What Does Drinking Milk Do To Your Body?

Adults of a certain age grew up hearing one thing about milk: “It does a body good.” Advertisements featuring various celebrities, athletes, and superheroes helped sell the idea that milk was exactly what your body needed.

Unfortunately, that’s not the whole truth. And milk can’t be part of a truly healthy diet until you know exactly what it does to your body.

Wondering what that glass of milk each night is doing to you? This comprehensive guide has the answers you’ve been waiting for.

Milk can cause bloating

Many people gulp milk down hoping it will help them live a healthier life. Why, then, does it make you feel really bloated?

If you’re wondering how to tell if milk is bad for you, just check out what it does to your body. If it makes you feel painfully bloated, then you may have lactose intolerance or something more severe like IBS.

Keep in mind that your body’s digestive system changes as you get older. Milk may cause bloating now even if it hasn’t been a problem in the past.

Milk can help your body burn fat

When determining how healthy milk is, most folks just ask “how many calories in milk?” The answer, though, is more complicated than that.

For example, a glass of 1% milk has a little over 100 calories in it. While it’s possible to have too much of a good thing, milk by itself doesn’t have too many calories.

Furthermore, regularly consuming milk two or three times a day can actually help you burn fat. This is why it’s important to pay attention to your scale: even if you feel bloated from milk consumption, you may actually be shedding pounds!

You already have the answer to the question “how many calories in a cup of milk?” To better understand milk and overall health, you must understand more of the nutrition/calorie balance.

Basically, it goes like this: while you can count the calories for anything you consume, some of those calories are more nutritious than others. A balanced and healthy diet boils down to consuming more healthy calories than unhealthy ones.

Milk makes you feel fuller faster

The calories from milk are more nutritious than the calories from many other foods. And one of the reasons for that is because milk contains protein.

How much protein in milk is there, you ask? Generally speaking, you get one gram of protein per ounce of milk that you consume.

That protein helps you feel fuller faster, meaning you are less likely to eat too much. In this way, milk is a win/win: it helps you eat less while ensuring that more of your calories are healthy and nutritious.

For best results, milk should be relatively fresh because of the pH balance of the liquid. If you’ve ever asked “what is the pH of milk,” it’s only about 6.5. This means milk is slightly acidic.

Water has a neutral pH level of 7. The closer to 0 on the pH scale, the more acidic it gets. But the acidity of milk goes up as it gets sour — that’s why old milk tastes so nasty!

Milk can cause acne

Still wondering why is milk bad for you when there are so many health benefits? Regardless of other health goals, everyone wants to have smooth skin. Sadly, milk may be disrupting this particular goal!

Dairy can actually be inflammatory, and some people are more prone to it than others. If you’re breaking out after drinking two or three glasses, this may be your body’s way of saying to lay off the dairy.

Inflammation may have you asking “what is in milk?” In this case, it’s something called D-galactose that is out to ruin your selfies.

Milk can strengthen muscles

You may have noticed that milk is popular with weight lifters. The simple reason for this is that it can help you maintain your muscle mass.

Milk contains a unique carb/protein mix that leads to stronger muscles. Whether you’re looking to add new muscles or maintain the ones you already have, milk is a great post-workout drink.

Of course, you can test this yourself. Start drinking milk after you lift and watch those gains grow!

Milk can strengthen bones

Everyone has heard about milk being good for calcium for the entirety of their lives. But how much calcium in milk is there, you ask?

A standard cup of 1% milk has a little over 300 milligrams of calcium. While the other nutrients are also good for your body, calcium, in particular, helps to foster strong bones. This is the primary reason so many parents encourage their children to start drinking milk from a young age!

Milk can protect against diseases

Many worry about the sugar content of milk. How much sugar is in milk? Only 13 grams in a cup of 1% milk–just enough to give it a sweet taste.

Therefore, milk isn’t likely to lead to diabetes. Quite the opposite: the nutrients in milk can help to protect against diabetes and other health risks such as cancer and heart disease!

Furthermore, the chances of catching harmful bacteria from fresh (not spoiled) milk is nearly impossible because virtually all store-bought milk is pasteurized. By heating the milk to 165 degrees F for 15 seconds, companies kill disease-causing bacteria in the milk and extend its shelf-life.

But if you ever happen to buy raw milk from a farm and are wondering how to pasteurize milk yourself, you can heat it in a steel pot at 145 degrees F for half an hour. Stir constantly to keep the milk from burning and to make sure it is heated evenly. Cool it in an ice-filled sink and you are good to go!

Now that you know the benefits and drawbacks of milk, you can make the right diet choices for your body! Listen to what your body is telling you and you’ll know if you need to reduce or increase the amount of milk in your diet.