Why we're all confused by milk - Part 1

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Whether it be in your afternoon coffee, morning bowl of cereal, or your cup of tea after dinner, milk is something we have all grown up on.

Some stick with low fat, some full cream and some opt for alternatives like rice, oat or almond milk.

Milk is something that while I love it, can give me a bloated, upset stomach from time to time.
So I'm going to do a bit of a run down of some fave's out there, and why they're good, and not-so-good for us:

Low/No Fat Milk 

• Low in fat
• Low in calories
• Contains valuable levels of protein and vitamin A
• Studies suggest that low fat milk, along with other dairy products can help reduce the risk of colon cancer. Many studies also show that fat free, or at least low fat milk can reduce the risk of hypertension
• Improves bone health
• Low fat dairy products have been linked to heightened allergic responses
• Low fat diary often equals high amounts of sugar (now we all know how I feel about that one...)
• Dairy products may contain hormones from cows
• Some people find the lactose in dairy difficult to digest

Full Cream Milk 

• High in fat = fills you up for longer (this is a hotly debated point. Whilst high amounts of fat aren't necessarily seen as good for us, eating full fat dairy instead of low/no fat fills us up more as our bodies are designed to metabolise fat and to be satiated by it. When we compare eating fat to eating sugar, our bodies simply don't register when we are full from eating sugary foods as we are not designed to metabolise fructose. Ever wondered why we feel the need to keep eating the whole block of chocolate????)
• Like low fat milk, full fat milk contains valuable levels of protein and vitamin A, as well as improving bone health
• A study undertaken in the US showed that while low fat milk decreased fertility in women, full fat in fact increased fertility
• A Swedish study found that women who regularly consume at least one serving of full fat diary each day gained around 30% less weight than women who didn't!
• Higher in calories
• Higher in fat (there are good and bad points to this, as mentioned)
• Dairy products may contain hormones from cows
• Some people find the lactose in dairy difficult to digest

Check out this article that discusses the whole low fat v's full cream debate...

While I personally have swapped from low/no fat milk to full cream, I don't go overboard with the amount I consume.
To break it down even more, I still have issues with the whole homogenised thing. Something I'll be chatting about in my next entry...