Whole Milk Beats Barium

The foul-tasting barium sulfate liquid that patients have to drink before a CT scan of the digestive system could be replaced by ordinary whole milk, a small study suggests.

Barium sulfate is used to distend the hollow digestive organs so they can be seen in the images produced by the scan. Presumably any liquid could do this, but some liquids, like water, move through the system too quickly, while barium sulfate lingers in the intestines. The researchers found that drinking whole milk before the scan has essentially the same effect, because its fat content is digested slowly.

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