Whole Milk?

Use 1 or 2%; I was raised on skim milk and Whole milk tastes like cream to me, but 2% is just fine - especially in coffee.

I agree some low fat items are just rediculous. 25% reduced fat peanut butter for example - stupid! They take something extremely high fat - take 25% of the fat out - you should save around 20% of the calories right? No - the calorie savings is a paltry 5 calories! Crazy

2% milk sounds much lower in fat than it really is - where do they come up with the name 2% anyway?

Anything is ok as long as its "clean" and you count it. Buy milk with no hormones and count it in your daily log. If this is how you choose to use your calories and fat then go for it. If it makes you happy its fine.

I absolutely agree!

I use whole or 2% milk for this exact reason. How do you think they make skim milk? They add sugar!

Actually no they don't. Read the ingredients on the jug. http://www.blurtit.com/q562823.html

I use whole or 2% milk for this exact reason. How do you think they make skim milk? They add sugar!

Kind of off topic, but does anybody use raw milk? What is your experience with it?
:happy:

PROTEIN

Milk can be thought of as "liquid meat" because of its high protein content which, in concert with other proteins, may actually LEACH calcium from the body. Countries that consume high protein diets (meat, milk and dairy) have the highest rates of osteoporosis.

THE 'WHOLESOME' PROTEIN MYTH

87% of milk is water. That makes it VERY expensive water.

Broken down into its basic groups... WHOLE MILK is:

WATER FAT CASEIN OTHER PROTEIN
87% 3.25% 4% 1% 4.75

(note: that is 3.25% "milkfat" which includes the 87% water.)

80% of the protein in milk is casein. Casein is a powerful binder... a
polymer used to make plastics... and a glue that is better used to make
sturdy furniture or hold beer bottle labels in place. It is in
thousands of processed foods as a binder... as "something" caseinate.

Casein is a powerful allergen... a histamine that creates lots of
mucus. The only medicine in Olympic athlete Flo-Jo's body was Benedryl,
a power antihistamine she took to combat her last meal... pizza.

Low Fat products are generally going to mean high sodium (particularly if it's savory), though I can see them being higher in sugar content too (I just havent actually noticed it). This is mainly because sugar and fat are the two main drivers of flavor, if you dont have one you are likely going to need the other. Plus preservatives, etc. Personally I dont pay much attention to fat content, and dont care if something is marketed as 'low fat' or not. I just look at calories, calories, calories....then try to work out the nutrition content after. But after calories, sodium is the very next thing. I dont have the time to eat as much home-cooking as I'd like, basically I can prepare meals from scratch only for dinner & weekends...so sodium is my daily battle.

That said: I've basically replaced whole milk in my diet with Almond Milk. I use Vanilla Almond milk in my coffee, and drink a daily glass of it. It's not as good for calcium as whole milk (not even close) or soy milk (closer, but still not close)...but it has many essential vitamins, low fat and no cholesterol which is why I replaced it. Now that I've gotten my cholesterol down to a very healthy number (160), I've had some milk here and there but I've gotten to where I prefer Almond milk to drink, put in coffee, and pour into cereal.

Now if I have to cook with milk, and I cant remember the last time I actually did that, I'd still just use regular milk. I have no idea how Almond (or soy or rice) milk work as a milk replacement in cooking.

Well, dairy is a topic a lot of people have strong opinions about. But that's for a different thread.

As for fat, it is yummy. It fills you up and keeps you feeling satisfied. And it is good for you. Very good. It is absolutely essential for your body. Even more so for women.

The Short Answer : Unless you've got problems with dairy, go for the whole milk. Enjoy.

The Details...

Without some fat in your body, you die. There are lots of critical biochemical processes going on in your body all the time that depend on having an ample supply of fatty acids available. (Fatty acids are the long branch parts that make up fat molecules.) Every membrane in your body, and 70% of your brain are built out of fatty acids. That's why, if you don't consume enough fat in your diet, your body builds fats out of the carbs and sugars you eat. Its only if you eat too much fat, or too much carbs, or too much protein (i.e., only if you eat too much !) that you're gonna build up the fat deposits in your body beyond a healthy and attractive level.

And fats are not all equal. There are many (several dozens if not hundreds) of fatty acids that occur in nature. Many critically important chemical processes in your body depend one specific fatty acid. Sometimes your body is able to build this specific fatty acid from ingredients it finds in your diet (like other similar fatty acids). But some are impossible for your body to make, and you absolutely must have them in your diet.

Add to this a new and very serious problem. Modern industrial food production creates fatty acids that do not exist in nature. Although each part of each cell in your body can "look at" a pool of natural fatty acids and select the one it needs, when you throw these new, never-before-existing fatty acids in there things get messed up. Many specific ones have been proven very harmful, many, many more are completely untested. Except in the public at large.

Natural fatty acids come from (surprise !) natural foods. One problem with cows is that they are strictly grass-eaters. When you feed them grain, the balance of fatty acids gets screwed up. So grass-fed beef and and milk are definitely better. But I don't think mainstream, department store milk has any of the horrible franken-fats that so much modern food has.

Where do the bad fats come from ? Oddly enough, from vegetables. The cheapest way to manufacture food is to take vegetable oils and process them to have the properties you want. If you ever notice the word "hydrogenated" anything, you know you're looking at a huge dose of franken-fat. Pretty much anything from the grocery store that is baked, fried, etc, is going to contain hydrogenated vegetable oils. And most of the various "healthy" margarines, oleos, and spreads. And then there are the "designer fats" made for the weight loss industry. They give a rich creamy texture to stuff, at the cost of replacing the natural molecules your body depends on with new, never-tested molecules that don't work as well.

Whew ! Sorry for being long-winded. I'm just learning about this, so I guess I'm still a little stunned by it all.

I never paid much attention to "health food types" before, because I love my food. And, as I learned in France, all good food begins with fat ! I didn't want to have anything to do with a lifestyle that involved not eating wonderful, good-tasting food. Now that I'm learning about this stuff, it turns out ll the stuff I like the most isn't all that bad, but actually healthy. I just needed to cut back on some of the other stuff !

RAW MILK.. YOU CAN GET AT A NATURAL FOOD STORE,.. LIKE WHOLEFOODS. BUT HERE IS A CUT AND PASTE OF AN ARTICLE.
Curious about raw milk? You've come to the right place. On this site you will find information on raw milk including articles and many other tidbits of information on the benefits of raw (unpasteurized, unhomogenized, straight from the cow to you) milk versus the pasteurized milk found in the stores. Take some time and look around, there is a wealth of information.

Sale of raw milk is illegal in many states, legal for sale for animal consumption only in others, and just a few states allow raw milk to be sold in stores for human consumption.

In most states, you cannot simply walk into a store and purchase a gallon of raw milk. I find this a bit nuts considering all the other things you can purchase that have been proven again and again to harm or even kill (cigarettes,anyone? ). And what about raw spinach, peanut butter, and hamburger making many people sick recently? But you are perfectly able to walk into any store and purchase these items without any hassle.

Not so with raw milk, a product that it so amazing and that so few people know so little about.

But people are learning, and the raw milk "underground" is becoming more and more popular, and folks are out there spreading the raw milk gospel. More and more people are demanding the right to purchase this liquid gold.

Those who drink raw milk note many health benefits. You may find that your stomach and digestion issues clear up on a raw milk regimen. Allergies often vanish as well. Children with autism have been placed on raw milk and shown amazing improvement.

Accolades for raw milk abound, and some even feed it to their dogs and notice a decrease or total elimination of the flea population among many other health benefits.

Is raw milk the cure-all for every disease known to mankind? Perhaps not, but its benefits are truly wonderful. As you will realize, after perusing this site and reading some of the articles and information, the process of pasteurizing milk kills the friendly bacteria and vital nutrients in raw "real" milk which is what makes it so healthy. Keep in mind that in the "olden days" people existed without any pasteurization process and they had far less health problems.

If you are lactose intolerant, you will likely be able to drink raw milk.

There are those who go so far as to say pasteurization makes the milk toxic, and people are doing more harm than good in drinking milk from the store. Do enough research on the topic and you may come to the same conclusion.

Another thing to consider with store-bought milk from the big dairy companies is the health of the cow. They are kept in feed lots and fed large amounts of grain which is the worst thing you can do for a cow. You would not want to drink raw milk from such an animal. However, the small family-owned dairy farms that you can find scattered throughout the country know that a cow should be grass fed or at the most, very minimal grain, for optimum health.

If you can find such a farm near you willing to share their milk, you can't do much better for your health.