The use of cow’s milk at meals or between meals as a beverage is one of
the greatest dietetic blunders which could be perpetrated. Human milk
is a nutritive fluid, very useful for the fast-growing young mammal and
perfectly adapted as such for young infants.
But for adults who have ceased to grow, cow’s milk is needless and
injurious. It is also one of the best culture media for tuberculosis
and other germs. Therefore, it is better to use acid fruits, and fruit
or vegetable juices, instead of milk when beverages are called for.
Milk is a fluid, containing its various food constituents ideally
balanced for the purpose of building up the young body. With the
sole exception of man, however, every animal in a state of nature
ceases using milk as a food when once the period of infancy has
passed. Speaking recently at the Working Men’s College on “Wild Parts
of China,” Professor A. Henry mentioned as a curious fact that the
Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans, who number one-third of the human
race, abstain from the use of milk, cheese and butter. This probably
accounted for the absence among them of zymotic diseases.
Buttermilk.
This is an excellent beverage if it agrees; or dried separated milk,
diluted with water to the proper consistency, can be used as a
substitute. It should be quite sweet and fresh from the churn.
Koumys and Kefir.
These are fermented forms of milk beverage made by adding yeast or
other organisms, with sugar, to induce fermentation with the consequent
production of alcohol.
Curdled Milk.
This is a form of buttermilk made by allowing pure preservative free
milk to go sour naturally. The natural process is often aided by
means of the addition of the cultivated germs natural to the curdling
process. When this is done the finished article is more regular in
taste and composition. It is a much “overrated” beverage.
Milk and Soda.
A mixture of milk and soda water in equal parts is a favourite
beverage with many people. The soda water has the effect of delaying
the curdling process, and so the milk becomes more digestible. The
soda water should be added to the milk and not vice versa. The right
proportion for making milk and soda is 1 part of soda water to 2 of
milk. Lime water can be used in its place in the same proportion and
15 grains of bicarbonate of soda diluted with water is the equivalent
to a third of a tumblerful of soda water. _But it should be clearly
understood that inorganic mineral substances such as are contained in
soda water and lime water are not capable of assimilation by the human
body and have to be excreted, or retained at the peril of health._
Casein Stock.
Casein is the proteid part of milk and as such it is a valuable food,
provided it is combined with other foods rich in mineral salts, such as
the juices of vegetables, which replace the whey that has been removed
in the production of the casein.
Casein given alone, owing to its freedom from all organic matter, is
useless as a nutrient, because without the addition of the mineral
salts it is just a chemical substance.
Casein is prepared from milk in the process of making whey, the curd
part (rejected in the process) being precipitated, washed, and dried
to form a white powder. Casein is, of course, the material from which
cheese is made, and the “cottage cheese” made from milk curdled with
lemon juice is one of the finest proteid foods extant, being much
more nutritious and more easily digested and assimilated than ordinary
cheese which contains animal rennet and is mixed with common salt and
other constituents.
To prepare casein stock, add 1 oz. of casein to ½ pint of water and
boil until dissolved. When cold it appears as a thin transparent jelly
and will keep good for a day. This stock may be used for making soups
or as an addition to coffee, tea and other beverages to increase their
nutritive value. It gives body and makes them more invigorating.