Friday Parenting Myth #9

I put these "Friday Parenting Myths" together in a free App for the iPhone because they're fun to write-Version 1.1 will have about 20 myths and I'll just keep adding more.

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-Daniel Weissbluth, MD

Myth: Drinking Milk Causes Mucus Build-up.

Pediatricians tend to hear this myth when a parent brings their child with symptoms of an upper respiratory tract infection. The child is coughing and the parents want to know if restricting milk or other dairy products will help alleviate symptoms. Another place this myth appears is in the alternative medicine approach to treating asthmatics. It is no wonder that so many parents believe this myth because many of them may have heard this myth from their doctors-in one study in Australia, 330 parents were asked their opinion on whether or not milk produced more mucus. 58% of them felt that milk did cause more mucus and almost one third of that group reported being told this myth by their doctor!

Two well known studies have aided in debunking this myth. First, a population of volunteers was infected with a common virus and then split into milk and non-milk groups and there secretions were weighed and their symptoms (cough, runny nose, congestion) were compared. There was not statistically significant difference in secretion amount or complaints of symptoms. Second, a randomized double blind trial compared the phlegm-like symptoms of cow's milk versus soy milk and found no significant difference. Before the subjects were given the cow's milk or soy milk, they were asked about their beliefs about the milk-mucus connection. The subjects that believed this myth prior to the study had higher overall levels of phlegm-like complaints regardless of what they were being given.

References:

Lee, C. and A.J Dozor. 2004. Do you believe milk makes mucus? Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine . 158 (6): 601-3.

Pinnock, C.B. Graham, N.M. Mylvaganam, A. Douglas RM. 1990. Relationship between milk intake and mucus production in adult volunteers challenged with rhinovirus-2. American Review of Respiratory Disease. 141 (2): 352-6.

Pinnock, C.B, and W.K Arney. 1993. The milk-mucus belief: sensory analysis comparing cow's milk and a soy placebo. Appetite 20 (1): 61-70.

Filed under: Common Myths