Celebrating Superfood Milk, this World Milk Day!

By Ruchi Sharma

Childhood Memories! They are like super special and forever etched in our minds. And when most of us think of that one thing which was always on top of our not so favorite foods, it was undoubtedly MILK that topped the list! Remember how our moms ran behind us, threatened us and did what not to ensure we had that cup of MILK. Drinking that one milk glass was an absolute necessity before leaving for school and if nothing it made us hate it all the more. No denying the fact some of us loved it too! Though now as the years have gone by we have so many flavor options to make it much more tastier like chocolate, coffee and conventional ones like kesar, keora or elaichi. Thus, we have now developed a taste for it (Though if you have kids at home, you may be seeing this repeat telecast of running away from milk!). We may hate or love it but there is no denying the fact that MILK is super healthy and is a must to be included in everyone’s diet, be it a child or an adult!

Today we are celebrating World Milk Day, recognizing its importance as the global food. Every year since 2001 (when the World Milk Day was established by UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation) it’s celebrated on 1st June. This year the theme is all about how climate change crisis’s impact on planet can be reduced by the dairy sector! Wow! We never knew that humble looking Milk is so important!

Here’s some amazing yet important facts you must know about our little humble MILK!

1. If you drink whole milk instead of the low-fat milk, it can actually help in avoiding weight gain. Wow! We get to drink tasty one and not be bothered by weight issues!
2. If you are on a vegan diet, you can’t drink milk. Similarly, lactose intolerant people can’t drink regular milk too!
3. India is one of the biggest producers of Milk globally.
4. India has 300 million bovines! And nearly 55% milk comes from Buffaloes.
5. Milk can be used for making bio-plastic. And it won’t even catch fire.
6. Milk not only comes from cows and buffaloes, it can be from Llamas, reindeers, horses, sheep, goats, camels and yaks too!
7. In Pennsylvania, using milk crates for any other use is a punishable offence.
8. If you work out regularly, milk is actually a perfect post recovery drink for you.
9. In India, National Milk Day is celebrated on November 26 i.e. on the birthday of father of white revolution, Dr. Verghese Kurien.
10. Too much of anything is bad, similarly drinking too much milk can cause digestive issues.

If you still hate milk, here are some of its benefits that will surely make you rethink!

Packed with Nutrients

Milk is packed with all 9 essential nutrients including protein & calcium and lots of vitamins too, even Vitamin D!

Perfect Source of Quality Protein

If you are a vegetarian, you often search for protein rich natural diet and milk can help in fulfilling that. Even if you are a non- vegetarian, you should still go for it, as it contains two types of protein i.e. whey protein and casein making it a ‘complete protein’.

Helps in Maintaining Bone Health

Now this you would have heard infinite number of times already how milk is important for your bones! The combination of nutrients present make it really good for strong and healthy bones.

Prevent Weight Gain

As mentioned in fun fact above too, contrary to popular belief, several studies show intake of whole milk can actually lower the risk of obesity. 

Healthy Teeth

Since Milk is rich in calcium and Vitamin D, it helps in keeping your teeth strong too!

Prevent Heartburn

If you are troubled by stomach woes like heartburn after a very spicy meal, all you need to do is drink a glass of milk after meal and it will cool down your stomach lining and esophagus in a jiffy!

Good for Skin

Now now! We all want that perfect glow on the skin sticking to as natural solutions as possible, and there are so many amazing face packs that have milk as one of the ingredients that help in achieving it!

Not only this, you can actually make (or maybe are already eating and you don’t know!) literally 100s of things from milk. Some of the most common ones are:

Butter

Cream

Yoghurt

Cheese

Paneer

Ice Cream (Yummy!)

And your most favorite delicacies have milk too like- Ras Malai, Kheer, Cake, Mango Shake and a lot more!

Wow! Now two second thoughts on it, Milk benefits for women go way beyond what we knew! It is a part of our lives and if you aren’t on a vegan diet or lactose intolerant, just start including it in your diet right from today. Already love it? Well then, Cheers!