Why is milk higher in carbs than most other dairy?
lolliopopsnrainbows
Posts: 101 Member
I'm finding it hard to know which dairy items I can simply pick up and eat without having to check the carb contents. Please can someone tell me which bit of milk it is that contains the carbs and if there is a rule-of-thumb I can use to know which dairy products are low in carbs?
Milk isn't too low in carbs (so I tend to use almond milk instead) and neither is cottage cheese. So I thought it might be due to how "liquidy" the dairy product was. But then cream is virtually carb free!
I don't mind checking carb content on the packaging but it would be more convenient if I understood the food science as to why certain dairy products are low carb and others aren't! I am talking specifically about natural, unflavoured dairy products, not flavoured ones, or ones with additions.
Milk isn't too low in carbs (so I tend to use almond milk instead) and neither is cottage cheese. So I thought it might be due to how "liquidy" the dairy product was. But then cream is virtually carb free!
I don't mind checking carb content on the packaging but it would be more convenient if I understood the food science as to why certain dairy products are low carb and others aren't! I am talking specifically about natural, unflavoured dairy products, not flavoured ones, or ones with additions.
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The sugar found in milk is lactose. The proteins are casein (in cheeses) and whey (the liquid part). The remaining part of milk is fat.
Whole milk products include milk, yogurt, keifer. All of these have sugars, although the yogurt and keifer may have lower lactose content because the active cultures break it down into other sugars.
If you take (non-homogenized) milk and let it sit, it will separate out with the cream (fat) rising to the top. That can be made into sour cream if it's cultured. It can be made into butter (the solid portions of cream) and buttermilk (the liquid portion left). The butter can be made into ghee aka clarified butter (with careful removal of any milk-based casein solids that might remain).
If you mix milk and renin, you can make cheese. The curd (casein and some fat) will separate from the whey (here meaning the liquid, which is whey protein and lactose I think). Cheeses have some lactose remaining in them, but much less than milk.6 -
Thank you so much @Cheesy567 for taking the time to write that out. That's incredibly helpful! I might have a chance of cutting down how much time I spend comparing food labels in the supermarket now!!
Thanks to @BodyByButter for the link, it's a very useful list and includes lots of dairy products I've never even considered
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A dairy product you might never have thought of is dry cottage cheese. I like its dry-ish chewier texture on top of/mixed in with other foods like low carb zucchini noodles and sauce and it's quite high in protein. If you really need the creaminess you can just add a tbsp of cream to your serving and mix it well.
22g protein and 2g carb in a half cup. Not high in fat though if you needed that portion of your macros, but if you just want to add protein and didn't want meat/egg/fish or powders, it's just the ticket.1 -
@canadjineh - dry cottage cheese? Never heard if it. I live in Ont. Do u know where wld it be sold? Thanks0
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@Shron123 Safeway/Sobeys will definitely have it along with any other larger grocery store in your area. It's most often used for lasagna and it's in the dairy case right next to the other cottage cheeses. Lucerne makes one for sure, as does Dairyland.0
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This helped me figure it out. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-dry-cottage-cheese.htm0
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BodyByButter wrote: »This helped me figure it out. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-dry-cottage-cheese.htm
Actually Quark is NOT the same thing as Farmer's Cheese. I have no problem finding Quark locally; however, Farmer's Cheese is a different matter entirely. Farmer's Cheese, I have been unable to locate yet at all and I'd really like to get my hands on some because I have several recipes that list it as an ingredient and I'd like to make up these recipes but cannot without Farmer's Cheese (Quark is waaaaayy to wet and liquidy to work in most of these recipes).
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The quark I've had is more like cream cheese, dry cottage cheese is very dry and chewy. Isn't farmer's cheese like queso fresco?0
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canadjineh wrote: »The quark I've had is more like cream cheese, dry cottage cheese is very dry and chewy. Isn't farmer's cheese like queso fresco?
@canadjineh ...yes, Farmer's cheese is allegedly very like queso fresco or queso blanco cheese; however, from what I understand queso fresco and queso blanco both contain more moisture (this gleaned from personal observation while using them as farmer's cheese subs), and are hence, wetter, than farmer's cheese.0 -
@Bonny132 ...appreciate the link, and according to the picture this links to, I stand by my statements above...the quark shown here is definitely way too wet (contains far too much liquid and/or moisture) to be farmer's cheese.0
