Whole milk

[Amy]

Hi, I was just wondering if anyone else feels guilty about drink whole milk. I really do like it and it does make me feel full. I just get stuck in this diet mentality that I have to drink low fat milk.

[dockanz]

I actually don't like whole milk anymore, or even 1 or 2%, unless it is in my coffee. I think that the decision whether to do whole milk depends on how much of it you are drinking. If you drink a 1/2 gallon a day, it may lead to trouble. If you have a couple of glasses, maybe not so bad.

[bluebunny27]

Good point, Doc. That sounds about right.

I never liked the low fat milk ... skim milk or 1% ... I prefer 2% milk. I haven't switched that and I lost
many pounds. I don't think it matters that much.

I'd even say I drink more milk now than I did before I started dieting since I'm having cereals or oatmeal nearly everyday unlike be-4. If you are worried about it, try switching to 2% for the most part and only use the whole milk on occasion and limiting your portions a little bit.

This reminds me of a skinny girl I knew back in high school, she was drinking 15% or even 35% cream all the time and was really thin ...

I think I read in the paper the other day that 65% of the population drinks 2% milk.

Cheers !

Marc

[paulawylma]

Last summer, I was introduced to milk from a small family dairy from pastured cows that was minimally pasturized. In other words, it was as close to real, from the cow milk that you could get. I never really liked milk, even whole milk, but I loved this stuff. Unfortuately, it is not available where I live. . .my point is that this dairy had 2% and skim versions and while I didn't try the skim, the 2% was delicious.

My advice is find the best milk you can find-whatever the fat content. the important thing is that you enjoy it.

Personally, I skeptical about low-fat whatever. My experience is that I conpensate for low-fat products somehow. I switched from cast iron to non-stick skillets back in teh early 90s and in all this time I've gained weight--not lost it. My brother will drink only diet pop and drinks with artifical sweetners and he's even bigger than I am--and getting bigger every year. Obviously, the problem is not the fat content or sugar content of the food we're eating. It's how much we are eating. So from a weight perspective, drink what tastes good.

Just my opinion. . .

[ThomsonsPier]

I agree with the above views on low-fat foods.

On holiday a few years ago, I shared a flat with five people obsessed about their food intake and one person like me. Turns taken in cooking generally resulted in the kind of food viewed as healthy by people with poor nutritional awareness; baked potatoes were touted as healthy because they're a 'diet food' and then slathered with several pounds of butter, topping and sides.

In the case of the two of us I consider normal people, when it was our turn to cook, we were careful not to let the others see the ingredients; they ran screaming from anything they viewed as unhealthy.

I gather from conversation that all of this is indicative of how we all eat on a day-to-day basis. Given the theme of the thread, it probably won't surprise you to learn that we two were the thinnest folk in the flat.

So, yes, I drink whole milk with a clear conscience (though I prefer semi-skimmed in tea). Just for the record, I quite like baked potatoes as well.

[reinhard]

I drink only whole milk.

Sure, on a narrow biochemical level whole milk has more fat and calories, but look at the big picture behavior of drinking whole milk versus the the behavior of drinking skim.

Back when people were thin a few decades ago they drank much, much more whole milk than we do today. Skim milk, on the contrary, is primarily consumed by struggling, miserable, and unsuccessful "dieters."

Granted, causality can be tricky, and it isn't enough to establish it to observe that we as a society were thinner when we drank whole than skim. But if you prefer whole milk, and are already committed to approaching diet on bigger picture behavioral level rather than micromanaging molecules, I think the burden of proof is in the other court.

Relevant blurb from the book:

(pages 55-56)

Whole milk is loaded with fat and calories. But
guess how much whole milk Americans drank in the
thin 1970s compared with Americans today? Accord-
ing to the USDA,over three times more (25 gallons
per person per year in 1970, but only 8 gallons today).
In the even thinner 1940s, we drank almost six times
more (45 gallons in 1945). All that skim and reduced-
fat milk we now drink instead hasn’t slimmed us down
any (15 gallons today versus 6 gallons in 1970 and
4 gallons in 1945). It has probably only lubricated our
consciences to make us ignore all the sugar soda we’re
drinking (22 gallons in 1970 compared to 56 gallons
today). Dairy is actually the only top- level category
of food substance tracked by the USDA’s Economic
Research Service to have shown a decrease in calorie
consumption since 1970.

Whole milk, like 100 percent fruit juice, is very
filling. It’s difficult to drink large quantities at once
because you can taste the fat and calories. You can get
away with drinking a much smaller amount, without
the false sense of security that lower- calorie milk prod-
ucts give you. It also tastes much better. So although it
isn’t a technical requirement of the No S Diet, I would
recommend sticking with whole milk rather than skim
or reduced- fat milk. Our bodies have evolved to expect
milk to be fatty and caloric, and the statistics show
that tricking our bodies with less fatty substitutes has
clearly not worked as a weight loss strategy— quite the
contrary.

[TunaFishKid]

One tip I learned about whole milk...buy organic if you can. Do a taste test with regular whole milk and you'll be amazed at the difference. The organic tastes a lot better.

[dockanz]

Can I drink whole chocolate milk throughout the week?

[janmarie]

i have lactose intolerance and lactase doesn't help things completely so i started using almond milk and it's surprisingly good! it's good in oatmeal and it's great as a drink in the evening. i put a little stevia in it and a cup is 40 calories. i put some cinnamon and nutmeg and vanilla and stevia in a class and it was great! was this cheating? i needed something bad...

[BrightAngel]

One thing that isn't often discussed here
is that one may have to make modifications
to what's on those three plates of food daily.

Reinhard, for instance, is a rather young man who is fairly active.
He could probably eat three plates full of almost anything and lose weight.

I think that this quote from another Thread
is applicable to the whole milk issue.

[navi]

I have spent long periods of time in south africa and Switzerland. For the most part, everyone was very normal sized (many downright thin). In both places, regular meals were eaten in the company of others (no hunkering over a computer at meals), few snacks (although in both places afternoon "tea" was a social ritual, and often included a biscotti or a slice of cake). breakfast was a small amount of toast, lunch quite substantial, and dinner usually quite modest. full fat cheese was eaten, white bread (from bakery), cream in coffee, herb butter slathered over a grilled steak (shocking but really delicious), all sandwiches buttered, etc.

basically they were noSing, with the addition of teatime, and with more frequent sweets. regular meals, modest portions, enjoy food and friends and life.

i am doing vanilla noS at this point, will probably be less rigid about sweets & may include the very civil habit of afternoon tea, but after i get to where i want to be, and normalize my relationship with eating....

i now use greek yoghurt, which is absolutely delicious & is not only full fat, but has cream added. 1 or 2 spoonfuls (plain), with some fruit is more satisfying than a whole cup of sugary, nonfat grocery store icky yoghurt. i really just don't agree that old, small people have to eat low fat, you just have to eat (or drink) LESS (so calories stay about the same, not that i count). of course if you love the low fat version, there's nothing wrong with that either....

[janmarie]

Milk is the only substance that nature meant to be food!

[navi]

i never thought of it like that - perhaps eggs fit into the same category - the fresh laid egg is stocked with nutrients to feed the developing chick.....

many fruits also evolved to be eaten - designed to be eaten by animals, who later disperse the seeds (along with a bit of fertilizer).

[apomerantz]

I would not feel guilty about drinking whole milk as I will only eat normal butter now, not any light butters or margarines or spray butters. I just go sparingly.

BUT, in the case of milk, I'm a bad one to ask because oddly I love skim milk. Much, much prefer it to whole. It's crazy, I know. But I just don't like the creamy mouth feel of milk.

[winnie96]

...I love skim milk. Much, much prefer it to whole. It's crazy, I know. But I just don't like the creamy mouth feel of milk.

Right with you on that, apomerantz. Whether it's on cereal or in tea or just in a glass, skim is absolutely my preference -- I love it!