Well-known from childhood to all of us the phrase "Drink children milk - will be healthy" is not so true, according to experts of children's nutrition, especially if we talk about milk cow.
Cow's milk for children up to the year
No one argues with the assertion that mother's milk is the best meal for a crumb, but many mothers who can not feed a baby with their milk, are wondering when it is possible to give cow's milk to a baby? To answer this question, let's compare the composition of cow's and mother's milk.
Based on the table, we see that in cow's milk there are not enough vitamins, especially C and D, iron is also not digested from cow's milk, which can lead to anemia. There is not enough cystine and taurine in cow's milk, which are responsible for the normal development of the nervous system, retina of the eyes and muscles. Very important for infants and orotova acid (vitamin B13), which stimulates protein metabolism and normalizes liver function. Cow's milk does not contain whey proteins in the right amount, rich in amino acids, which are easily digested.
Cow's milk contains 100 times more casein (protein) than in female milk. It is this protein that can cause intolerance to cow's milk in children in the form of allergic reactions, because it is the strongest allergen. In addition, feeding a baby cow's milk with a high content of fatty acids and an overabundance of other substances overloads the child's body, especially the kidneys and the gastrointestinal tract. A large amount of calcium and phosphate can cause seizures, and a high concentration of salt in cow's milk can lead to an overabundance of calcium and phosphorus in the child's body.
For the reasons listed above, why children can not have cow's milk, we can add unknown conditions for keeping the animal and the state of its health. As a result, we can safely say that cow milk as infants, as well as children after a year, is better replaced with adapted mixtures.
But the answer to the question, whether cow's milk is useful to children, will still be positive. Nutritionists are united in the opinion that the child can and even needs to give cow milk when he is three years old.
Usefulness of cow's milk for children after 3 years
- proteins of cow's milk help very well cope with infections and have antibiotic properties;
- fatty acids of cow's milk are involved in the development of the nervous system, also fat and proteins are a good building material for the cells of a growing organism;
- Milk sugar (lactose) promotes the multiplication of beneficial bacteria in the intestine, in addition, helps to better assimilate calcium, which is so necessary for the growth of bones and teeth.
For children, milk is not only useful, but also extraordinarily tasty, especially because it can be used to prepare a variety of valuable medicinal products: kefir, fermented milk, yoghurt, milk jelly.