Why is Milk So Good for You?

Unprocessed milk, fresh from the cow, will separate itself into two parts after a few minutes - it will separate into a layer of cream and a layer of non-fat skim milk.

The cream is actually the natural milk fat which has floated to the surface because it is lighter.

But milk is much more complex than that.

Milk is mostly water, approximately 87 per cent, and if you removed all the water you’d be left with what is called the solid component. This is made up of milk fat (cream), a natural milk sugar (lactose) and milk protein together with vitamins and minerals - and all of these elements can vary depending on the type of cow the milk came from, what the cow has been eating and the time of year.

Milk fat (also known as butterfat) - this is present in milk in the form of small globules which differ in size, number and composition depending on the breed of cattle which produced the milk.

The average proportion of fat in milk is 3.7 per cent, which makes milk a healthy low-fat product. In milk approximately 60 per cent of milk fat is saturated fat and 40 per cent unsaturated.

Milk fat contains more than 200 different fatty acids, which are believed to give the cream and butter its taste.

Two of these fatty acids (Linoleic and Arachidonic) are ‘essential fatty acids’ as they are very important in controlling bio-chemical functions such as heart and blood circulation and in the way the body uses its fat stores, which the body cannot produce itself; therefore we have to ingest them in what we eat.

Milk fat also contains vitamins A, D, E and K (although vitamins D, E and K are not in significant levels).

Protein - milk also contains 3.4 per cent protein on average.  Protein is made up of building blocks called amino acids which are important to the body. They are used to maintain your blood, skin, hair and fingernails.
 
There are essential amino acids which cannot be made by the body and have to be supplied by our food.  Milk is often called the ‘complete food’ because it contains a surplus of all eight essential amino acids for adults (isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan and valine and two additional amino acids for young children, histidine and arginine).

Milk sugar (also known as lactose) - is a compound of two basic carbohydrates: glucose and galactose.  Lactose is only found in milk and compared to sucrose (normal sugar) it is one sixth as sweet and far less soluble.  Lactose is digested by the enzyme lactase which is formed naturally by the body. 

When this compound is broken down, lactic acid is formed in the intestines and this stimulates the absorption of calcium, phosphorous and other minerals. This may also help to balance out the growth of less desirable organisms and increase growth of some beneficial strains of bacteria.

If the enzyme lactase is absent, the undigested lactose passes through the intestine to the large bowel.  Natural bacteria then ferment the lactose, producing acid and gas which may cause abdominal pain, bloating or diarrhoea.  This is generally what being ‘lactose intolerant’ refers to, although true lactose intolerance is much rarer than generally thought.

Calcium - is a key mineral and is found in high quantities of milk.  It is not only needed for skeletal growth and maintenance, but it also assists in:

• the contraction of muscle fibers
• blood coagulation for wound healing
• nerve impulses
• Activation of enzymes (which help control the body’s metabolism).