This week I wanted to discuss the theories about full fat vs low fat or skim milk.
The first theory
Processing adds more sugar to skim/low fat milk. This is completely untrue, for flavoured milks, but for skim milk, completely different.
Let me show you two nutrition panels.
Look at the ingredients that are written. Full fat or skimmed milk - no additional ingredients have been added other than vitamin A and D, which I will discuss why in the following theory.
What is different is the fat/protein/carb content. As the fat has been taken out of the product both the protein and carbohydrate (lactose) will increase as a result (by 2g), thus increasing the protein and carbs in serve. This is why both protein and carbohydrate has slightly higher.
Number one busted! There is no additional sugar added to milk!
The second theory
The next one I want to address is full fat is healthier option than skim milk. Well it depends what your goal is, for me, when I break down the nutritional content of the diet, I look at all vitamins and minerals including the protein/carbohydrates and fats per meal.
For FF milk, Vitamin A & D are fat soluble vitamins which are stored in the fat content of the milk. When the milk is skimmed, these nutrients are removed from the product, but the manufactures add the Vitamin A & D into the product. Even for the minimal losses, typically these are found in consuming a good diet of fruits and vegetables and spending 10 minutes a day outside in the sun.
I Look at it as, if you are not looking to lose body fat, then go ahead and consume Full fat milk. However if you are looking for weight loss, cutting out the fat from the product takes out a good portion of calories which could be used elsewhere.
Not only this, if milk is in the post workout meal in a smoothie for example, the fat will slow down the digestion of the protein and carbohydrate. Post exercise, we need the protein as fast as possible to help begin the muscle repair process, and the carbohydrates are needed to fuel that process. So it is vital that the body digests these proteins/carbs as fast as possible. As a result, fat is not the best nutrient at this time of day.
Skim milk is also lower in saturated fat (bad fat), which if consumed in quite a large/excessive amount each day, then may not assist in maintaining healthy triglyceride/cholesterol levels. However, if you only consume milk in small amounts each day, you should be fine, unless your diet is significantly high in other animal proteins.
