Buttermilk : know its benefits, risks and substitutions.

Buttermilk is basically a fermented dairy product. It is one of the most common beverages in India. But modern buttermilk is cultured with beneficial bacteria and is quite different from a traditional Indian buttermilk.

Although in modern world there is a decline in intake of buttermilk through people. But it’s most often used in baking and bakery products such as biscuits, muffins, quick breads and pancakes.

Although its name buttermilk is somewhat misleading because it does not contain any amount of butter. Traditional Indian buttermilk is the liquid left over from whole milk that has been turned into butter. But most of the buttermilk available today consists of water, milk sugar lactose and some milk protein casein.

So here we are mentioning the must to know health benefits of buttermilk.

• Optimises digestion.

The lactic acid present in buttermilk make its lactose content easier to digest. Most of the other dairy products do not digest easily just because of lactose present in them.

Approximately 70% of people worldwide have developed some degrees of lactose intolerance. But people with lactose intolerance can drink culture daily products such as buttermilk. Because it contain lactic acid that will help to digest lactose.

• May optimise bone health.

Several test tube studies proved that buttermilk is a good source of calcium and phosphorus. Addition to these, it has well reserves of vitamin D. All the mentioned nutrients are quite important for maintaining bone strength and preventing degenerative bone diseases.

During a study on people from age 13 to 99. It was observed that those with phosphorus intake of about 700 mg per day. Showed increase in their bone mineral density by 2.1 %.

• May improve oral health.

Periodontal bacteria causes periodontitis, which is inflammation of gums and weak down the teeth structure. Several scientific studies prove that fermented dairy products like buttermilk have anti inflammatory effects. Addition to this, intake of calcium from fermented dairy foods have been associated with significant reduction of periodontitis.

• May aid in lowering down blood pressure levels.

There are small amount of evidences that suggest buttermilk may help in lowering down your blood pressure levels.

During a study on 34 people with normal blood pressure found that consuming buttermilk daily reduced systolic blood pressure by 2.6 mmHg. Although the results of these studies are encouraging, but this topic needs through examinations.

Just keep in mind, buttermilk have some downsides too.

1. May be quite high in sodium.

It should always be kept in mind that it’s important to cheque nutrition level of milk products, if you want to limit down your sodium intake. Health experts reveal that consuming a lot of amount of sodium is associated with increase in risk of high blood pressures.

In fact, people who are sensitive to dietary salt may face several issues like kidney, heart and brain damage.

2. May cause allergic reactions in some people.

Buttermilk contains lactose because it’s a dairy product. So people who are lactose intolerant may face some issues in digestion. Although Buttermilk appears to be more easily digested by people because it has lactic acid.

Rather than lactose intolerant, people who are allergic to milk should avoid consuming buttermilk.