Perfect skin is aptly described as milky white. Perfect teeth are said to be milky white, too. But milky white eyes could either mean you have cataracts or you’re dead.
Milk comes in many forms but it is essentially made of protein, calcium, vitamin C, and saturated fat. Some milk has more lactose than others.
Milk’s white color
Milk appears white because of a protein called casein. Casein is made up of protein and fat. Lest you mistake it for an optical illusion, our eyes can see the white in milk because milk it doesn’t absorb light at all. Instead, the white pigment throws backlight. Casein bounces light back to our eyes. The more fat and cream milk have, the whiter it appears. For non-fat and low-fat milk they tend to look gray because they contain less amount of casein.
Milk and human health
The two most important components of milk are vitamin d and calcium. These two make milk a very healthy drink. Calcium makes our bones and teeth strong, vitamin D does the same job, too. As it is, milk is one of the healthiest drinks known to man. Milk has: 15% vitamin B-12, 29% calcium, 23% riboflavin, 25% vitamin D, 17& protein, 23% riboflavin, and 23% phosphorus.
Commercial milk comes from cow’s udder. Milk is then cooled to 40 degrees F. Cows that produce milk are called dairy cows. They are bred and fed for commercial milk production. New Zealand is the world’s top milk-producing country.
How cows make milk
Cows eat special feeds which contain nutrients such as fats, water, protein carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. These nutrients move through the dairy cow’s digestive tract (rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasums) where they are broken down by enzymes.
On average, a dairy cow makes around 8 gallons of milk every day, but some can produce as much as 12 gallons.
To make 8 gallons of milk a dairy cow must drink more than 18 gallons of water.
Milk and bone health
Our nutritionists tell us that we should drink 2 glasses of milk every day to stop the onset of osteoporosis, especially for women who have given birth or who are in their 60s. Of course, nothing beats mother’s milk when comes to perfect nutrition. In fact, even a mother’s milk is also good for adults! For kids aged between 1 and 12, they are advised to have 3 glasses of milk or its equivalent: fish, yogurt, and soya. On the other hand, chocolate milk has pretty much the same nutrients as milk except that white chocolate has more calories than an ordinary bar. While chocolate contains more artificial sweeteners.
Teenagers who don’t like the taste of milk may choose to eat yogurt instead. A cup of yogurt gives you all the nutrients milk has, plus the good bacteria. For adults aged 21-up to their late 50s, 3 glasses of milk are recommended daily. Smokers lose the most vitamin and calcium, so they are well-advised to take to drinking milk.
Milk contains fat, but for those who want to keep their figure in check, whey milk is the best. If you’re lactose-intolerant like many Asians, soya is a good alternative