Know what kind of sugar to avoid in your child’s milk

What Kind of Sugar is in your Child’s Milk?

Although there are many variants of children’s formula milk available, most children’s milk contains the same recipe: fat, protein, and carbohydrates, but their sources vary. Vitamins, minerals, and extras such as probiotics are then added to the formula.

One of the more common carbohydrates used in growing up milk is sugar. Yes, sugar is a carb, and in fact, it is one of the easiest carbohydrates to digest. It is also usually used to sweeten the milk to make it easier for children to drink.

In theory, having sugar in children’s milk is normal, but it is the kind of sugar in the milk that makes the difference.

When you see the word sugar, what’s top of mind is usually the table sugar, also known as sucrose. With a relative sweetness score of 100, sucrose is the sweetest sugar you can find in any child’s milk.

Although sucrose provides energy and tastes good, it doesn’t fill kids up nor reduces their appetite. Instead, it encourages more consumption than necessary.

Excess intake of sucrose contributes to different long-term health problems which can affect children for the rest of their lives, like unhealthy weight gain, increased risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and dental caries. To avoid these, World Health Organization recommends to cut down sucrose intake to less than 10% of total energy intake of both adults and children.

Sucrose is made up of one glucose and one fructose molecule each. The latter is considered the more dangerous one as it tells the brain you're still hungry despite having eaten a lot, according to Dr. Robert Lustig from the University of California San Francisco. He also says that excess intake of sucrose contributes to artery-clogging fats formed by the liver and deposited into the bloodstream.

Another study proves that those who have had more sucrose in their diets had higher caloric intakes, gained more weight, and had more adipose tissue than those given the same diet without sucrose. Being overweight or obese increases a child’s chances of having type-2 diabetes, the most common type of diabetes. This could lead to even more complications such as eye, kidney, and nerve diseases.

Sucrose is one of the main food sources for cariogenic (cavity-causing) bacteria. The bacteria digests these sugars via glycosis, which is how bacteria create the energy they live on. This results in a potent form of lactic acid, which can eat away at the enamel of the teeth and lead to cavities and tooth decay.

Milk Kids Love and Moms Can Trust

Knowing the risks that sucrose poses doesn't mean you should give up on growing up milk completely.

The new PROMIL^® FOUR now has no added sucrose, and is predominantly Lactose, a type of sugar that is recommended for children aged 3+. It is composed of glucose and galactose, two simpler sugars used as energy directly by our body. Joe O’Donnell of the California Dairy Research Foundation writes that unlike fast sugars that are easily broken down, digested by the body, and converted to fat, Lactose has less fat conversion because it is burned only when the body needs it.

Lactose aids in the absorption of calcium and phosphorus, which are important to bone growth development and also helps prevent a disease called rickets, which softens bones and causes weak muscles.

It also promotes the growth of the micro flora for a healthy digestive tract. This happens because the "good bacteria" in the digestive system use lactose as a source of energy so they can grow and flourish. These bacteria manufacture vitamins and produce a variety of other beneficial compounds for your child's body.

Galactose in lactose is one of the eight essential sugars for proper human body functioning and cell development. It contributes to the development of both the brain and the nervous system. Studies indicate that it also helps trigger long-term memory formation and contributes directly to cell structure, the immune system, and the body's control processes.

Lactose is one of the low-calorie sweeteners, which makes it safe and healthier to be included in your child's milk. Aside from Lactose, the new PROMIL^® FOUR’s Nutrissentials is now fortified with Oligofructose and other essential and important nutrients that help support proper growth and mental development.
NEW & Best Ever* PROMIL^® FOUR now with the NutriGift SystemTM specially formulated with MOS+ to help double immunity. It also contains carotenes, selenium and zinc, in addition to 37 other essential and important nutrients, together with a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.

PROMIL^® FOUR is a powdered milk drink for children over 3 years old and is not intended for use as a breastmilk substitute

For more information of PROMIL^® FOUR and the role of Immunity Nutrients in your child’s development, follow PROMIL^® FOUR on Facebook and the Gifted Channel on YouTube