Milk – A wholesome food

Milk is one of the most important foods for people of all ages. Many people regard milk as food for children and therefore form an aversion. This is sometimes dictated by our cultural beliefs. Others do not like whole milk due to health complications, like lactose intolerance. There are those who prefer taking milk in tea.

Milk is a white fluid which sometimes appears yellow due to components like carotene, vitamin B2, or due to fat in form of cream. The white colour of milk is due to dispersed nutrients like protein, casein, calcium, phosphates, and others. It has a sweet taste due to sugars (lactose sugar) and a characteristic smell, which disappears after cooking. Milk is less acidic and therefore recommended for people with stomach ulcers.
It is particularly a good source of proteins and calcium.

Breast milk

Breast milk is one of the most important sources of food for an infant. However, there are instances where mothers prefer feeding their infants on cow milk. There is a difference between breast milk and cow milk. Cow milk has a high concentration of nutrients and therefore needs to be diluted. It is inferior in terms of carbohydrates and hence when diluted it is recommended to increase the caloric value using form of sucrose (sugar). However, honey and corn syrup re not recommended as they lead to infection. Cow milk contains proteins and lipids which an infant cannot digest therefore it may lead to indigestion. Cow milk also contains three times as much sodium (salt) compared to breast milk which is difficult for the kidney of an infant to handle.

In many instances where mothers fail to breastfeed, they prefer using cow milk since it is cheap and available. Mothers who are HIV positive and who cannot exclusively breastfeed their infants can therefore dilute cow milk and feed their infants.

Dilution of cow milk

What you need

2 cups milk
1 cup clean water
1/2 tspn sugar (optional)

METHOD

Thoroughly clean and dry your hands and all other equipment. Put the water in a clean dry sufuria and bring to boil: then bring the milk to boil until it rises. To dilute the milk, add 2 parts of milk to I part of boiled clean water. In this case mix the boiled milk and water since it is in the ratio of 2:1. You can add sugar to increase the caloric value of milk. Feed the child using cup and spoon and discard the remains.

END:PG16/49