What Type of Milk Should You Drink?
If you are like most Americans you probably grew up being told to drink a lot of milk. For breakfast, lunch, and before bed we were told to drink more milk. “It’s good for you; it supports your bones and teeth!” we were always told. Because of all the marketed health benefits of milk, many of us have carried this beverage over to our adult lives, at least indirectly whether it’s in our food or part of our morning coffee.
Let’s begin with the elephant in the room! While it can be a good source of Protein, Fat, Calcium, as well as Vitamin A, B & D drinking milk is not actually essential. In fact, Two-Thirds of the world is to some degree lactose intolerant!
Why is milk and dairy considered essential and even placed in the once famous food pyramid? One word says it all, MARKETING. The dairy industry has long pushed dairy as essential to a healthy diet including during the famous 2000’s “Got Milk?” campaign. The lobbying and marketing in fact has been so strong that the dairy industry has become one of America’s most heavily subsidized industries. Meanwhile, most farmers growing vegetables receive no subsidies making plant based products more expensive.
The belief that dairy is essential for our diets is based on one thing, MARKETING
The most commonly touted nutrient in milk is calcium. Yes calcium is important in a balanced diet, but getting more of it is useless and possibly harmful if your body doesn’t know what to do with it. You need enough Fat Soluble Vitamins including Vitamins A, D, and K2 in order for your body to be able to properly place the calcium where it needs to be. Otherwise, excess calcium can result in tartar build up, heart valve calcification, and painful kidney stones. And ultimately you don’t need dairy to get calcium and fat soluble vitamins. There are countless other sources of obtaining these nutrients through nuts, vegetables, and meats.
If you want to continue including dairy in your diet the next question you might have is, “what type should I drink?” Is skim or reduced fat milk better for you than whole milk? First off ask yourself this, what does reduced fat mean? It quite literally means what it says; it does not mean reduced protein or reduced calcium. While some of the fat soluble vitamins are lost when removing milk fat, most reduced fat dairy products have them synthetically added back in. Also regardless of what the fat content is, all regular milk has lactose which as mentioned before is a type of natural sugar found in milk that most people around the world can’t even properly digest. So regular milk will have protein, fat, and a little bit of sugar. One major macronutrient it doesn’t have is fiber. So look elsewhere for that need!
Full Fat dairy products particularly grass fed dairy products will have more vitamin D and K2 but not nearly as much as you need. You’re talking about the difference between none and a miniscule amount. To get the sometimes elusive Vitamin K2 you’re better off eating Ghee, Duck fat, Natto, or other more K2 dense sources.
Almond or other nut milk can almost be considered super skim…if it’s unsweetened. It has all of the calcium and vitamin A if not more than milk but not nearly as much protein, fat, and calories in general. If you opt for nut mil, be sure to get an unsweetened version because these beverages can be loaded with sugar!
So which type of milk is better???
The answer is that no version of milk is necessarily better or worse than another. It all depends on what you are trying to get. If you want more fat and calories in your diet drink whole milk, heck drink half and half if you want! If you are looking for a source of protein without much added fat go for skim or reduced fat milk. If you want to watch the calories in general, the unsweetened almond, cashew, and macadamia nut milk is probably your best bet. If you are trying to cut sugar anywhere you can, go with lactose free dairy milk and/or unsweetened nut milk.
Milk can be a good source of protein, fat, and calcium but not as much as many other more nutrient rich foods. Also, the calcium in it is overrated when it comes to tooth and bone health. Milk alone will not build stronger bones and teeth; you need a strength training regimen and a good balanced diet to do that.
Leo Gabriel, Revivalize Inc.
Sources:
[1] https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/lactose-intolerance/definition-facts#:~:text=Experts%20estimate%20that%20about%2068,world's%20population%20has%20lactose%20malabsorption.
[2] https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/american-dairy-farmers-depend-on-government-subsidies-1015126442
[3] https://www.drstevenlin.com/the-dental-diet/
Go Back Let’s begin with the elephant in the room! While it can be a good source of Protein, Fat, Calcium, as well as Vitamin A, B & D drinking milk is not actually essential. In fact, Two-Thirds of the world is to some degree lactose intolerant!
Why is milk and dairy considered essential and even placed in the once famous food pyramid? One word says it all, MARKETING. The dairy industry has long pushed dairy as essential to a healthy diet including during the famous 2000’s “Got Milk?” campaign. The lobbying and marketing in fact has been so strong that the dairy industry has become one of America’s most heavily subsidized industries. Meanwhile, most farmers growing vegetables receive no subsidies making plant based products more expensive.
The belief that dairy is essential for our diets is based on one thing, MARKETING
The most commonly touted nutrient in milk is calcium. Yes calcium is important in a balanced diet, but getting more of it is useless and possibly harmful if your body doesn’t know what to do with it. You need enough Fat Soluble Vitamins including Vitamins A, D, and K2 in order for your body to be able to properly place the calcium where it needs to be. Otherwise, excess calcium can result in tartar build up, heart valve calcification, and painful kidney stones. And ultimately you don’t need dairy to get calcium and fat soluble vitamins. There are countless other sources of obtaining these nutrients through nuts, vegetables, and meats.
If you want to continue including dairy in your diet the next question you might have is, “what type should I drink?” Is skim or reduced fat milk better for you than whole milk? First off ask yourself this, what does reduced fat mean? It quite literally means what it says; it does not mean reduced protein or reduced calcium. While some of the fat soluble vitamins are lost when removing milk fat, most reduced fat dairy products have them synthetically added back in. Also regardless of what the fat content is, all regular milk has lactose which as mentioned before is a type of natural sugar found in milk that most people around the world can’t even properly digest. So regular milk will have protein, fat, and a little bit of sugar. One major macronutrient it doesn’t have is fiber. So look elsewhere for that need!
Full Fat dairy products particularly grass fed dairy products will have more vitamin D and K2 but not nearly as much as you need. You’re talking about the difference between none and a miniscule amount. To get the sometimes elusive Vitamin K2 you’re better off eating Ghee, Duck fat, Natto, or other more K2 dense sources.
Almond or other nut milk can almost be considered super skim…if it’s unsweetened. It has all of the calcium and vitamin A if not more than milk but not nearly as much protein, fat, and calories in general. If you opt for nut mil, be sure to get an unsweetened version because these beverages can be loaded with sugar!
So which type of milk is better???
The answer is that no version of milk is necessarily better or worse than another. It all depends on what you are trying to get. If you want more fat and calories in your diet drink whole milk, heck drink half and half if you want! If you are looking for a source of protein without much added fat go for skim or reduced fat milk. If you want to watch the calories in general, the unsweetened almond, cashew, and macadamia nut milk is probably your best bet. If you are trying to cut sugar anywhere you can, go with lactose free dairy milk and/or unsweetened nut milk.
Milk can be a good source of protein, fat, and calcium but not as much as many other more nutrient rich foods. Also, the calcium in it is overrated when it comes to tooth and bone health. Milk alone will not build stronger bones and teeth; you need a strength training regimen and a good balanced diet to do that.
Leo Gabriel, Revivalize Inc.
Sources:
[1] https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/lactose-intolerance/definition-facts#:~:text=Experts%20estimate%20that%20about%2068,world's%20population%20has%20lactose%20malabsorption.
[2] https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/american-dairy-farmers-depend-on-government-subsidies-1015126442
[3] https://www.drstevenlin.com/the-dental-diet/