5 Reasons Why Milk Matters For Our Health

There’s plenty of reasons why drinking milk is good for your health – let’s take a look at just some of them.

1. Number one source of calcium

Packed with calcium, milk is the largest contributor of calcium in our diet, and that’s important for strong bones. To get the same amount of calcium as one 250 ml glass of milk you would need to eat 32 Brussels sprouts, 21 cups of raw chopped spinach, 11 cups of diced sweet potato, 6 cups of shredded green cabbage, 5 cups of cooked broccoli or 1 cup of dry roasted almonds.

2. Milk’s full of nutrients

There’s more than 10 essential nutrients in milk that we need to maintain general health and wellbeing, such as protein, riboflavin, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, zinc and vitamins A, and B12.

3. Milk can help reduce the risk of some pretty serious diseases

The latest scientific evidence shows milk and dairy food consumption has a beneficial impact on many areas of health. The evidence statements in the Australian Dietary Guidelines show consumption of milk, cheese and yogurt is linked to a reduced risk of heart disease, stroke, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and colorectal cancer – some of the main causes of death in Australia.

4. Milk is an effective sport recovery drink

Milk naturally provides both fluid and electrolytes (sodium and potassium) to assist with rehydration. The electrolyte concentration of milk is similar to conventional sports drinks and studies have now shown that milk is a more effective drink for rehydration than sports drinks or water.

5. Milk matters for muscles

Milk also contains high quality proteins (whey and casein) that can help repair muscles post workout and promote lean muscle growth. In a study of healthy, untrained men, those who drank skim milk after exercise gained more muscle and lost more body fat at the end of a 12-week training program than those who drank a soy protein beverage or a carbohydrate-only beverage.