· Insure Your Health! Use Milk and Milk Products •
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No. 162 August, 1931 · Insure Your Health! Use Milk and Milk Products • Ice cream, cheese, milk, and butter, four popular dairy foods . • The State College of Washington EXTENSION SERVICE Pullman, Washington DISTRIBUTED BY WHIT MA CO U TY DEPART C- Lc. LTH dg. COLFAX, .. INSURE YOUR HEALTH! USE MILK MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS By Esther Selleg Extension Nutritionist Milk is the most nearly perfect food. ·It excels all others in the variety and quality of material that it furnishes the body, and is suit able for persons of all ages. Each child should receive at least a quart of milk a day. Each adult sh ould consume at least a pint of milk a day. The solids of milk include protein, fat, sugar and mineral matter, all in such form that they can easily be utilized in building and repair ing the tissues and bones of the body. Milk is far richer in calcium in proportion to its solids than other common foods, which makes it especially valuable for young children. Fresh whole milk also may contain vitamins A, B, C, and D, food constituents found to be necessary for the maintenance of health and normal growth. Milk fat is the most readily available source of vitamin A. Milk is one of the easiest of all foods to digest for the normal healthy person and for many invalids as well. Milk should be kept clean, covered, and cool in order to prevent the bacteria in it from developing and causing it to spoil. Pasteurizing milk, or holding it at a temperature of 145 degrees F. for 30 minutes, followed by a rapid cooling, is the best practical method of destroying disease-producing bacteria without causing un desirable changes in the milk. For general use or for infant feeding milk may be pasteurized at home, and this should be done if there is any question about its purity. The consumer must share with those who produce and handle the milk the responsibility of keeping it sweet and pure until used. It must be kept in a clean, cool place free from undesirable odors and put only in clean and sterilized vessels. 3 The care of the refrigerator plays an important part in the keeping quality of milk stored in it. It should be inspected at least once a week and thoroughly cleaned at regular intervals. Skim milk, although lacking in fat, contains practically all the protein, sugar, and mineral matter of the whole milk and is especially useful in cooking or combining with other foods. Condensed, evaporated, and dried milk may often be used in place of fresh milk when the latter is not available. For feeding children these preparations may not, however, entirely take the place of fresh milk, and should be supplemented by fruits and vegetables. The fat in cream and butter is very thoroughly and easily digested and carries with it relatively large amounts of Vitamin A. Soups, b everages, and desserts made chiefly of milk are appetizing ways of serving it, especially for persons who do not like to drink plain milk. COMPOSITION AND FOOD VALUE OF MILK On the average, milk contains 87 per cent water, 13 per cent solids. The solids consist of approximately 3.3 per cent protein, 4 per cent fat, 5 per cent sugar, and 0.7 per cent mineral. PROTEINS Proteins are efficient in building and repamng body tissues, and may be used also as body fuel. The principal protein of milk is casein; another one found in milk is lact-albumen, but the latter is found in small quantities. The proteins in milk are of high nutritive value be cause they are in the best available form. They are easily digested, and quite completely absorbed. The lact-albumen coag ulates and forms a scum when milk is heated. The casein gives the milk its characteristic opaque whiteness. Milk is an inexpensive source of pro t ein which is particularly valuable for building body tissues. FATS Fats are the most concentrated fuel foods of the diet, and com mercially, fat is the most important substance of milk. The milk fat is in the form of small globules varying in size and quantity in differ- 4 ent kinds of milk. These globules rise to the top because fat is lighter than water. That the fat of milk is fluid at body temperature, which makes for its ease of digestion. MILK SUGAR Milk sugar is a carbohydrate found only in milk. When digested m the system, it breaks down into simple sugars. Milk sugar adds greatly to the palatability of milk because of its sweetness. How ever, it is only about 15 per cent as sweet as cane sugar, thus pre venting an unpleasant tast e. Milk sugar, furthermore, 1s one of the safeguards of milk as far as deterioration is concerned because when fermented it is changed to clean, healthful lactic acid, which retards the growth and develop ment of other harmful types of organisms which would otherwise cause putrefaction of the milk. The lactic acid and bacteria producing it from the milk sugar are also of considerable value in keeping the human intestinal tract in a healthful condition. This is the reason why commercial buttermilk or L. Acidophlus milk, is often prescribed by physicians to people with digestive troubles. The regular and abund ant use of sweet milk will k eep the intestinal tract in a non-putre factive, toned-up condition and it is not n ecessary under such condi tions to first sour milk artifically. If sour milk products are u sed, the souring should be done by pure culture under controlled laboratory conditions, as milk allowed to sour naturally may contain other undesirable forms of germ life. MINERAL MATT•ER Mineral constituents which are especially important to the body are: (1) Calcium, (2) Phosphorus, (3) Iron, (4) Iodine. Calcium is found in abundance in milk, and is the chief constituent of bone and teeth. The diet of the average American family consists of foods too low in calcium. Is there any wonder that the teeth of young people are suffering greatly as a result of this serious deficiency? Milk con tains iron in smaU quantities, but the small amount present is readily utilized by the body. H owever, the iron is readily supplemented by spinach, liver, egg yolks, and other iron-rich foods. In building of 5 blood, not only iron, but copper is essential. The tron content de pends upon the feed furnished to the cow. VITAMINS Vitamin A is found in abundance in milk, especially whole milk, cream and butter. This vitamin is essential in building up resistance to infection, especially of the mucous membranes. Colds are often contracted as a result of the Vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin B and its fractions are found in milk. Nerve degeneration occurs as a result of Vitamin B deficiency, and appetite declines. Vitamin C is found in small amo unts in milk. Vitamin C is easily affected by cooking. Vitamin D is present in milk. It is essential for the promotion of health and prevention of rickets. This vitamin is necessary for the growth, normal development and calcification of bones and teeth. Cows on green succulent pastures, constantly exposed to sunlight, produce milk especially rich in Vitamins A and D. PALATIBILITY The flavor of milk is an important factor in determining the amount consumed, and a high rate of consumption, especially by children, is indeed desirable from the standpoint of the general health of everyo ne. Every effort and precaution is necessary, therefore, to preserve the palatability of our dairy products. Weeds in the pasture and other stron g flavored feeds, may taint the mille It is always best for the flavor of the milk to feed the cow after milking rather than before. Natural dislikes of milk might w~ll be overcome by flavoring milk with chocolate syrup or other flavoring materials. These dislikes may b e compensated for by a v ery liberal use of dairy products in the preparation of other foods. BUTTER Butter contains more than 80 per cent fat, and is in an easily digestible form. It is a palatable, concentrated food having a high energy value. It contains vitamin A in abundance. Butter may also contain an appreciable amount of vitamin D, especially if produced from summer cream, because sunshine enables the cow to secrete a milk rich in this important vitamin. No vegetable fats or oils, as con- 6 tained in the margarines, contain any appreciable amount of vitamin A, which is absolutely essential for the life and growth of the human being and butter should the1·efore be used in abundance. l o other fa t produces as fine a flavor in cooking as butter, and this flavoring value of butter, cream, and milk in the meal is known to every expert cook, and should not be overlooked as one of the out s tanding points of m erit in these products. While the natural flavor of butterfat is extremely rich, nutty, and pleasant, it will easily absorb all flavors. Extreme care should therefore be exercised to keep dairy l products away from surroundings where strong odors persist, such as cellars, which are often musty and saturated with odors. (As soon as produced, milk should be moved from the barn to a clean, ventilated milk house, which is u ed only for k eeping milk and cream, and milk utensils. ) CREAM Cream contains the same constituents as milk, the chief difference being that in the cream the proportion of fat is greater.