Drinking milk fights depression, improves mental health — nutrition expert

Aside from providing the body with calcium and other essential nutrients, a human nutrition expert on Thursday said that consuming milk daily could also reduce the risk of depression and improve one's mental well-being.

Ahead of the celebration of World Milk Day on June 1, Prof. Liezel Atienza, director of the Institute of Human Nutrition and Food at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), said that Vitamin B-12 in milk helps promote healthy nervous function, as well as essential amino acids that may regulate moods.

"Kung gusto nating maging mas lively as a person, mas hindi depressed and tired, so milk will help. A glass of milk everyday will help us have this good stamina," she said.

(If we want to become more lively and not depressed and tired, milk will help. A glass of milk everyday will help us have this good stamina.)

Typically, a glass of milk provides calcium, protein, potassium, and many other vitamins that are essential for the body. Atienza said that consuming milk daily could also even reduce people's risk of getting colon cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

Calcium deficiency in Pinoys

Citing data from the Department of Science and Technology-Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI), Atienza said that there was still a high rate of calcium deficiency among Filipinos—a situation which may be addressed by higher milk intake.

"In the Philippines, sadly the prevalence of calcium deficiency is around 92-94% among children, and for adults it's like 97%, and among elderly or older adults it's 95%. It's like nine out of 10 Filipinos are calcium-deficient," she said.

"The thing is hindi natin siya nakikita (we can't see it) using our naked eye. So one can check if we are calcium-deficient by checking our intake, our diet. If milk, as one of the richest sources of calcium, is lacking in our diet, then we can say in a way that we are calcium-deficient," she added.

DOST-NRFI's 2021 Expanded National Nutrition Survey earlier revealed that about 97.2% of Filipinos aged 19 to 59 years old, and 95.5% of those aged 60 and above are calcium deficient.

Milk in school canteens

Magdalene Cariaga, a registered nutritionist from the Department of Education's (DepEd) Bureau of Learners Supports and Services, affirmed that not just a well-nourished body, but also a healthy mind, can help in effective learning.

DepEd has been implementing a School-Based Milk Feeding Program, encouraging students to consume milk to also help address undernutrition. For next school year, Cariaga said that the DepEd will be launching a campaign to make milk available in public school canteens.

"That's one way to advocate and to ensure that there is a milk drinking habit because the habit will create the demand and we would like that to be instilled until they grow old. This will result in lesser health problems and maybe the calcium deficiency will also go lower," she said.

Cariaga also said that the DepEd is encouraging milk donations, especially in rural and far-flung areas where delivering milk to schools is quite difficult. — VDV, GMA Integrated News