How often have we heard of mothers debating on which health drink would make their kids improve their overall performance in school? There is always a confusion between Horlicks, Boost, Complan and so many other brands. It all boils down to which advertisement tagline sounds more attractive. How does one chose between a ‘complete drink’ or ‘the secret of one's energy’?
If you went one step ahead looked into the key ingredient in these beverages you will notice MALT.
Lets see what exactly Malt is.
Malt is cereal grains that are made to germinate by soaking in water, and are then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. In the end product, the starches are converted into a sugar form called maltose and its derivatives. Barley is the most common cereal used for malting.
Considering its role in health. Malt is source of energy through maltose which is a form of sugar, and B vitamins that are essential for growth, development, and a variety of other bodily functions. Also they seem to play a role in inducing sleep, which is why malted drinks are opted as a bedtime beverage.
So what could possibly be wrong in the picture?
The issue with the above so called fortified malt health drinks are that they are very high in sugar, salt, saturated fats and calories. Apart from this, for those who have gluten intolerance, malt would only worsen the condition due to its gluten content. Mothers in their attempt to hasten the ‘benefits’ of these beverages, tend to increase the quantity of such powders added in the daily diet of their children which actually defeats the purpose of good health.
And this holds true for every other processed food that claims to be fortified with vitamins, minerals and fiber. They come with a bigger package of latent poison in small doses.
 |
Photo by Alexander Mils on Unsplash
|
To conclude, there's nothing equivalent to obtaining nutrition for you and your kids through natural sources of food. Limit malt drinks and flavour milk beverages with natural sources like honey, cardamom or homemade badam (almond) powder. Malt drinks are NOT to be considered as a nutritional supplement for your growing child.
