Today is

By: Ikedi Ani-okoye.

Milk facts

There is strong evidence that proves that milk has played a very important role in the history of man. There are early records that frequently mention that milk and milk products were part of a man's everyday life from childbirth until old age.

It was in the year 1922 that a temple near Babylon that was thought to be 5000 years old was discovered by a British-American expedition. In this particular temple can be seen painted walls with different milking scenes of the local people. On the mural, some men are depicted milking cows. The positioning of the milker is peculiar because they milk the cows from behind it instead of from the right, like the dairymen of modern times do.

Testing for neutralizers in milk

Take 5 ml of milk in a test tube and add 5 ml alcohol followed by 4-5 drops of rosalic acid. If the colour of milk changes to pinkish red, then it is inferred that the milk is adulterated with sodium carbonate / sodium bicarbonate and hence unfit for human consumption.

This test will be effective only if the neutralizers are present in milk. If the added neutralizers are nullified by the developed acidity, then this test will be negative. In that case, the alkaline condition of the milk for the presence of soda ash has to be estimated.

Beneficial breast milk

The newborn is fed with the exclusive secretions obtained from the mammary gland of the mother. This statement is true for all the mammals living on the planet.

However, due to reasons such as multiple births, lack of or inadequate secretion of milk in the mother, early weaning of kids from the mother due to modern lifestyle or misconception among the new mothers regarding the breast feeding and when mothers have the habit of using narcotics and whenever suffering from communicable and infectious diseases, it is advised not to breast feed the young one.

Milk benefits

Milk is considered best among drinks. Nutritionist consider it the source of calcium and minerals. Milk protects us from the problem of Osteoporosis. It is a source of vitamin A, D, Riboflavin, Magnesium and Potassium. It has such acids which increase our resistant power. It is a good source of protein, fat, and calcium, at least for those children who don't have a milk protein allergy or lactose intolerance.

CONCLUSION

The digestibility of milk is comparatively higher than other oils and fats. This can be attributed to existence of fat globules in aqueous phase forming an emulsion. This facilitates its easy absorption through the intestinal tract when compared to other fats which have to be emulsified with bile salts, enzymes from pancreas and fat splitting lipases. Enjoy your milk!