consuming whole milk, try starting skim milk to reduce your calorie and saturated fat intake. Start with 2% milk, then 1%, and finally, only skim milk.
You may want to consider consuming organic milk without added hormones
Step 2. Calculate your calorie intake
Although most types of milk contain calories, you can engineer your diet to account for your calorie intake from milk. Avoid consuming "empty" calories, and drink milk instead.
If you're not sure whether you're consuming too much or too little milk, talk to your doctor or a nutritionist to make changes to a more balanced diet
Step 3. Drink milk instead of soda
A large glass of milk (about 350ml) contains fewer calories than the same amount of soda. In addition, milk also contains vitamins that soda does not.
Step 4. Prioritize milk
Milk and its derivatives are very important to be consumed to get the nutritional intake that the body needs. You may need to reduce your consumption of other foods to match your fat and calorie intake, but you should still prioritize milk because of its nutritional value.
- Calcium maintains healthy teeth and bones.
- Protein is a good source of energy, it can also repair and develop bone mass.
- Potassium can help regulate blood pressure, and is essential for strengthening bones and muscles.
- Phosphorus helps strengthen bones and teeth, and helps the kidneys filter out toxins in the body.
- Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium and phosphorus.
- Vitamin B12 helps maintain healthy red blood cells and nerves.
- Vitamin A helps maintain vision and healthy skin, teeth, and nerves.
- Niacin, a type of B vitamin, can help keep cholesterol levels low.
Step 5. Get milk content from other sources
If you're worried about your calorie intake from dairy, try eating fat-free yogurt as a healthy snack. You can even add cereal, nuts, and fruit to yogurt to make yogurt a breakfast menu.
Method 3 of 3: Drinking Milk for those of you with Lactose Intolerance
Step 1. Drink milk with meals
Some people who have difficulty digesting the lactose in dairy products can consume milk by combining it with other foods.
Step 2. Take ready-to-use lactate enzyme tablets before meals, to help the body digest milk and dairy products
Step 3. Buy lactose-free milk
Some milk and dairy manufacturers add lactic acid directly to milk, so you can enjoy the benefits of dairy products without digestive problems.
You can also consume plain almond milk, coconut milk, and starch water
Step 4. Try other dairy products, such as yogurt or cheese, if you absolutely cannot drink milk
Even though these products are still made from milk, at least dairy products are still easier to digest.
Tips
- If you absolutely cannot drink milk or consume dairy products, eat calcium-rich foods, such as broccoli, beans, okra, spinach, cabbage, bean sprouts, and cauliflower. Besides, consumption too various foods rich in vitamin D, such as beef liver, salmon, eggs (yolk contains vitamin D), sardines, tuna, and cod liver oil.
- If you can't digest milk, you can have soy milk, almond milk, or starchy water, but make sure you buy sugar-free milk.
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Running a healthy diet by drinking milk will provides you with many health benefits, but you won't enjoy the full benefits if you don't exercise. Exercise doesn't always take a long time or be difficult to do. Walking 30 minutes a day, 4 times a week will drastically improve your health.
After exercising, try drinking a glass of milk. A glass of milk contains at least 8g of protein, which is enough to repair bones
- Milk cannot replace food because you need nutrients from food to survive. Make dairy part of a healthy diet, which includes protein-rich foods such as meat or beans, starches such as bread or rice, and fresh fruits and vegetables.
- If you are planning to buy organic milk, keep in mind that organic milk is more expensive than regular milk.
- Some people may need to avoid milk from cows given growth hormone.
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Some people may choose to buy organic milk to support sustainable farming activities.
- Organic milk is milk from cows that are not given antibiotics, so cows are not immune to bacteria.
- Organic milk contains a lot of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a healthy fatty acid that has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes.
- Pregnant women should consume milk because babies need calcium in milk. However, make sure you only consume pasteurized milk when pregnant.
- If you want to eat creamy foods, buy low-fat or nonfat milk so you can satisfy your cravings and get calcium without consuming fat.
Warning
- Don't replace milk with ice cream. The content of fat and sugar in ice cream is much more than milk.
- Don't drink milk if you can't digest it.
- Never drink unpasteurized milk, especially if you are pregnant. Unpasteurized milk may contain listeria, a type of harmful bacteria. Also avoid cheese made from unpasteurized milk.
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When you consume more milk, you also consume more fluids so you will need to adjust your fluid intake accordingly. If you have drunk 10 glasses of water and juice, do not increase your intake with 4 glasses of milk. Reduce the consumption of other drinks in your diet to make room so you can consume milk.
- Do not replace the healthy foods that you must consume with milk. Milk is not always healthy, and replacing other healthy foods with milk is not recommended. Keep in mind that although milk has protein, 8g of protein is not enough to replace a protein source from food. View milk protein as a bonus protein, or additional protein that you consume beyond the "required" protein.
- Call your doctor before trying to change your diet.
