Milk ingredients as functional foods

Milk ingredients exhibit numerous physiological effects in the areas of infant, clinical and sports nutrition and in functional foods. Within infant nutrition, specific proteins and components from whey fractions have been shown to protect the infant gut and may help support cognitive development in infants. In clinical nutrition, whey proteins may have a beneficial effect on immobility-caused muscle loss, Type 2 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease. Casein glycomacropeptide is well suited as a protein substitute in phenylketonuria diets due to a low level of phenylalanine. In sports nutrition, the beneficial effects of whey proteins include muscle synthesis, recovery and performance. Lastly, in functional foods milk ingredients have shown improvements concerning weight management, cognitive performance and natural defence. As a functional ingredient, casein glycomacropeptide (C-GMP) has also been shown to have a protective effect against tooth enamel erosion at low pH values. It was apparent that C-GMP could form a protective layer over the tooth enamel and prevent enamel erosion through the direct attack of acidic foods and drinks.