Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio. Hey brain Stuff. I'm Lauren Wogelbaum, and this is another classic episode of the podcast. In this one, we get to the bottom of a much repeated but completely untrue a myth that consuming dairy products increases your mucus production. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, medical myths are stubborn.
Going back to ancient China, texts associated the consumption of milk with a thickening of phlegm, and twelfth century Jewish physician Moses Maimonds wrote in his Treatise on Asthma that milk could cause quote a stuffing in the head that exacerbated symptoms of asthma. Eight hundred years later, Dr Spock, a twentieth century American pediatrician who wrote a popular book about baby care, directed parents to limit dairy while babies
were sick, especially with upper respiratory infections. For new only a thousand years, medical professionals have been telling us to lay off the dairy or face the mucus consequences. But
is it true. A review of the literature published in September eighteen in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood concludes that there is virtually no connection between dairy products and upper respiratory mucus, and that the myth might actually be preventing children with conditions like asthma, cystic fibrosis, or even the common cold from getting enough nutrients like calcium.
According to the review, studies dating back to have indicated that there's no link between milk and phlegm, but the myth is pervasive. A two thousand three study in the journal Appetite asked three hundred and forty five random Australian shoppers whether they thought milk causes mucus. Of the hundred and eleven shoppers who drank whole milk, almost half of them were of the opinion that it did, but only of the one reduced fat milk drinkers so that they
believed milk caused mucus. The difference in perception might have something to do with how milk feels in the mouth. It is, after all, just droplets of fat suspended in water, the current researchers wrote in their review. This could well affect the sensory perception of milk mixed with saliva, both in terms of its thickness coating the mouth, and the after feel when small amounts of emulsion remain in the
mouth after swallowing. This may explain why so many people think that more mucus is produced, when in fact it's the aggregates of milk emulsion that they are aware of lingering in the mouth after swallowing, so it's really just a feeling, not a fact. And Furthermore, the researchers suggest that since milk is a good source of calories and minerals like calcium, the long standing cultural belief that milk is bad for children with respiratory problems could mean kids
aren't getting the nutrients they need. This could lead children growing up with weaker bones and shorter stature. Today's episode is based on the article The Milk and Mucus Mint Busted on houstuffworks dot com, written by Jesslon Shields. Brain Stuff is production of Our Heart Radio in partnership with houstuffworks dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H