Nov
30
2011

A session with Key Opinion Leaders (KOL)

*Sticky post 48 hours*

It’s a must for me to have a mug of hot drink each night while I work on the computer.

More often than not my choice of drink is simply warm milk. It helps me sleep better at night. Tonight, as I am working on my PC, I looked at my mug of warm milk and started thinking. I’ve been drinking milk for as long as I can remember. I remembered when I was in primary school, my mom used to add sugar into the milk powder when preparing milk for us. We all had sweet tooth then and it was simply impossible to take milk without adding sugar.

I was in Primary 4 when my neighbour and I found a stray kitten that had barely opened its eyes and decided to care for it. I prepared milk just like how my Mom used to (by adding sugar) and fed the kitten. Day after day, the kitten shed fur and one day, it was almost bald. My neighbour got worried and so was I. We started to question if the milk was not suitable for the cat when I mentioned, “It should not be as I added sugar to ensure the kitten will love it”. My neighbour gave me a horrified look and told me that kittens can’t take sugar! Seriously?! How should I know??!!

We quickly prepared new milk without adding any sugar this time. I tasted the milk and YUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!! How in the world is the kitten going to take this? It tasted so weird! My neighbour assured me that it does not taste weird as she has been taking milk without sugar since young. True enough, the kitten finished the milk almost immediately and after a week or so, it got back its fur. One fine day, it disappeared and never came home :(

As for me, I continued drinking milk by adding sugar as I just can’t do with drinking ‘tasteless’ milk as my tastebud is so used to having it sweet. I only started to reduce my sugar intake when I met Darling as he is a little of a health freak (not forgetting he complained of how chubby I was back then) >_<

Why the nostalgic tale? Coz I suddenly thought, why was it so difficult for me to drink the milk without adding any sugar in it? It is because I was so used to drinking sweet milk that when I was given milk without sugar, I found it ‘disgusting’. I continued drinking sweet milk until my mid twenties when I finally broke the ‘sweet tooth’ craving and went sugar-free. Now, if it took me THAT long to give up drinking milk with sugar added what will happen IF Ethan gets used to drinking ‘sweet’ milk too? As it is now, his current milk is extremely SWEET. Thinking about it can make my teeth fall off! >_<

About a while ago, I and a handful of other concern parents got the opportunity to attend a dinner talk with a couple of Key Opinion Leaders. These KOL were here to attend an independent scientific symposium for leading Malaysian healthcare professionals, academics and Government officials on added sugars in children’s diets.

I think I’m not wrong to say that by now, most of us are well-versed in regard to added sugars in children’s diets. I think I’m also not wrong when I say that though we know that our children are not supposed to be taking in that much added sugars, we are not doing much to change it. I spoke to one of the KOL and when I told him that I still feed Ethan milk formula with added sugars in it, he asked me, ‘Why?’ My answer is, “Because Ethan is not obese and he needs sugars in his daily life”.

That is where this came in…

I was told that if Ethan needs sugars, he should get it from his daily carbohydrates intake with nutritious value. If I rely on the added sugars in the milk formula for energy, all Ethan is getting is basically ZERO nutrition from the added sugars.

What is worse, those extra calories can lead to weight gain in the long run.

That was what happened to me when I was younger. I was so used to drinking sweet milk that I grew up loving sweet food and drinks while all those added sugar was not doing me any good.

A wise man says that we have to nip a problem in the bud. Prune the bud I will but what’s worrying me is that Ethan will not like the new milk with no added sugars. How nice if we can get free sample packs of the milk and once it’s proven that Ethan can digest that, I will definitely switch his milk!

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About the Author: Merryn Tan

11 Comments + Add Comment

  • //

    It is healthier not to take sugar or high glycemic index carbohidrat….can remain slim too….lol!

  • //

    Milk with sugar? Wont it be abit too sweet/fattening? Hehe…

  • //

    For me I dun bother much as my kids already grow up and they only take milk max. 3 times a day, sometime only drink twice. So I still feel okay with those normal formula that contain sugar. (some claim that their formula contain Fructose).

  • //

    Milk makes me sleepy… Zzzzzzzz!!!! A bit of sugar wouldn’t kill lah…especially if one is active and exercises a lot. It’s later on in life with all those Coke and Sprite and what not that would do a lot more harm…

  • //

    What milk he’s taking now?

  • //

    Thank goodness, I can take almost everything without sugar, but not Kopi O.

  • //

    there was once i really cannot take milk because of the taste.. but i slowly force myself to accept it and now i never have any problem drinking milk – tasteless milk to be exact, hahaha~~ don’t add sugar lah, add honey maybe :p

  • //

    For me, I love to drink milk too since young and my milk has always been tasteless. I don’t really like my drink too sweet. Cannot imagine milk with sugar..hahaha. So what milk is Ethan drinking?

  • //

    Milk with sugar..never try before, But i don’t drink milk except when I was pregnant.

  • //

    milk…yummy. one of my fave before sleep drinks too. but lately i’ve resorted to soy milk or goats milk.

  • //

    interesting. but i dont have a habit of drinking milk at all. probably cause they’re not cheap? haha.

    colourless opinions™

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I am a mother to two boys; Ethan and Ayden and a wife to Darling William. I'm a stay at home mum who blogs to break the monotony of life and to avoid feeling jaded. Would love to get to know all the Super Mommies and Daddies and Babies or Singles out there with the hope that we can learn more from each other. Most of all, I am a happy person, and I hope YOU are too.

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