Whole milk from grass fed cows, real cream (grass fed too), whole goat milk kefir, whole milk, cream top yogurt, and whole milk cottage cheese and sour cream,yum!
Milk can be a very healthy, nutrient-dense part of a child's diet, provided your child is not allergic to dairy. Milk provides many essential nutrients including protein, calcium, vitamin D, Vitamin A and > nourishing fats, if it's whole milk you're drinking. The advice to give low fat dairy to children is misguided. Whole milk is a whole food, while low-fat milk has been altered and is no longer as healthy as it was. Technically, low-fat milk contains the same amount of protein and calcium as whole milk, but our bodies cannot absorb and use these nutrients without the fat this food was meant to have. I really liked how Nina Planck explains > why whole milk is best in this article from the New York Times.
Shelf stable/aseptic milk (ultra-high-temp pasteurized milk) such as Organic Valley's or Horizon's individual serving sized milk boxes, are not really a healthy choice, though they do have kid appeal ling packaging and flavors. One serving of the > Organic Valley chocolate milk has a whopping 25 grams of sugar!!! That's twice the amount of sugar in a serving as Breyer's vanilla ice cream. Sugar is not something any kids need more of. These "convenient" drinks only come in reduced fat options. Despite the common idea that eating fat will make us fat, here is a recent > study from the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine which found that while too many calories from milk, in general, can cause increased > BMI in children, reduced fat milk was found to actually make kids get fatter then kids who drank whole milk!
Whole milk is best for adults, and may help women >not gain weight . Whole milk is best for men as well, one reason being that low fat dairy has been linked to an> increase in prostate cancer risk.
The often touted hypothesis that saturated fat, found in whole milk and other animal products, will put you at risk for heart disease is not undisputed by science and there is much evidence that saturated fat is not what causes heart disease. Here is > a study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition which found that saturated fat intake was associated with less atherosclerosis and that increased carbs were associated with more atherosclerosis.
Personally, I love the taste of rich, creamy whole milk. This is the real reason I drink it. The fact that it is better for me and my kids is definitely a good thing too! When I was pregnant with my son, Ari, I went through a few gallons a week all by myself, I just craved it so. I had a very healthy pregnancy with him, gaining a normal amount of weight that I lost within three months postpartum, and I gave birth to a healthy, full-term baby who weighed a little over 8 lbs. Whether this was coincidental to my diet of whole milk and other whole foods, I cannot say based on any "proof", but I intuitively know that what we eat affects our health and the health of our children, and I know that for me, eating foods that are as close to their natural state as possible is a good choice.
So pour yourself a glass of whole milk, for the health of it and superior taste!
*Dear Intelligent Reader, please remember, I am not a doctor and none of this is meant to be taken as medical advice.
This post is happily apart of > Food Renegade's Fight Back Fridays!
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5 comments:
i'm curious, do you drink raw milk? it would be my first choice, i may actually drink milk if it was raw. unfortunately, it is quite expensive and i can't afford to only buy it raw. sometimes i get cream top milk. i figure at least it's not homoginized, one less process it's gone through. what are your thoughts about the whole pasturization of milk?
I knew this question on pasturization was coming! I actually do not drink raw milk, for personal reasons I am unable to write about here:(
I do believe in the freedom of consumer/health choices, and of course if you live in California it is totally legal and raw milk is sold on shelves at various grocery stores if you are so inclined!
I buy organic, grass-fed, cream top (non-homogenized), from locally raised cows, vat-pasturized (low temp pasturization that is legal everywhere in the USA but heats the milk slowly so that some enzymes and other important nutrients remain intact).
The milk I buy is pretty expensive, it costs 10$ a gallon, plus 2$ per quart bottle deposit, if I get the stuff in glass bottles from my local co-op.
My favorite milk locally is Crystal Ball Farms or Castle Rock creamery milk, both are available at various co-ops in the Twin Cities.
I don't drink milk very often, but If I do I always try to go for organic full cream unhomgenized! It's funny how in the past with the light/low fat revolution people were hoping to lose weight but now people are fatter than ever! Raw Milk is illegal here in Australia and there are very strict rules about it. But I think the laws are just trying to protect people. I guess though If people do buy raw milk and they feel uncomfortable they can always lightly pastuerize it for themselves.
Thanks for including the info on the sugar content of chocolate milk versus vanilla ice cream. Breyers is usually the only brand I buy because of their natural line that only uses simple ingredients (milk, cream, sugar, vanilla).
i was shocked by the sugar content, and pleasantly surprised by how much lower in sugar Breyer's is. I like Hagaan Daz, as they don't use any fake ingredients, not even stabilizers like guar gum, however they use almost twice the sugar as Breyers.
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