Milk is beneficial for people of all ages, especially for children. Children who drink milk avail a whole range of health benefits. The fats and carbohydrates in the milk provide energy, protein is critical for growth, calcium and phosphorus support the development of bone and teeth, vitamins help fight infections and many more. Also read health benefits of milk and malt.
There are different types of milk you can give to your kids, such as ultra-high temperature pasteurized milk, rice milk, soy milk, goat milk or sheep milk, almond or cashew milk. These types of milk are full of nutrients that are beneficial for your growing child, such as phosphorus, vitamin D, A, and B2, calcium and niacin.
There are some amazing health benefits of drinking milk every day for kids. They are:
1. Good for the Bone and Teeth
Calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D are the nutrients that are in charge of supporting the healthy development of bones and teeth in children. Phosphorus and calcium are crucial in forming enamel, the coating on the teeth which protect them from wear.
Moreover, casein, the milk protein, is also beneficial for preventing the loss of deposited calcium and phosphorus. All these nutrients are amazingly helpful to prevent diseases too, such as osteoporosis, osteomalacia, and rickets which are caused by brittle or weak bones.
Besides drinking milk, bone health can be obtained by exercising as being explained in health benefits of exercise for bone health. Osteoporosis can be prevented by several ways. Read more about it in prevent osteoporosis naturally with exercise.
2. Maintain Blood Pressure
Drinking milk is beneficial to help your kid’s blood pressure levels stay in check. The minerals in milk, such as potassium, magnesium and calcium are known to be able to reduce blood pressure levels.
There’s also special proteins known as bioactive peptides which reduce hypertension. Besides drinking milk, make sure to maintain low salt level in your child’s diet to avoid high blood pressure.
3. Stay Hydrate
Your children need to drink lots of fluids through out the day in order to stay hydrated. Drinking milk is one of the great ways to stay hydrated. It is important for your kids to rehydrate, especially after some strenuous workout or any physical activity.
It helps your children’s body to recover after an exhausting exercise. Back to basic, mineral water is the essential because it gives you health benefits of drinking 3 liters of water a day.
5. Prevent Weight Gain
Some studies found out that milk intake is related to a lower risk of obesity. Milk is known to have a variety of components which contribute to weight loss and prevent weight gain. It also allows your children’s bodies to control the breakdown of sugars. It reduces the likelihood of diabetes and obesity as well.
6. Improve Cardiovascular Health
Minerals in milk, such as potassium and magnesium act as vasodilators, which are in charge of boosting the flow of blood through the organs.
It also reduces the chance of several diseases like atherosclerosis and other heart problems. Blood clotting and the functioning of blood cells are also improved because of the calcium in milk.
7. Boost the Immunity
There’s a research which has shown that regular consumption of milk in children helps reduce the risk of developing cancer and heart disease.
There are some antioxidants, like zinc, selenium and vitamin E which are helpful to promote your child’s immunity. It also allows them to ward off infections. Omega-3 fatty acids can also control inflammation.
8. Boost your Brain Health
Some researchers have found that people who consume more dairy products will have a powerful antioxidant i the brain. Those people who consume three daily servings of milk and milk products had antioxidant levels which were 30% higher than those who only had less than half a serving per day.
There are some ways to include milk in your child’s diet. Here they are:
- Breakfast cereal – mixed with oatmeal or fortified cereals with bunch of nuts and raisins. Health benefits of eating raisin bran cereal for breakfast can give you the complete idea.
- Iced milk – you mix cold milk with vanilla or pineapple flavors. It can be tempting drink for kids.
- Flavored milk – cold milk with strawberries, banana, mango flavors can be very tempting drink for kids.
- Delicious smoothies – you can mix some fruits, yogurt, ice cream.