A colleague recently heard on television that when heated, casein from milk turns into a hard to digest and harmful lump. Is it true? Gregory, 37 years old
Casein has been under fire for some time. Its opponents claim that it is indigestible to humans, or at least that is what high temperature makes it. She is accused of being in the intestines and hindering the absorption of nutrients. There were indeed various studies. Once they confirmed, and sometimes they contradicted the theses about the harmfulness of this protein.
Scientists from the Department of Bromatology of the Medical University of Warsaw have made an attempt to determine the effectiveness of digesting casein contained in various types of milk, which differ, among others, in content of fat and protein and the method of processing procedures performed. There was no difference between the digestibility of the protein contained in raw milk (not subjected to any processing), milk subjected to low pasteurization and microfiltration (“Cold”) and UHT-sterilized milk (“Łaciate”).
Thus, the heat treatment process does not affect the digestibility and nutritional value of the protein contained in milk. Moreover, it has been confirmed that high temperature relaxes the chemical structure of a protein and facilitates the availability of enzymes to it.
Photo is from: 55Laney69 / Foter / CC BY