Sodiq Ojuroungbe
A Nutritionist and Dietician, Dr. Olusola Malomo, has revealed that there is no scientific evidence to back the claim that combining milk and malt can help boost blood volume.
The medical expert described it as a myth, noting that it is a formula that would make achieving adequate nutrition difficult.
Mixing malt and milk has become a normal practice among some Nigerians that have the mindset that it would help to boost their blood levels.
Some Nigerian movie artistes and many ‘uninformed’ people have also pushed the narrative that regular intake of milk and malt can help replenish lost blood.
This belief has made several people to imbibe the habit of taking this combination after donating blood, presumably to quickly replenish lost blood.
But, the dietician in an interview with Reportr Door Healthwise maintained that such belief has no evidence in medicine, noting that it is a shortcut that should not be recommended.
Dr. Malomo, who is an Assistant Chief Dietitian at the Ajeromi General Hospital, Ajegunle, said adequate proteins and vitamins are needed for blood composition.
While noting that milk and malt could give nutrients to the body, the dietician, said that the combination “may not necessarily boost blood volume.”
He explained that taking milk alone can help increase blood because it contains animal protein, which is an essential component in the body.
He said, “We recommend that if you want to take malt, take it. It should not be about the fact that milk and malt would contribute to increasing the blood level in your body.
“What contributed to boosting blood level is increasing your protein and vitamin levels, and it should be preferably protein from animal sources.
“When you look at malt, what is the composition of the malt drink? Malt is a carbohydrate that has been broken down, and malt is in disaccharides (one of the three types of carbohydrates).
“When you look at this from a chemistry perspective, that means you are combing the disaccharides and milk (which contains protein and some other nutrients). Even taking your milk alone without malt would boost your blood level that is if you have enough vitamins that will complement it.
“Also, if you drink malt alone, it will not invariably increase your blood level because malt is a carbohydrate. It does not play a role directly in the production of blood.”
Continuing, he said,” Technically, when you look at it, the combination may not help to improve blood volume, it may be one of the components (the milk) that may be of help. Milk is like a complete meal in a way. It is just that milk may not be adequate as the recommended dietary allowance of food in terms of iron, calcium and others.
“However, taking of milk on its own will boost the blood level of an individual. Some of this information is just mere fallacy and controversies, which we need to sensitize the public more particularly for someone that needs blood.
“Some of these combinations have no scientific basis, some are just assumptions from individuals and these assumptions are probably been passed down from one person to the other and it makes you feel good.
“The danger there is, instead of working towards achieving adequate nutrition, people will be patronising unproven claims.
“What contributes to increasing your protein and vitamin levels should be preferably, protein from animal source.”
On what to do to have adequate blood, the dietician recommended that people should focus on a lifestyle of adequate nutrition.
He said, “We really need to focus on a lifestyle of adequate nutrition and to achieve a lot of success. What you should do daily and as a lifestyle, so that your nutritional status would be okay at all times should be in relation to the body.
“What people should do is to focus on increasing vegetable and fruit consumption. They should plan their food. You will discover that a lot of people eat what is available. People need to plan, it is very important in having a nutritional lifestyle.
“There must also be portion control for what they are eating. Carbohydrates should be moderate and there should be an increase in vegetable consumption.
“Vegetables contain lots of nutrients. When you look at the nutrients in the soup, it is far more than that of the carbohydrates that you eat. We need to control the consumption of carbohydrate level and increase vegetable and protein levels.”
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