Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from house Stuff works dot com
Speaker 1: where smart happens him Marshall Brain with today's question, what
Speaker 1: is the big deal about milk and why do people
Speaker 1: treat it like some kind of miracle drink? Milk is
Speaker 1: the product of mammals. All female mammals make milk, and
Speaker 1: all mammal babies drink it. That is the definition of
Speaker 1: mammal nous. Milk is an amazing beverage. Human children routinely
Speaker 1: live on nothing but mother's milk for six months to
Speaker 1: a year, and many can go as long as two years.
Speaker 1: When you consider that a two year old kid can
Speaker 1: walk and talk and argue with you, that's a pretty
Speaker 1: long period of time to go without ever touching solid food.
Speaker 1: In order for milk to sustain a child for two years,
Speaker 1: it has to be a perfect food. That is, it
Speaker 1: has to provide the child with every single nutrient a
Speaker 1: child needs in exactly the right proportions. Each mammal's milk
Speaker 1: is tuned to the needs of it's young so that
Speaker 1: it's perfect for that species. Milk can also provide all
Speaker 1: the fluids of child needs. In environments where the water
Speaker 1: quality is poor, the mother's body acts as a filter,
Speaker 1: so the child receives germ free fluids. Take human milk
Speaker 1: as an example. Human milk contains everything that a human
Speaker 1: child needs. Human milk contains eight point five percent carbohydrates,
Speaker 1: mostly in the form of lactose to sugar. Human milk
Speaker 1: contains four point five percent fat. Human milk also contains
Speaker 1: all the essential fatty acids of child needs. Human milk
Speaker 1: contains one point one percent protein. Human milk contains all
Speaker 1: the different amino acids that a child needs in the
Speaker 1: right proportions. Human milk contains all of the vitamins and
Speaker 1: minerals that the child needs. Minerals make up about point
Speaker 1: two percent of milk. Human milk also contains antibodies and
Speaker 1: other immune system components to protect the child whose immune
Speaker 1: system is still developing from disease. Human milk is eight
Speaker 1: seven percent water. The milks of different animals have different ratios.
Speaker 1: For example, dolphin milk is fourteen percent fat and ten
Speaker 1: percent protein. Whale and ant eater milk are both more
Speaker 1: than twent fat. It turns out that cow's milk is
Speaker 1: fairly close to human milk in terms of its percentages.
Speaker 1: Cow's milk has a little less fat and a little
Speaker 1: less sugar and about three times more protein than human
Speaker 1: milk does. It's not perfect like human milk is in
Speaker 1: terms of vitamins, minerals, and antibodies, but it certainly is
Speaker 1: a good all around food for children to consume because
Speaker 1: it is so balanced. Do you have any ideas or
Speaker 1: suggestions for this podcast? If so, please send me an
Speaker 1: email at podcast at how stuff works dot com. For
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