Patient's question:
The weather is getting cold, so I don't want to get up in the morning. Sometimes, when I see the time is not on time, I pick up the milk and drink it while walking. The older colleagues at the company said that it's not good to drink milk on an empty stomach. Is that really true?Doctor's answer:
Since water accounts for a significant proportion in milk, drinking a large amount of milk on an empty stomach dissolves gastric juice, which is beneficial for the absorption and elimination of food. When the stomach is empty, intestinal peristalsis is rapid, and milk passes through the gastrointestinal tract quickly with a very short retention time. As a result, its nutrients often don't have enough time to be fully digested before rushing into the large intestine, essentially going through the motions without being utilized.The proteins in milk require enzymatic action by pepsin in the stomach and subsequent absorption and compression in the small intestine to be converted into various amino acids before they can be fully digested and utilized in the small intestine. Drinking milk on an empty stomach accelerates gastric emptying, leaving many proteins undigested into amino acids. Consequently, many amino acids are prematurely excreted into the large intestine before they can be fully utilized. In the large intestine, these proteins and amino acids undergo putrefaction, transforming into harmful substances that can be detrimental to the body. This not only reduces the valuable nutritional benefits of the proteins but also increases the body's stress.