Malt drinks – Good for pregnant and lactating mothers
BY ALICE OJWANG-NDONG
Health has taken over the minds of the 21st century generation. The health conscious consumers are now demanding health aligned products and even for the re-branding of the existing ones to fit the health bill. No wonder the health-related products are flying off the shelves.
Originally marketed as malt-based breakfast beverages, the Ovaltines, Milos, Bournvitas and Oats enjoyed their period of slim competition, until marketers raised the bar to enter the soft drink space with other malt-based health drinks.
With the rise of obesity and every parent trying to reduce soda consumption in children, malt drinks are offering a better option. A few mothers are already seeing the need to orient their children to healthy drinking way in advance. So they make a point of enjoying a malt drink some hours before breastfeeding.
Far from beer, malt drinks (basically fermented carbohydrates) are reported to be wholesome and highly nutritious. Some brands in the market have small quantities of malt and these are the new soft drinks that are carbonated but have less sugar than the regular soda. Whole malt drinks use malt as the major ingredient and thus more nutritious and more filling. Traditionally, barley malt has been used in the production of extract for making malt drinks. In recent times, there has been an increased utilization of sorghum and maize for the same.
Supplementing micro-nutrients in the malt drinks is a commendable development which is in line with the global effort at eradicating micro-nutrient deficiencies in human nutrition through the widespread fortification of foods. Most malt drinks contain protein, sugar, essential minerals and levels of vitamins A and B vitamins.
As seen, whole malt drinks are good sources of vitamins and minerals. Considering that vitamin A deficiencies is very common in lactating East African mothers, malt drinks make an excellent way of helping meet that deficit.
Alice Ojwang-Ndong is a nutrition and dietetic consultant.
Malt study
A study done in Nigeria that looked at eight different malt drinks brewed there (E.U. Okonl and E.O. Akpanyung, Nutrients and Anti-nutrients in Selected Brands of Malt Drinks Produced in Nigeria) showed the following findings:
o Vitamin A is essential for normal growth, vision, immune response and cell differentiation which happens right from conception. The consumption of a standard bottle of malt drink (300ml) provides the body with 120.45 – 155.610/jg of vitamin A. Therefore, the malt drinks contribute substantially to the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of vitamin A.
o The anti-nutrient levels of phytate, oxalate and hydrogen cyanide have been shown to be low in malt drinks and therefore consumption of malt drinks will not interfere with nutrient absorption. However, consumption of half cooked beans and many legumes provided very high levels of the phytates. This can be dangerous especially to children. You also consume oxalate in your spinach especially if it is left exposed for a long time.
o Malt, though good, has minimal source of protein and thus cannot meet the daily protein requirement.
o Reducing sugar was found to abound in the malt drinks at 6-9 grams, which are equivalent to approximately 1-2 teaspoons of sugar respectively. This is much lower than soda, which is about 8-13 teaspoons of sugar. The major source of sugar in malt drinks is through the enzymic hydrolysis of the starchy raw materials during mashing. By estimation, a standard bottle of each brand of the malt drinks (300ml) supplies more than one gram of reducing sugar. Thus, these drinks serve a veritable source of quick energy to a pregnant, lactating mother and other persons involved in some strenuous physical activity. On the contrary, diabetic patients should avoid sugar in malt drinks which could as well lead to raised blood sugar.
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