Best time to drink milk, before or after meals?

Health benefits of drinking milk

Milk contains various essential nutrients for the human body such as phosphorus, iodine, calcium, potassium and calcium. Not only that, milk is also rich in vitamin A, vitamin B2, vitamin B12 and vitamin D. Well, all these essential nutrients are needed to maintain various functions of the body's organs. Here are some of the health benefits of drinking milk:

Strengthens bones so as to prevent bone loss.
Good for heart health. Cow's milk is a potassium source that can help reduce blood pressure. Based on the research results, it is known that increasing potassium intake and decreasing sodium intake can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Prevent colon cancer. Based on the results of research conducted by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), it is known that there is a positive relationship between higher calcium intake and a reduced risk of colon cancer. However, the investigators noted that the results of these studies were not always consistent.
Prevent osteoarthritis. A study published in Arthitis Care & Research states that drinking milk regularly can prevent calcification of joints.
Maintain muscle mass. Milk is rich in high-quality protein and contains all the essential amino acids that are good for building muscle mass.

When is the best time to drink milk?

Most people are accustomed to drinking milk in the morning or before bed. But, there really isn't the best time to drink milk. The reason is, you can consume milk at any time - morning, afternoon, evening, or night, as needed.

However, especially for children, avoid giving milk near mealtime. Reporting from the Detik Health page, a medical nutrition expert from the University of Indonesia, Dr. dr. Saptawati Bardosono, MSc, said that giving milk before eating will make the child full quickly so that the child does not have an appetite for food.

Ideally, whether it's for children or adults, drink it milk two hours before or after meals. In addition to avoiding the effect of satiety, this is also done so that the calcium content in milk can be absorbed perfectly.

Not everyone can drink cow's milk

Although milk offers a wide variety of health benefits, unfortunately not everyone can drink milk. The reason is, for some people sometimes milk has a negative impact on their bodies. Generally this occurs for those who experience lactose intolerance and cow's milk allergy.

Lactose intolerance and milk allergy are two different things. Milk allergy is when your immune system reacts to the proteins in cow's milk. This condition is often found in infants and young children. Meanwhile, lactose intolerance is when you have trouble digesting lactose, which is a natural sugar contained in milk, not because of the immune system.

If you have both conditions, eating or drinking containing cow's milk products can cause stomach gas, bloating, cramps, and even diarrhea that can range from mild to severe. To fix this, you are advised to consume other sources of calcium that do not contain cow's milk and other cow's milk products. You can read the labels of food or beverage packaging before buying it.

But for those who are lactose intolerant and still want to consume milk, look for milk that has added the enzyme lactase to it, low-lactose milk, or lactose-free milk such as from vegetable sources (rice milk or peanut milk).