The goodness of milk
Two glasses of milk a day are a good source of nutrients, says Clinical Nutritionist Dr. Ranil Jayawardena
Milk is on the minds of men, women and children, with all and sundry being swirled and swished about. They are not being left in a world full of milk and honey but in a very confused and confounded state.
Numerous are the mothers and fathers including professionals such as doctors, scratching their heads in befuddlement, who have asked the Sunday Times a very simple question.
Is milk good or bad for humans including children?
In the light of milk being in the eye of the storm in recent times, with different groups making contradictory claims, the Sunday Times spoke to impartial and independent Consultant Clinical N u t r i t i o n i s t D r. Ranil Jayawardena.
“We don’t need food, what we need is energy and nutrients,” says this medically-qualified nutritionist setting the picture right before stirring a glass of milk to look closely at it. And to get all our energy and nutrients we need different groups of food.
Dr. Jayawardena is a Senior Lecturer of the Department of P hy s i o l o g y, F a c u l t y of M e d i c i n e, U n ive r s i t y of Colombo and also a Visiting Fe l l ow at Q u e e n s l a n d University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. He has many publications in prestigious journals to his credit.
Explaining why he says that people don’ t need food, he points out that some patients who have gut issues have been on ‘ parenteral’ nutrition administered intravenously and have survived for more than two decades without actually eating any solid food or drinking any liquids, he says.
Methodically, he explains that we get our energy through carbohydrates, proteins, fats and also alcohol (though doctors do not encourage its consumption), while from the nutrients come vitamins and minerals.
In ancient times, humans ate food “merely for survival” and it is only in modern times that we are relishing our food, it is understood.
Stressing that “no ‘one’ food provides all the energy and nutrients” we need, he points out that public health experts have divided foods into five “basic” groups depending on their distinct composition.
These food groups are:
Cereal or equivalents – such as rice, bread, jak, potato string hoppers etc.
Vegetables – raw or cooked pathola, carrot, beetroot, beans, mallung etc.
Fruits – fresh or dried fruit as well as fresh fruit juices including banana, papaya, mango, grapes etc.
Meat or equivalents – chicken,
fish, egg, beef, pork etc.
Milk and dairy products ( kiri saha kiri ahara) – liquid or powdered milk, yoghurt and curd. So why should we drink milk and eat dairy products, he asks, answering that it is a source to get the benefits of nutrients.
(Next: Dipping into the controversy over liquid milk and
powdered milk)