The New Complete Book of Food



Protection against rickets. Virtually all fresh sweet milk in this country is fortified with
vitamin D to prevent the vitamin D–deficiency disease rickets.

Reduce symptoms of PMS. A 1998 study at St. Luke’s–Roosevelt Hospital Center in New
York City suggests that 1,200 mg calcium supplements a day can alleviate the symptoms of
premenstrual syndrome. The study did not measure the effect of calcium from foods.

Adverse Effects Associated with This Food

Increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Like other foods from animals, whole milk is a
source of cholesterol and saturated fats that raise your risk of heart disease. To reduce the
risk of heart disease, the National Cholesterol Education Project recommends following the
Step I and Step II diets.
The Step I diet provides no more than 30 percent of total daily calories from fat, no
more than 10 percent of total daily calories from saturated fat, and no more than 300 mg
of cholesterol per day. It is designed for healthy people whose cholesterol is in the range of
200–239 mg/dL.
The Step II diet provides 25–35 percent of total calories from fat, less than 7 percent
of total calories from saturated fat, up to 10 percent of total calories from polyunsaturated
fat, up to 20 percent of total calories from monounsaturated fat, and less than 300 mg cho-
lesterol per day. This stricter regimen is designed for people who have one or more of the
following conditions:

Existing cardiovascular disease

High levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDLs,or “bad” cholesterol) or low

levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDLs, or “good” cholesterol)

Obesity

Type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent diabetes, or diabetes mellitus)

Metabolic syndrome, a.k.a. insulin resistance syndrome, a cluster of risk fac-

tors that includes type 2 diabetes (non-insulin-dependent diabetes)

Lactose intolerance. Lactose intolerance—the inability to digest the sugar in milk—is not an
allergy. It is an inherited metabolic deficiency that affects two-thirds of all adults, including
90 to 95 percent of all Asians, 70 to 75 percent of all blacks, and 6 to 8 percent of Caucasians.
These people do not have sufficient amounts of lactase, the enzyme that breaks lactose (a
disaccharide) into its easily digested components, galactose and glucose. When they drink
milk, the undigested sugar is fermented by bacteria in the gut, causing bloating, diarrhea,
flatulence, and intestinal discomfort. Some milk is now sold with added lactase to digest the
lactose and make the milk usable for lactase-deficient people.

Galactosemia. Lactose, the sugar in milks, is a disaccharide (“double sugar”) made of one
molecule of glucose and one molecule of galactose. People with galactosemia, an inherited
metabolic disorder, lack the enzymes needed to convert galactose to glucose. Babies born

u

u

u

u

u

Milk, Fresh