1. Buy milk, choose room temperature or low temperature?
People who have time to buy milk regularly, have the conditions to refrigerate, and have high requirements for milk flavor: choose low temperature milk.
People who don’t have time to buy milk often, don’t have the conditions to refrigerate, and like to stock up during sales: choose room temperature milk.
Ambient milk (ultra-high temperature sterilized milk) is milk produced and processed using ultra-high temperature instantaneous sterilization technology and filled into aseptic packaging. Due to the relatively high sterilization temperature, although there is no loss of nutrients such as protein and calcium in the milk, there is loss of folic acid and B vitamins, and slight changes in the flavor of the milk. After high temperature sterilization, the sweet taste of milk will become lighter and more intense, some people feel the “strange taste”, while others prefer the “strong” flavor.
Ambient milk is usually packaged in aseptic laminated paper, which allows the milk to be kept at room temperature for a longer period of time without refrigeration or preservatives.
Low-temperature milk (also known as fresh milk) usually refers to pasteurized milk. Compared to room temperature milk, pasteurized milk is sterilized at a relatively low temperature, so it retains its flavor and texture and vitamins relatively well.
In addition, some heat-sensitive bioactive substances in milk, such as lactoferrin, are retained more. However, in terms of protein and calcium supplementation, there is little difference between room temperature milk and low temperature milk.
Low-temperature milk has a short shelf life, usually 2-8 days, and needs to be refrigerated for those who usually shop and refrigerate their food conveniently. If conditions do not allow, just buy room temperature milk.
If drinking directly, low temperature milk provides a sweeter milk flavor.
If you use milk for cooking, baking or making coffee, strong-flavored room-temperature milk is more suitable.
2. Is pasteurized milk fresher and more nutritious?
Generally speaking, pasteurized milk is fresher. There is no difference in most nutrients, such as protein and calcium, in pasteurized milk compared to room temperature milk. However, overall, pasteurized milk has a relatively higher nutritional value.
Making pasteurized milk requires a low sterilization temperature and requires a higher base condition of the milk itself, so the best milk sources are generally used to make fresh pasteurized milk.
3. Is low-fat skim milk better than whole milk?
People who drink a lot of milk and need to lose strict weight can choose low-fat milk.
The Chinese Dietary Guidelines do not specifically recommend low-fat or skim milk. For the average person, it is not recommended to choose low-fat or skim milk. If the fat in milk is removed, more than 85% of the fat-soluble vitamins are lost. The vitamin A and vitamin D in milk are both vitamins that Chinese people are more likely to be deficient in. Also, milk fat is not all saturated fat; it also contains some beneficial fatty acids, such as conjugated linoleic acid.
People who are losing weight may struggle with whether they will gain weight by drinking milk, which mainly depends on the amount of milk intake. If you drink 300 grams of whole milk per day as recommended by the Chinese Dietary Guidelines, the fat intake through milk is 9.3 grams based on a fat content of 3.1%; if you switch to skim milk, you will consume about 1.5 grams of fat based on a fat content of 0.5%. Therefore, replacing whole milk with skim milk also reduces 7.8 grams of fat, which is less than 1 tablespoon of frying oil.
4. Is recovered milk watered down?
Recovery milk is simply milk made from milk powder and water – not milk to water, but milk powder to water.
China’s milk-producing regions are relatively small, the source of milk is relatively small, the price of raw milk is more expensive. Therefore, importing milk powder from abroad and then recovering it back into liquid milk is a more economical way. However, the flavor of this recovered milk is really much worse, so sugar and other things are often added to flavor it, the most typical is the “Wan Chai milk” that many people loved to drink as children.
5. What kind of “milk” is blended with water?
If the package is marked with the words “dairy drink”, it is milk that has been watered down. Therefore, when buying related products, be sure to read the instructions on the packaging carefully.
6. Is student milk the best for children?
As a milk exclusively for school children, student milk is not sold in shopping malls. The basic principles of China’s Student Milk Program are safety, nutrition, convenience, and affordability. Therefore, you can usually give your children pure milk that is available in the market.
7. What is zero-lactose milk?
Zero lactose milk is milk with lactose removed from it, suitable for people who are lactose intolerant. Many people are familiar with “lactose intolerance”, which is a condition that causes gas, burping and even bloating and diarrhea in people who are lactose intolerant.
The lactose content in milk is about 4.5% and modern processes have been able to reduce or remove lactose from milk, with lactose content ≤ 2% in low lactose milk and ≤ 0.5% in lactose free milk. In this way, people with lactose intolerance can also drink milk.
It should be noted that the lactose in milk does not disappear out of thin air, but one molecule of lactose is degraded to produce two molecules of monosaccharides. Therefore, diabetics need to be reminded that zero lactose milk has a higher glycemic index and is not suitable for diabetics.
8. Is high-calcium milk better for calcium?
First of all, it depends on whether you are very calcium deficient; secondly, it depends on what kind of calcium is added to the high-calcium milk.
Milk is already rich in calcium, with about 100 mg of calcium per 100 g of milk. High-calcium milk should contain at least 120 mg of calcium per 100 grams of milk, which is actually not much higher.
The absorption rate of naturally occurring lactic calcium in milk is very high, but some companies add calcium carbonate to “high calcium milk” in order to save costs, and the absorption rate of this calcium is relatively low. If you want to buy high-calcium milk, you can choose products that add lactic calcium.
9. What is extra thick milk?
Generally speaking, extra thick milk is concentrated milk. This milk has a higher protein content and a creamier taste, but be aware that the fat content is also higher. However, some manufacturers are kind enough to remove some of the fat from extra concentrated milk, so pay attention to the nutrition label when you buy it.
10. What is A2 milk?
Milk that contains only A2 type beta-casein and not A1 type beta-casein is A2 beta-casein milk, or A2 milk for short. There are no studies that have found this type of milk to be more nutritious, but it tends to be more expensive.
Some studies have proven that A2 type proteins are more easily digested and absorbed by the body and do not cause symptoms of indigestion. If you have uncomfortable symptoms such as bloating and diarrhea as soon as you drink milk, and you still don’t get better with lactose-free milk, you can try A2 beta-casein milk. If you don’t have any discomfort from drinking milk, you can drink regular milk.
11. Is organic milk worth buying?
Organic milk is milk that is produced according to organic standards. Organic milk is safer, but the nutritional content is not higher than regular milk.
Please note that organic milk is much more expensive than regular milk, so please choose according to your financial situation.
12. Is the higher the protein, the better the milk?
Be careful! Milk is more than 90% water, so you can’t expect to drink milk to get more protein. Ordinary milk contains 3 grams of protein per 100 grams, even if some high protein milk can reach 5 grams of protein per 100 grams of milk, according to the Chinese Nutrition Society recommends drinking 300 grams of milk per day, so only 6 grams more protein intake than ordinary milk, it is better to eat more bites of meat.
However, if the high protein milk is native, not concentrated out of high protein, it does indicate that the milk source is good, still please choose it according to your own economic situation.
