Until When Do You Need To Drink Milk?
Human life begins with the consumption of milk, can breast milk or formula milk. But how long does the body need it?
Milk contains many nutrients that are sometimes not in the diet, so it can complement the daily nutritional needs. However, milk is often considered important only to children, so this habit stops when growing up. Actually, until what age is milk consumption needed?
Benefits of milk for adults
In fact, eating milk has a lot of benefits for the body, both children and adults. Benefits of milk that can be felt adults include:
- Maintain bone health. The benefits of this one is unquestionable. Milk is a good source of calcium and vitamin D for bone health. Every adult needs about 1000 mg of calcium per day. One way to meet these needs is to drink milk and consume other dairy products, such as cheese and yoghurt.
- Nourish the brain. A study at the University of Kansas, United States, showed that those who regularly consume milk have higher levels of glutathione in the body than those who do not drink milk. Glutathione is a good antioxidant for the brain. The presence of antioxidants can prevent brain cells from free radical damage from food or pollution.
- Prevents high blood pressure. Milk contains potassium (potassium) is high and good for maintaining healthy blood vessels. This will prevent an increase in blood pressure as you get older and generally maintain heart health.
- Build muscle. For those who want to have good posture with strong muscles, milk can be an intake of choice to accompany regular exercise. Milk contains a good protein for muscle formation.
- Prevent depression. Probably not many know that milk contains vitamin D which can trigger the formation of serotonin in the body. Serotonin is a compound that plays a role in the regulation of sleep rhythm, mood, and even appetite. High levels of serotonin in the body will prevent a person from depression.
So, until when can drink milk?
Due to the immense benefits of milk, experts recommend that adults continue to consume milk. Not just for children or pregnant women, milk is also good for everyone to eat. Some literature recommends that everyone drink milk until at least 35 years of age. The reason is that age is the peak of bone growth.
However, it does not mean after age 35 years you should not consume milk. You can still drink milk, even to old age though. One thing to note is the selection of the right milk.
For example, for women drinking milk is a must to prevent osteoporosis (bone fragility due to lack of calcium) in old age. Therefore, women should continue to consume milk, especially high calcium milk.
Meanwhile, for those who experience certain diseases such as diabetes mellitus (diabetes), high cholesterol, or a history of heart disease, avoid high milk fat and sugar content.
Fat in milk can worsen the condition of the blockage of blood vessels if you already have a history of heart disease before. Meanwhile, too high sugar can also increase the risk of complications in diabetics. Therefore, choose low-fat and low-sugar milk, but high in calcium and vitamin D.
It turns out that milk is not only required by children. Adults are actually encouraged to consume milk. Armed with the knowledge described above, do not forget to consume milk regularly in accordance with the conditions and your nutritional needs.