Fish & Milk Myth: Does drinking milk after eating fish cause white spots? Learn the truth behind this popular belief, based on expert opinion and scientific evidence.

Milk after eating fish

Fish & Milk Myth: Is it forbidden to drink milk after eating fish in your home? If so, you're not alone. In most Indian homes, it's forbidden to drink milk after eating fish. Since ancient times, this food combination has been considered extremely harmful to health. It's believed that eating fish and milk together causes white spots on the skin, while others link this food combination to problems like gas and indigestion. How much truth is there in this belief, or is it merely a superstition? Let's find out...

What is a white spot?

Vitiligo is a skin condition in which areas of the skin gradually turn white. This condition occurs when the melanin-producing cells in the skin, called melanocytes, are destroyed or stop functioning properly. This condition can occur at any age and appear on any part of the body. This condition is caused by a fungal infection or the destruction of pigment-producing cells called melanocytes. The combination of fish and milk alone cannot cause this condition.

The belief spread about fish and milk

In Ayurveda and folk traditions, fish and milk are considered "virulent foods," meaning foods that are harmful to the body when consumed together. Based on this, a belief has been passed down for generations that eating them together can cause skin diseases, especially vitiligo. This belief is so deeply ingrained that people believe it to be true without any evidence.  

What do experts say?

According to dermatologists, no concrete scientific evidence has yet emerged that consuming fish and milk together causes vitiligo. Experts believe that the main cause of vitiligo is an autoimmune disorder in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks its own melanocyte cells. Genetic factors and environmental factors also play a role in this disease. No authoritative research has yet proven a direct link between the combined consumption of fish and milk and the development of vitiligo.

What does Ayurveda say?

According to Ayurveda, milk has a cooling effect, which cools the body. Fish, on the other hand, has a warming effect, maintaining body warmth. Therefore, consuming fish and milk together can cause digestive problems. Consuming fish and milk together can disrupt the digestive system.