Food, Lost Recipes & Happy Hands – Home Chef Matters 2.0

Is the Milk you drink, pure and good for your health? There is hardly any household in this world that doesn’t consume dairy products in some form or the other. Milk being the most widely consumed and bought commodity across the globe is an essential part of everyone’s daily diet. A healthy dose of calcium-rich food item available easily for everyone’s pocket, milk, and its cousins like yogurt, ghee, cheese, butter, are known for health benefits for generations. But the most nagging question we all face at some point in our life – Is the milk we are consuming good or bad?

Let’s first talk about the Benefits of Milk –

Milk is known as a rich source of calcium and protein, also the by-products derived from milk have other nutritional capabilities and are widely consumed across the globe. For generations, curd (yogurt), cheese, butter, ghee, are devoted to their health benefits in Indian households. Milk is a rich source of calcium which is essential for stronger bones, teeth, muscles, and nervous system. Protein, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and vitamin K2 found in pure milk are some of the essential nutrients found in pure and unadulterated milk.

Vitamin D rich milk is essentially given to babies and kids for developmental growth. The early growth years in children fortify stronger bones and muscle movements with the right nutritional and balanced diet.

Potassium is another natural nutrition found in pure and unadulterated milk. This micronutrient is essential for your body’s internal mechanism, like heart health and controlling blood pressure. Pure milk with rich potassium helps the body to maintain cholesterol in check and keep the heart-healthy.

Over generations, milk is a known source of energy for fitness enthusiasts, due to its rich amino acids, milk helps in building good muscle mass. Based on the body’s requirements, low fat or skimmed milk is a widely accepted choice of fitness lovers.

Milk is also a good energy source, keeps the right balance of macro and micro nutritional needs of the body, however, the concern is – if the milk you are drinking well for health?

Is the Milk you drink pure and good for your health?

How well you know about the milk that is delivered at your doorstep every morning? I am a conscious consumer and go into the detailing of every ingredient before consuming it. Like reading the labels, knowing the ingredients, checking the nutritional values, etc. However, despite being conscious there are a few choices that we make unknowingly harming our health. Like the choice of milk you drink, every day.

My day begins with a fresh cup of piping hot milk tea, while I pick up the milk packets dropped at the door and placing them to boil in a milk-pot. Well, do you know the Indian subcontinent is the only place in the world that boils the already pasteurized milk? Yes! I remember during my stay in Melbourne back in 2006-07, I would never boil milk and keep it in the fridge to consume directly from the bottle as per the instructions.

Raw milk is boiled to kill harmful bacteria like E.coli, salmonella, etc, and to make it safe for human consumption. However, the pasteurized milk is already processed through and doesn’t need to be boiled. But we do that unknowingly, and by doing this we are compromising the quality of milk.

However, sometimes (read mostly) the regular pasteurization processes are not followed while packaging and delivering the milk and hence require re-boiling. This means the milk you drink after re-boiling is as good as white colored water.

Many of us also prefer to buy milk directly from the dairy or farm (tabela). The milk vendor will drop these milk packets or bottles at our doorstep early in the morning. Now for generations, we have been told the purity of milk is gauged by the thickness of its cream (malai), isn’t it? But the layer of cream formed on top of the milk you drink after boiling, may not tell you the level of purity. Do you know a large number of dairy owners/workers add adulterants to face up the look and feel of milk? Many media reports and FDA circulars have confirmed in the recent past about the blatant use of antibiotics, artificial hormones, at dairy farms to yield more milk from cattle. These chemicals go in our system and make us immune against antibiotics or spruce up some alien growth in the body.

Milk that is As Good as it gets –

The adulteration in milk perplexed me and coaxed to take corrective measure, I wanted milk that is as good as it gets. Which simply means, from farm to my cup 100% assurance of purity. There are quite a few options available in this category however, not everyone can claim and maintain the highest quality assurance.

Especially during this time of the pandemic, where we are reassessing our choices I wanted a solution that will deliver milk to my doorstep in the right conditions following strict Covid19 protocols. Milk being an essential part of my family’s daily nutritional requirements, I looked out for alternatives that provide the purest milk in Mumbai and in the most hassle-free manner.

My search stopped at the family farm from Nashik which delivers milk in Mumbai every morning in the most regulated and controlled way. Sarda Farms strongly believes in as good as it gets, keeping it transparent for the consumer to understand the entire milking to the delivery procedure. They are known for the highest quality dairy products and the most robust delivering system. The milk is delivered to the customer’s doorstep at regularized temperature; the entire supply chain is governed by the farms themselves, from milking cows to processing, packaging, and then delivering hence ensuring unaltered topmost quality products.

Get your dose of pure and healthy Milk every day

At the beginning of the pandemic lockdown, we all suffered from the scarcity of essential supplies/deliveries. Even those who delivered, the quality was highly compromised. This forced break from regular life re-emphasized my belief in choosing wisely. Sarda Farms offer hassle-free delivery option and easy subscription plans based on every family’s needs and requirements.

During my research, I also understood the eco-system of dairy farming. It is not easy to procure and consume pure milk every day, at some level or process the quality gets compromised. Like in European countries much more importance is given to the infrastructure than yield. And when you start with the right basics, rest everything fits well on itself.

The same principle is followed by Sarda Farms, where cattle are raised with the utmost care, and the entire milk processing is untouched by human hands. Relaxed happy cows when milked secrete these happy hormones making our cup of milk happy and healthy.

So, next time when you buy milk for consumption make sure you ensure –

1. The milk is procured from the end-to-end single farm for utmost quality standards. The more the links are in the supply chain, the compromised quality gets.
2. Delivery system regularized with right temperature – to lessen the damage of milk quality it should be delivered at the right temperature and immediately stored in the refrigerator for timely consumption.
3. Pure milk you drink doesn’t have any odor or yellow color, if the milk packet is emitting any smell or color it isn’t right to consume.
4. Packed milk need not be boiled and can be consumed directly from the pack/bottle. Follow the instructions and consume under the date limits.

Pure milk is nutritious and wholesome, my daughter loves her glass of milk every morning with flavor or otherwise. While the milk you drink is full of immense nutrition, few feel consumption of milk doesn’t provide any health benefits. Also, those who are lactose intolerant choose non-dairy options over dairy products. To each his own, milk is an easily available source of calcium, nutrition, and satiates the dairy requirements of a large population every day.

I choose milk that is as good as it gets!

Disclaimer –

The content is not for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

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© Dipika Singh. Unauthorized use or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Dipika Singh (Gleefulblogger). With the right and specific direction to the original content.