Chapter 66: Which Is Better: Milk or Soy Milk?

Xuanxuan's mother followed Zhang Jing, and the two of them walked back to the internal medicine clinic one after the other.

Once seated, Zhang Jing gestured politely and said, "Please, have a seat."

"Here, this is it." Zhang Jing pulled a sheet from the top containing instructions for decocting and taking traditional Chinese medicine along with dietary taboos, and handed it to Xuanxuan's mother.

Xuanxuan's mother took it in her hands and looked it over carefully.

Starting to nod, she said, "Not bad, not bad. Dr. Zhang, the decoction and administration instructions you wrote are so detailed and extremely practical."

However, as she continued reading down to the dietary taboos, her brows could not help but furrow: "Dr. Zhang, are all these things forbidden? Looking at this, it seems like there's almost nothing left that can be eaten."

Zhang Jing smiled slightly: "During the acute stage of a cough, dietary restrictions indeed need to be quite strict, because that is the only way to ensure the efficacy of the traditional Chinese medicine. Especially for young children, whose spleen and stomach are not yet fully developed, the impact of diet will be even greater."

"Oh." Xuanxuan's mother nodded thoughtfully: "It seems that my child's chronic cough in the past was somewhat related to eating whatever they wanted."

Zhang Jing nodded slightly: "It is definitely related. Especially when the cough is prominent, dairy products must not be consumed because they significantly produce phlegm, thereby aggravating the cough and prolonging its recovery."

Xuanxuan's mother quickly said, "That's not too bad for us. In our family, we usually only drink formula milk, and rarely drink pure milk or yogurt."

"Isn't formula milk still a dairy product?" Zhang Jing gave a bitter smile.

"Ah? Formula milk counts too? I thought dairy products were just the pure milk and flavored milk beverages bought from the supermarket."

"As long as the composition contains milk, it counts, and that includes milk tablets and the like. As for milk beverages, because they contain many additives, they are even less suitable for children to consume regularly."

"Oh, I see." Xuanxuan's mother finally had a sudden flash of understanding, but immediately asked with confusion, "But the child is still so small, how can it work without drinking formula milk? What if their immunity drops and they don't grow tall?"

"If drinking formula milk could enhance immunity, why is your child still getting sick so easily?" Zhang Jing asked in return.

"Ever since we were little, didn't TV commercials often say: A glass of milk a day makes the Chinese people strong?" Xuanxuan's mother was still quite unconvinced.

Zhang Jing had no choice but to patiently explain: "Advertising slogans often contain exaggerated elements. Undeniably, milk has a high nutritional value, and during infancy, especially when breast milk is insufficient, it can be used as an appropriate substitute. However, no matter how much the nutrition of milk is touted, it certainly cannot compare to breastfeeding."

"The production of milk was originally intended to nourish calves, and humans forcibly adding this special food into their staple diet inherently carries a certain degree of 'unreasonableness.' More importantly, not all Chinese people can become 'stronger' by drinking milk. This is because the efficiency of the human digestive system in absorbing milk is very limited, especially for those with an inherently weak spleen and stomach."

"But if we don't drink milk, what should we do if the child doesn't grow tall?" Xuanxuan's mother asked again.

"Drinking milk might indeed help with growing taller, but substituting it with soy milk actually makes very little difference in effect. Moreover, plant protein is definitely much easier to absorb than animal protein, and our ancestors grew up eating soy products; our genetic makeup is completely suited to drinking soy milk."

"Furthermore, there are many factors that influence a child's height. As long as the nutritional intake is balanced and sufficient, coupled with moderate physical exercise—especially frequent jumping activities like basketball and rope skipping—there is no need to worry about the child's height. It's just that they might develop in height a bit later than children who constantly drink milk."

"Dr. Zhang, didn't experts on the internet say that soy milk has high estrogen levels and shouldn't be given to children frequently? They also said that girls who drink it will mature prematurely, and boys who drink it will become feminized?"

Zhang Jing smiled slightly: "I don't surf the internet much, so I don't know what the basis is for these so-called experts making such claims. However, we must first understand one point: the hormone content in food is definitely not the same thing as pharmaceutical hormones."

"Besides, if drinking soy milk could lead to premature puberty, why did generations before our generation drink it for thousands of years without seeing many cases of early maturation? On the contrary, with the improvement of living standards, more and more children have been inseparable from milk since birth, and as a result, the incidence rate of early puberty is getting higher and higher."

"As for boys becoming feminized after drinking it, that is sheer nonsense. I would say that the more milk people drink, the more delicate young idols we indeed seem to see."

Hearing this, Xuanxuan's mother couldn't help laughing: "That's very true! The entertainment industry is full of sissies nowadays; they must drink the most expensive milk every day."

"Alright, we've strayed a bit far. In short, according to my diagnosis, your child must strictly avoid dairy products not only when coughing, but even during normal times when there are no symptoms at all, you should try to minimize consumption, especially at night."

"Mm-hmm, I've noted it down. Thank you, Dr. Zhang, for taking up so much of your time."

"You're welcome. Popularizing healthy living common sense is also the duty of us doctors. It's just that there are still a few patients waiting in line behind, and letting them wait too long is not good."

"My mobile phone number is on this instruction sheet. If you have any questions, you can contact me at any time. However, unless it's an emergency, please try to send a text message. When I have a free moment and see it, I will reply as soon as possible."

Xuanxuan's mother nodded repeatedly to express her gratitude: "Thank you so much! Then I'll be leaving first, and if I have questions later, I'll message you for advice."

Just as she stood up from the chair, she added another sentence: "Right, the two children waiting in line behind are also from our residential complex, and they have coughs too."

Zhang Jing nodded with a smile.

Xuanxuan's mother walked into the lobby, preparing to call her mother-in-law and child to go home.

At that moment, the man with high myopia walked over and asked with a smile, "Xuanxuan's mother, how was it? Dr. Zhang looks so young; is he really skilled at medical treatment?"

"Yes, anyway, I think so. Dr. Zhang is quite nice, the consultation was very meticulous, and his explanations were extremely patient."

"Oh." The man with high myopia nodded, then changed the subject: "Xuanxuan's mother, would it be alright to borrow your medical record book for a quick look to see what kind of medicine he prescribed?"

"Teacher He, you're a teacher, not a doctor, can you understand it?" Xuanxuan's mother smiled slightly, but still handed the medical record book to him.

The man with high myopia, addressed as Teacher He, smiled a bit awkwardly and muttered, "Just learning, just learning."

Teacher He took the medical record book, completely ignoring the preceding contents and looking straight at the prescriptions written at the very end.

He stared for quite a while, seemingly trying to memorize them by heart.

His wife beside him could no longer hold back and sprang up abruptly from the waiting bench.

She scolded loudly: "He the Second, are you ever going to finish? Xuanxuan's mother has to rush home to decoct medicine for her child. You have zero social awareness and just keep delaying things!"

Teacher He then hurriedly handed the medical record book back to Xuanxuan's mother and apologized, "I'm sorry, you guys hurry back."

Meanwhile, the second group of young patients and their family members had already entered Zhang Jing's internal medicine clinic, preparing to begin their consultation.