Skip to main content

Whey-based beverage can improve your health

Whey-based beverage can improve your health
Image Credit: Getty Images
Adding calcium, Vitamin D and pre-biotic dietary fibre to a beverage made of whey can have huge health benefits for those who drink it, a team of Lithuanian scientists has revealed.

The scientists created -- and tested -- two different versions of whey-based beverages. Both the drinks had Vitamin D and pre-biotic dietary fibre added -- one was enriched with calcium phosphate and other with calcium lactate.fibre added -- one was enriched with calcium phosphate and other with calcium lactate.

The aim of the study was to determine how much their chosen health-giving additives would affect the "physiochemical and sensorya" qualities of the drinks, as well as what effects drinking them would have on the health of volunteers.

"Sometimes consumers agree to compromise sensory attributes for other perceived benefits, such as nutritional value or country of origin of the products. However, if the sensory attributes of the product do not meet consumers' expectations, it is unlikely that such product will be used again," the researchers said.

There was no appreciable difference in the visual appeal of the two formulas and the one made with calcium phosphate did not taste as nice after periods of storage.

With taste being so important, only the formulation with calcium lactate was put to 30 volunteers against a control drink for further testing.

After 21 days of drinking the beverage, the volunteers' blood analysis showed a significant decrease in LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations -- changes which would be likely to have a beneficial impact on their lives.

"Nowadays, consumers can find very different functional products with the same ingredients and the same effect on health, so sensory properties of products should meet consumers' expectations in order to encourage consumers to include the product in their diet," the researchers concluded.

This open access study gives a fascinating insight into the design and production of today's "functional beverages". It also shows clearly the simple steps -- like choosing a certain drink -- we can take to improve our health.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Modern garden with upcycling plastic bottles

EPA and the regulation of greenhouse gasses

This week, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy joined private and public sector leaders for a second annual White House roundtable discussion about the progress made and new steps taken to curb emissions of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), potent greenhouse gases used in refrigeration and air conditioning. Administrator McCarthy announced several new actions the agency will take to help support a smooth transition to climate-friendly alternatives to HFCs. "EPA is working closely with industry leaders to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, transition to climate-friendly refrigerants, and deploy advanced refrigeration technologies,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “The powerful combination of EPA’s regulatory actions and innovations emerging from the private sector have put our country on track to significantly cut HFC use and deliver on the goals of the President’s Climate Action Plan.” Among the actions announced today, EPA proposed a rule that would improve t...

iPad Pro Review

The iPad Pro is, at first glance, completely crazy. A giant iPad with all the limitations of iOS, coupled with added bulk that makes it harder to tote, and a price tag that starts at Rs. 70,000 , all make it a hard sell. That's only the starting price though, and you're going to end up paying a lot more for this tablet. Realistically, you should get the 128GB model, which costs Rs. 79,900, and also the Apple Smart Keyboard , which will set you back by Rs. 14,900. Artists, designers, and others might also need to buy the Apple Pencil , priced at Rs. 8,600 - which means a final price tag between Rs. 94,800 and Rs. 1,03,400. At that price, you can't really compare it to the iPad Air 2 , the last 10-inch model to be released, with an MRP of Rs. 49,900 for the 128GB variant. ( Also see : iPad Air 2 Review: Still the King of Tablets ) But if the iPad Pro is nearly twice the price of the iPad Air 2, then it's also giving you a lot more, aside...