Full-fat dairy or low/no fat?

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mbminx
mbminx Posts: 21 Member
in Food and Nutrition
This is a small, but burning question - is it better to eat/drink full-fat dairy, or to go for the low-fat or skin options? I've seen some information that says full-fat is actually better for healthy eating, but with these calorie restrictions, low or no fat seems to make more sense.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thank you.
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Replies

  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    I tend to go full fat because I eat a LCHF diet. Low fat yogurt, sour cream and cheese does not taste as good to me. I love the taste of butter too.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    mbminx wrote: »
    This is a small, but burning question - is it better to eat/drink full-fat dairy, or to go for the low-fat or skin options? I've seen some information that says full-fat is actually better for healthy eating, but with these calorie restrictions, low or no fat seems to make more sense.

    Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thank you.

    depends what it is and what fits in my calories on a day.

    i have semi skimmed milk, reduced fat cheese, reduced fat butter but full fat cottage cheese.
  • MelissaPhippsFeagins
    MelissaPhippsFeagins Posts: 8,063 Member
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    I use fat free half and half (regular disappears from the fridge at work, what's up with that?) and full fat or 2% milk. I buy full fat cheese and whatever Greek yogurt is on sale without paying attention to the fat.

    I don't have an issue with fitting dairy in my diet calories. I will skip dessert for a good cheddar. :smiley:
  • SHW33TP3A
    SHW33TP3A Posts: 54 Member
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    I eat full fat, but mostly because I like to eat the food with as few extra "modifications" and as whole as possible. If it's got fat, so be it. Lots of good feedback in other posts above about how people make their choices on this. Either way, it is possible to lose weight.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    I do a mix.
    Low fat cottage cheese, yoghurt and milk.

    Full fat butter and cheddar cheese.

    It's personal preference.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    When I'm trying to lean out in a deficit, mostly low fat to save on cals. When I'm trying to gain full fat dairy all the way.
  • NJCJF
    NJCJF Posts: 134 Member
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    low or non fat. I have borderline high cholesterol and this helped me bring it down
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
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    it depends how i am doing on my fat macros for the day - i typically keep fat free, 2% and full fat milk in the fridge; I lean more towards full-fat yogurts (Brown Cow, Noosa) rather than fat free stuff (I find it satiates me longer)
  • laur357
    laur357 Posts: 896 Member
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    I would say, whatever fits your needs at this point in time. If you're on the lower range of the calorie spectrum, an 80 cal glass of skim milk is going to give you more mileage than a 150 cal glass of full-fat milk. Personal preference comes into play too - do you prefer eating a small amount of really tasty, high-quality cheese, or do you want your Skinny Taste enchilada recipe to also have a ton of gooey goodness? It might also be different when you're in a weight-loss phase vs. a maintenance phase.

    There is some evidence suggesting that nutrients are absorbed more readily in the presence of fat - so if you're worried about consistently absorbing more of that vitamin D and calcium, 2% or full-fat might work best for you. There were also a few studies done a few years ago correlating a smaller waist circumference and metabolic syndrome risk with consuming full-fat dairy, but correlation does not equal causation - I wouldn't base everything on them without a lot more supporting evidence.

    http://jn.nutrition.org/content/early/2015/10/28/jn.115.220699

    http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0157461
    The meta-analysis of the five studies on changes in body weight per serving of dairy no significant results could be found for whole fat dairy and low fat dairy. However, there was inverse association between changes in body weight for each serving’s increase of yogurt (beta: -40.99 gram/year, 95% CI, -48.09 to -33.88), whereas each serving’s increase of cheese was positively associated (beta: -10.97 gram/year, 95% CI, 2.86 to 19.07). Furthermore, the highest dairy intake category was associated with a reduced risk of abdominal obesity (OR: 0.85; 95% CI, 0.76 to 0.95), and risk of overweight (OR: 0.87; 95% CI, 0.76 to 1.00) compared to the lowest intake category. No significant association could be observed for risk of weight gain.
    Conclusion

    In summary the results of the meta-analysis still reflect that dairy consumption was not positively related to changes in body weight. Yogurt was the only dairy food that showed some evidence for a beneficial effect, where higher intakes were inversely associated a reduced risk of obesity, changes in body weight or waist circumference. Further research is needed, since the overall interpretation of the results is limited by heterogeneous risk estimates.



    In summary, there is no definitive answer. I eat full-fat because it tastes good. :)
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited January 2018
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    Depends on what you prefer and how it affects your appetite.

    I don't drink milk, I would never eat anything but full fat cheese (and I'm picky about cheese in general, not wasting calories on subpar cheese), I prefer 1% cottage cheese but sometimes buy full fat from a farm, and I currently get this goat's milk yogurt from a farm but tend to get either 2% or 0% Fage greek yogurt otherwise, entirely depending on how I'm using it.

    I am not scared of fat, but on the whole I prefer to get my fat from sources other than dairy (except cheese, because yum) and never have much trouble including fat in my diet.
  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,785 Member
    edited January 2018
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    It depends on taste and the degree of satisfaction I get from the product. I use a generous amount of steamed, foamy half and half (12% fat) in my coffee and wouldn't have it any other way. I won't eat low fat or non fat ice cream - why bother? I use low or reduced fat cheeses because I can't really taste the difference. Same with my soy milk and almond milk for cereal etc.: the low fat tastes just as good for me. I like full fat (4%) yogurt in my evening smoothie.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    I go for fat-free or low-fat when I don't mind the taste. Usually I prefer the taste of lower fat dairy. Some cheeses are the only thing I buy full fat.
  • AudreyJDuke
    AudreyJDuke Posts: 1,092 Member
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    I mix it up too depending on the food or beverage.
  • Lean59man
    Lean59man Posts: 714 Member
    edited January 2018
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    The only lower-fat food I eat is 2% milk.

    Everything else is full fat.

    In other words, I am not concerned at all with eating fat, just in moderating calories.

    But what do I know?
  • Fallfrenzy
    Fallfrenzy Posts: 118 Member
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    I think it depends. I go with full fat yogurt generally and I don't really drink milk. If I did, it would be low fat milk versus non-fat for the taste aspect.

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