Milk vs Cream in Coffee

KristaMac88 wrote: »

I never liked cream in my coffee, it seemed to heavy for me, but havent tried it in a long time. If anything it would be 1% cows milk. I know tracking in mfp theres a decent cal dif as i put a good 3 tbs prob but..I dont know if its really going to make a difference weight wise if i am fitting it into my cals..just figured if one was really better for you and saved me cals through the day id stick with it but..

what is better is what works for YOU and only you can answer that.

I need my daily coffee and black coffee is bleh to me. So I count 0.5cups of milk each day for coffee milk. it makes me happy. Happier than anything else i could save those calories for. Happier than using almond mlik which is lower cal. I do like the 0% milk though so that helps.

calories are calories. it doesn't matter what kind for weight loss.

Have you ever considered Almond Milk? It's light on the calories (about 30 per cup vs. 315/cup half and half or 102 calories in a cup of 1% milk). It does take a little to get used to it but it's all I have now.

KristaMac88 wrote: »

Hello!
I am still new and figuring all this nutritional stuff out, and tbh, I dont drink milk that often, I have half a cup each night with my supper. And then until recently, in my coffee. I drink about 2 coffee a day, and have switched from sugar ( was a 2tsp atleast kind of gal) to using stevia (or other sweetener if out) but recently the more I try and read up on it the more confusing it all gets. I heard reg cows milk was not the best choice. So then switched to almond milk. I have to admit, I hate how it makes my coffee taste. Years ago we were told cream was bad, but now that its good fats. Whats a girl to do?? I know for such a small amount it seems silly to worry about. But every little calorie counts when tracking!

Whichever you like better and fits in your calories. Who said milk wasn't the best choice and why? Milk and cream are both dairy, one is going to have more fat so will be more calorie dense for the serving size. I've never heard anyone say it was bad somehow to put milk in your coffee.

The bolded is the key. You can't listen to every single "news flash" and try to tailor your eating to them, or you'd never eat anything. If a food is a minor part of your diet, just go with what you like and can fit in your calories. Focus first on the major parts of your diet, the foods you eat a lot of and contribute the most calories. Once that's perfect (if it ever is) then go nuts with the minor stuff. Don't sweat the small stuff is a cliche for a reason

KristaMac88 wrote: »

lemurcat2 wrote: »

What would be wrong with milk in coffee? It's basically a lower cal version of cream (and personally I always preferred milk -- I drink coffee black now, but used to put milk in it, never sugar as coffee for me is not supposed to be sweet).

I just heard that cows milk has more sugar in it. And that cream is better because of the fat..or almond milk because its lower in cals/sugar..guess it all depends but..it seems like no one really cares about that aha

The greater sugar (lactose) in milk is only because the cream has more of the fat (it rises to the top and is skimmed off). But unless you are trying to be super low carb, there's nothing wrong with consuming some natural sugar in milk (well, unless you are lactose intolerant). For example, fruit has lots of innate sugar, but I hope you wouldn't think it was unhealthy! There's sugar in plain yogurt too, for the same reason, and all but anti carb extremists would probably consider it perfectly good for you.

Also, remember you aren't consuming huge amounts anyway.

Re milk vs. cream, cream isn't especially good or bad for you -- it's high in sat fat like butter and cheese, but in moderation it's fine, I certainly eat cheese and use butter, but like those foods it's easy to get lots of calories from cream if you use a lot, and if you don't care for it as much there is certainly no health reason to pick it over milk.

Some people are anti dairy for ethical reasons, but that's not about health.

Almond milk is nothing special -- the store-bought kind is basically flavored water with some nutrients added.

I like making nut milks at home and including the nuts (I think that kind is pretty good for you for the same reason eating nuts is), but I wouldn't care for it in coffee, and it's not inherently better or worse than dairy but for ethical reasons.

Anyway, like others have said, don't sweat the small stuff. A healthy diet is about the big choices you make to make sure calories are in check and you are getting in your nutrients (I'd say eat mostly nutrient dense foods, but do it in a sustainable, enjoyable way). Milk offers some nutrients if you enjoy it (calcium being one), but the amounts being discussed are really so small that it's not significant at all.

Just use what you like. I use whole milk in my coffee. Half and half is fine as well, but heavy cream, no. way too heavy. I just don't like it. I'm not too picky about the milk though, if only 2% is available that's fine as well. I'd just have to use a little bit more.

I think that, for 2 cups of a coffee a day, you shouldn't worry so much about these things. Overall, the milk or cream or whatever you use in your coffee makes up such a small percentage of your overall nutrition. It's not worth worrying about IMO

cwolfman13 wrote: »

KristaMac88 wrote: »

lemurcat2 wrote: »

What would be wrong with milk in coffee? It's basically a lower cal version of cream (and personally I always preferred milk -- I drink coffee black now, but used to put milk in it, never sugar as coffee for me is not supposed to be sweet).

I just heard that cows milk has more sugar in it. And that cream is better because of the fat..or almond milk because its lower in cals/sugar..guess it all depends but..it seems like no one really cares about that aha

Milk has lactose which is a naturally occurring sugar...fruit and vegetables also have sugar. A lower % milk will have more lactose because the processing requires a greater volume of milk to be used as fat is skimmed off to get the final product.

Actually, it's not how much is skimmed off, but how much they add back. I watched a How It's Made video on this (that I can't find) and was interested to see they make skim milk and then add back to make 1%, 2% etc.

Just thought it was interesting and doesn't change your point in any way.

Tacklewasher wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

KristaMac88 wrote: »

lemurcat2 wrote: »

What would be wrong with milk in coffee? It's basically a lower cal version of cream (and personally I always preferred milk -- I drink coffee black now, but used to put milk in it, never sugar as coffee for me is not supposed to be sweet).

I just heard that cows milk has more sugar in it. And that cream is better because of the fat..or almond milk because its lower in cals/sugar..guess it all depends but..it seems like no one really cares about that aha

Milk has lactose which is a naturally occurring sugar...fruit and vegetables also have sugar. A lower % milk will have more lactose because the processing requires a greater volume of milk to be used as fat is skimmed off to get the final product.

Actually, it's not how much is skimmed off, but how much they add back. I watched a How It's Made video on this (that I can't find) and was interested to see they make skim milk and then add back to make 1%, 2% etc.

Just thought it was interesting and doesn't change your point in any way.

I would imagine that even when bottling (or "cartoning") "whole" milk, there's some monkeying with how much cream is included, as different breeds of cow, on different feeds, at different times relative to calving, are going to give whole milk with different fat content, but they want the product on the grocery shelves to be consistent year-round, year in, year out.

But none of this changes the point that lactose is naturally occurring, and dairy bottlers aren't manipulating sugar content in standard dairy milk (barring lactose-free products, chocolate milk, etc.).

I have long preferred plenty of skimmed milk in my coffee (nonfat latte, yum) even when obese. At home, I make a couple of big mugs of coffee daily, each with 3/4C of hot skimmed milk. Not only is it tasty, to me, but since I'm an ovo-lacto vegetarian, I find the roughly 12g protein for 120-some calories to be quite helpful in meeting my 100g daily protein goal. Double win!

As someone of Northern European ancestry, I have zero problems with digesting milk, so I see no reason not to drink it. I lost weight just fine, dropped my cholesterol and blood pressure in to the healthy range, while eating all kinds of dairy (even full-fat cheeses).

As far as cream vs. milk, it's not going to make a huge difference in the amounts normal people (not me) normally put in their coffee. We need to eat some fats every day (0.35-0.45g minimum per pound of goal weight IMO), and some of them certainly can be saturated fats.

If it fits in your calories, it makes you happy, and your overall way of eating gives you well-rounded nutrition, use the cream or milk. It's fine. Losing weight is not about substituting dubiously "more healthy" things for foods you enjoy, until you're miserable. That's the "being fat is sin, and dietary misery is expiation" model of weight loss, and it's pure nonsense.

Different people have different goals with nutrition. My sister is doing DASH diet for hypertension and her doctor encouraged low-fat dairy. However I’ve heard from a few doing a Paleo who are avoiding dairy altogether. For me... I like milk. I drink it. I eat cheese. I eat yogurt. Sometimes I put milk in my coffee. I track the calories and I’ve been losing weight just fine.

My goals include 2-3 daily servings of low-fat dairy. IMO if you don’t like almond milk, stop drinking it. You get to choose how you want to spend your calories. You get to choose your nutrition goals.

I’ve never tried almond milk. I’m just not interested in it.

Just a tiny splash of 1/2 and 1/2 add enough smoothness to make coffee awesome.