MovieChat Forums > A Haunting in Venice (2023) Discussion > Is milk harmful to the starving?

Is milk harmful to the starving?

posted a year ago by MNRebecca (771)
4 replies | jump to latest

I’ve searched online and I can’t find anything.

[–] biffleberries (71) a year ago

I am not sure, I have read stories of the Allies liberating camps, and giving everyone food, only to find out that all the food they were giving were shocking their bodies, and some were dying from eating. Some of the soldiers felt so bad having to take food back away from these starving people to keep them alive.

Maybe the acidity of the milk on a starving/malnourished body can do more harm than good.

[–] Wint3rFir3 (7251) a year ago

Yeah, apparently in times of famine, in countries where milk was not consumed regularly if at all, people were substituting food for milk and dying from the combination of starvation and diarrhea, and also lactose intolerance because they didn't have the genetic tools to digest milk yet. Having no food in your body and then getting the runs is a pretty deadly combination. Plus, if the milk wasn't being pasteurized properly, which it probably wasn't given the circumstances, it was likely full of bacteria, germs and parasites. It's illegal where I live to sell raw milk for consumption because of this.

[–] xergan (1067) a year ago

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322120

The syndrome occurs because of the reintroduction of glucose, or sugar. As the body digests and metabolizes food again, this can cause sudden shifts in the balance of electrolytes and fluids. These shifts can cause severe complications, and the syndrome can be fatal.

Milk has lactose, so basically the same. Thus milk is too sweet for starving people and causing the refeeding syndrome. You have to be really careful with people suffering starvation, best would be water and dry bread and some vitamins. Today people get liquid nutritions directly into the body, which is the most efficient and save method. But all this was basically unknown back then, at least to field medics and soldiers, who were used to well nutritioned battle wounds. They wanted to help and gave them likely their rations like canned milk etc and other food causing the syndroms.
And yes, milk intolerance could be also a factor, but we are talking here about slaws and kaukasians from Europe, they are genetically most adopted to milk.

[–] MNRebecca (771) a year ago

Thanks, everyone. Here’s Wikipedia on an effort to help:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Starvation_Experiment