Tag Archives: milk

Myths about hydration

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Water We don’t actually need to drink eight glasses of water a day…

Elixir attended the British Nutrition Foundation’s conference on hydration last week and came away with a few very interesting facts about water.

1. The amount of water we need and use is different from person to person

2. We can survive more than a few days without water

3. Most of the water we ingest comes naturally from food

4. Most liquids add to our hydration, including fruit juice, milk, teas and coffee

In general, we are not very clued in about water and hydration – most people in the UK have a very loose understanding about the signs of dehydration.

We look for clues such as darker urine to decide whether or not we are dehydrated – the truth is that darker urine can be caused by a number of things – including vitamin supplements.

Thirst is just nature’s way of telling us our blood water concentration is dropping, not an indication that we are about to become dehydrated.

Serious dehydration is almost impossible to achieve – unless you are stuck in a desert or paralysed with no access to liquids. As mentioned above, it is possible to survive without water for some time; a woman who had been in a coma for years (in the US) survived for 13 days without any liquids after it was decided to turn off her live-saving machine.

The most shocking thing we learned was the truth behind the ‘eight glasses of water’ myth.

Research showed that over 70% of people can quote the recommended amount of water of six to eight glasses.

The truth is, the recommended amount of water is 2.5 litres per day and we ingest most of it in food. The less dense the food, the more water it contains – meaning fruit and vegetables contain the most. 

As we get older we are more susceptible to the marketing ploys of drinks companies – we start to buy into the ‘health’ drink to lower our cholesterol and raise the pro and prebiotic levels of our stomachs.

Beware of drinks advertising an increased level of antioxidants as well – a study found that drinking tea gives you a better level of antioxidants over 24 hours than many health/fruit based drinks. 

 

 

 

Carry on Cleo – asses’ milk – the latest elixir of life?

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Brussels: Donkey milk, or more glamorously asses’ milk was Cleopatra’ favourite bathtime tipple.

And recently the world’s oldest woman, Maria Esther de Capovilla from Ecuador, who died last week at the age of 116, said her longevity was down to donkey milk.

Farmer Olivier Denys from Belgium’s only donkey milk farm, the Asinerie du Pays des Collines at the Château des Mottes, operates Europe’s most productive donkey dairy, yielding between 2,000 and 3,000 litres of milk every year.

Half of this production goes into the company’s popular cosmetics range, offering customers donkey milk soaps, crème de bains, beauty cream, and face masks.

The rich composition of donkey milk means that these products are regenerative for the skin because of high levels of protein, phospholipides and ceramides, which in turn confer it with both soothing and restructuring properties.

Its rich composition also makes it an excellent moisturiser and, perhaps more importantly, it is said to be an effective anti-wrinkle treatment.

The milk also has 60 times the vitamin C content as cow’s milk, Denys said, as well as containing vitamins A, D and E, and is a rich source of calcium and phosphorous, making it highly beneficial, both for consumption and skin care applications.

These properties could all help to boost the future profile of donkey’s milk in the cosmetics market, particularly in view of the fact that demand for natural ingredients is one of the industry’s fastest growing areas.

There are a handful of companies that currently manufacture cosmetics based on donkey’s milk. Another leading player is the US-based Cleopatra brand, which includes a number of skin care products, including a day and a night cream.

Like Denys’ skin care range, it is marketed worldwide as a premium natural skin care product, albeit serving a highly niche market. And given the recent spotlight on donkey’s milk, demand for the ingredient could be given a significant boost.

However, one limitation to meeting increased demand might be low milk yield rates. A donkey gives about two litres of milk per day, over three milkings, while a cow can churn out 40 litres in a single milking.

And despite having 84 donkeys in his drove, Mr. Denys revealed that only about 15 jennies are ever on active milk duty.

“It’s niche,” he said. “But our production goes up every year, and the market is expanding.”

Milk protein lowers blood pressure

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New Orleans: Drinking milk can assist in lowering blood pressure, scientists at the Tulane University in New Orleans have discovered.

A trial on 140 patients with hypertension showed a significant drop in their blood pressure of between three and five per cent.

As a result the researchers are to carry out a larger trial to examine whether the protein in soy milk has a similar effect.

Just how proteins from milk work is not clear, although it is known that other foods, such as salt, potassium and alcohol, can have an effect on blood pressure.

Milk protein can be taken in supplement form, or as milk itself.