Fox News says skimmed milk may be bad for you

Hi- Somebody just posted this on another board that I visit. The article on Fox News goes into the reasons why skim milk maybe be worse for you than whole milk. I don't agree with the authors premise. She states that skimmed milk is bad for you because they have to replace all the vitamins that are lost when the fat is removed with synthetic vitamins.

Here is the link to the article.

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/03/ ... ly-better/

Hi,

I happen not to like skim milk. My cat declines skim milk, though she eagerly accepts whole and 2% milk.

I will happily refer to any article, bogus or not, that supports my belief all skim milk is bad.

Regards,

I dislike skim milk, as well.

Actually, the article says that it's not necessarily better, rather than that it's bad for you. That said, why drink something that isn't particularly good for you, especially when it tastes so much worse than the stuff that is better for you.

This is not really a new idea. Every health advocate in the country has been saying for decades that it's not as good for you as whole milk. (Of course, it's not as good for you as raw milk, either, but short of buying your own cow, that's probably not going to happen). If you do a search on "problems with skim milk" or "skim milk bad for you," a lot of articles come up -- pretty much all from people who are seeking nutritional solutions to health -- and all of them agree with the story about skimmed milk not being your most nutritious choice, or the best choice for long-term health.

Hi-Actually I drink 1%. I am so used to drinking skimmed or 1% that whole milk grosses me out. I love oberweis skimmed milk. It tastes more like 2%. If it was not so expensive, I would drink it all the time.

I mostly follow a low fat diet because of high cholesterol, and I am so used to it, that I get sick when I eat anything with a really rich sauce. Hope this helps, Nancy

Cynthia wrote: That said, why drink something that isn't particularly good for you, especially when it tastes so much worse than the stuff that is better for you.

Because skim milk is heart healthy and less calories!

I have bone-density problems and my women's orthopedic health specialist MD told me that the body cannot absorb the calcium in skim milk - some fat is necessary for good processing. I drink 2%.

Fox News is not the first place I'd go for nutrition information.

The following link is for a reputable USDA-affiliated nutrition journal. The article that begins on page 13 is widely cited in reference works as key research on the topic.

http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/F ... eissue.pdf

Food Nut wrote:

Cynthia wrote: That said, why drink something that isn't particularly good for you, especially when it tastes so much worse than the stuff that is better for you.

Because skim milk is heart healthy and less calories!

If your only concern is heart health, then switch to coconut milk or almond milk. Both are more heart healthy than skim milk -- and coconut milk is lower in calories and higher in calcium.

And eat at least one egg and half an avocado every day. Eggs clean cholesterol out of your veins and avocados improve your HDL levels.

Because fat is not the source of high cholesterol levels in humans -- insulin spikes are, like from drinking a glass of juice or eating those fat-free styrofoam-like puff crackers. You can't cut enough fat out of your diet to compensate for how much cholesterol your body produces.

Oh -- and get a bag of chia seeds and toss them on everything. They're high in Omega 3s, potassium, soluble fiber, and antioxidants -- all FAR more helpful in the heart health battle than skim milk.

I should probably note that the coconut milk to which I am referring is the refrigerated coconut milk from SO or Silk, not a can of the heavy, creamy stuff used in exotic recipes -- that (while still wholesome) is not lower in calories than cow milk.

Cynthia wrote:and coconut milk is lower in calories and higher in calcium.

Where'd you get that? Coconut milk in its natural form is much lower in calcium content. Added-calcium processed coconut milk isn't appreciably different than added-calcium skim milk.

I am a 2% milk drinker and have been for over a decade. Since I was a child I have always loved milk and used to drink whole (a LOT of it) so much so that when I was growing up that we would have to get a gallon every couple of days. In my 20s, I started to gain a little weight so I switched over to 2% to keep it under control. 2% is the perfect balance between skim and whole, it doesn't taste nearly as disgusting as skim and it is not as fatty as whole and you still get some semblance of milk. Nowadays if I try whole it has a different taste to me.

spinynorman99 wrote:

Cynthia wrote:and coconut milk is lower in calories and higher in calcium.

Where'd you get that? Coconut milk in its natural form is much lower in calcium content. Added-calcium processed coconut milk isn't appreciably different than added-calcium skim milk.

As I noted in the following post, I was referring to the calcium-added coconut milk.

Besides, the whole point of the post was that skim milk doesn't really help your heart because fat isn't the villain. And coconut milk is about more than just calcium and calories.

KajmacJohnson wrote:I am a 2% milk drinker and have been for over a decade. Since I was a child I have always loved milk and used to drink whole (a LOT of it) so much so that when I was growing up that we would have to get a gallon every couple of days. In my 20s, I started to gain a little weight so I switched over to 2% to keep it under control. 2% is the perfect balance between skim and whole, it doesn't taste nearly as disgusting as skim and it is not as fatty as whole and you still get some semblance of milk. Nowadays if I try whole it has a different taste to me.

Of course, depending on the whole you're trying, a lot of milk has a different taste from when we were younger. I find that only organic milk really tastes like milk any more -- and even skim milk isn't too horrid if it's organic. There's just something about that mass-produced stuff that kind of misses the boat.

Cynthia wrote:
Of course, depending on the whole you're trying, a lot of milk has a different taste from when we were younger. I find that only organic milk really tastes like milk any more -- and even skim milk isn't too horrid if it's organic. There's just something about that mass-produced stuff that kind of misses the boat.

True. But for me I think it's more that when I actually drink whole milk nowadays it feels too rich for my blood. Almost like I am drinking a cup of fat. Not that I know what that tastes like

Hi,

Some years ago, Jim Oberweiss did a presentation on milk for Culinary Historians. He commented on World War II and its influence on today's milk production.

Pre-WW2, there was a batch system in production. During WW2, techniques for continuous flow production were developed. These efficiencies influenced milk production after the war.

One of the techniques was the seperation of cream. Today, milk is gently heated to 120 degrees then spun in a centrifuge to skim off the cream. This cream may be added back to create the milk fat expected for a product: skim, 1%, 2% and whole (which I think is 4%), then homogenized to keep the cream from floating to the top.

Oberweiss (at least as of this meeting more than 10 years ago) uses a cold centrifuge process. Still spun to separate and remove the cream. This cold processing allows their skim milk to taste better than milk heated to expedite separation, though at a cost of time. I remember Jim Oberweiss commenting their skim milk tasted like others 1% or 2% milk. It also did not have the bluish color seen in other skim milk, which since this talk you rarely see blue skimmed milk.

Oberweiss cold centrifuge equipment was already quite old and they were making every effort to keep them in good repair, because new equipment was not readily available.

***

My family's preference is skim milk. I buy skim for them, then I alternate between 1%, 2% and whole milk for myself. Guess which milk gets chugged down faster, whatever I buy for myself. Until I go shopping again, I am sometimes stuck with skim.

Regards,

Cynthia wrote:

KajmacJohnson wrote:I am a 2% milk drinker and have been for over a decade. Since I was a child I have always loved milk and used to drink whole (a LOT of it) so much so that when I was growing up that we would have to get a gallon every couple of days. In my 20s, I started to gain a little weight so I switched over to 2% to keep it under control. 2% is the perfect balance between skim and whole, it doesn't taste nearly as disgusting as skim and it is not as fatty as whole and you still get some semblance of milk. Nowadays if I try whole it has a different taste to me.

Of course, depending on the whole you're trying, a lot of milk has a different taste from when we were younger. I find that only organic milk really tastes like milk any more -- and even skim milk isn't too horrid if it's organic. There's just something about that mass-produced stuff that kind of misses the boat.

Based on my own personal survey, I think the off taste of a lot of milk these days has more to do with its packaging than the actual milk itself. Milk sold in glass tastes like milk. Milk sold in plastic packaging tastes like plastic. This is caused by plastic leaching into the milk. There is actually some scientific evidence that this is a real phenomenon, but I noticed it for years before the scientists came up with this theory.

Behold the mystery that is fat-free, cream top milk:



(seen today at Cermak Produce on North Ave)

-Dan

Hi- I think that milk producers can put a small amount of cream in their milk and still call it fat free. It can be 1/4 of 1% and still be labeled fat free. I know it is crazy.

NFriday wrote:Hi- I think that milk producers can put a small amount of cream in their milk and still call it fat free. It can be 1/4 of 1% and still be labeled fat free. I know it is crazy.

Yeah, their website lists "Skim has .1%"

Mmmm.... that .1% floating on the top sure does make it old fashioned creamy delicious!

-Dan

NFriday wrote:Hi- I think that milk producers can put a small amount of cream in their milk and still call it fat free. It can be 1/4 of 1% and still be labeled fat free. I know it is crazy.

The legal standard is 0.5%, anything over that cannot be called skim or fat-free. (In most production facilities, it's not possible, within standard production procedures, to remove 100% of the milkfat from the whole milk that comes in from the dairy herd. I suppose it would be possible, in a laboratory environment, to separate out !00% of the fat, but it can't be done at a commercially viable price point.)

The bride and I love Oberweis skim milk and drink it exclusively. If we had a houseful of kids, that could become cost prohibitive quickly, I'm afraid.

Oberweis' ultimate accomplishment, however, is fat (and guilt) free chocolate milk made with artificial sweetner, at the same 90 calories/serving as white skim milk. It is so rich, we cut it about 60/40 with white skim milk. Delish.

I need to try Oberweis milk. I have a high regard for their ice cream. It is really good.

stevez wrote:

Cynthia wrote:

KajmacJohnson wrote:I am a 2% milk drinker and have been for over a decade. Since I was a child I have always loved milk and used to drink whole (a LOT of it) so much so that when I was growing up that we would have to get a gallon every couple of days. In my 20s, I started to gain a little weight so I switched over to 2% to keep it under control. 2% is the perfect balance between skim and whole, it doesn't taste nearly as disgusting as skim and it is not as fatty as whole and you still get some semblance of milk. Nowadays if I try whole it has a different taste to me.

Of course, depending on the whole you're trying, a lot of milk has a different taste from when we were younger. I find that only organic milk really tastes like milk any more -- and even skim milk isn't too horrid if it's organic. There's just something about that mass-produced stuff that kind of misses the boat.

Based on my own personal survey, I think the off taste of a lot of milk these days has more to do with its packaging than the actual milk itself. Milk sold in glass tastes like milk. Milk sold in plastic packaging tastes like plastic. This is caused by plastic leaching into the milk. There is actually some scientific evidence that this is a real phenomenon, but I noticed it for years before the scientists came up with this theory.

I agree completely -- packaging does make a difference in taste -- and it seems that, when it comes to nutrition, scientists are always a little slow on the uptake. That said, I still think organic milk in plastic tastes better than regular in plastic. Which makes me want to go check out some organic in glass -- how much better that must be.

Hi- Nature's Promise milk comes in cartons, and is not organic, but is grass fed, and BGH free, and is from small farms in Indiana. It tastes much better than conventional milk in plastic bottles. It is sold at Jewel's, and they sometimes have coupons for it in the store, and it frequently goes on sale. I learned at one of the couponing blogs that I visit, that it is on sale right now at Jewel for $2.99 a half gallon, and I did not see any, but there is reported to be some $2.00 off coupons attached to the cartons, which would make each carton 99 cents. I looked through all the cartons there, and I did not spot any coupons unfortunately. Nature's Promise is located with some of the organic milk in a separate cooler, and is not located with the conventional milk. Hope this helps, Nancy

While I have my opinions on the taste of some brands of milk, the few times I've had two brands at once in the house, and have done a blind taste test, I found little or no difference.

Jonah

Hi- I have done a taste test with Oberweis and conventional milk, and I can definitely tell the difference. There probably is not a lot of difference in taste between Dean's and Aldi's milk though.

NFriday wrote:Hi- Nature's Promise milk comes in cartons, and is not organic, but is grass fed, and BGH free, and is from small farms in Indiana. It tastes much better than conventional milk in plastic bottles.

That's because it's not in a plastic bottle. Cartons don't seem to leach their taste into whatever is stored in them like those plastic containers do.

Hi- I have done a taste test with Oberweis and conventional milk, and I can definitely tell the difference. There probably is not a lot of difference in taste between Dean's and Aldi's milk though.

What do you mean by "conventional milk" in this instance? Just like Oberweis, Dean's does not purchase milk from producers who use recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), the artificial version of Bovine somatotropin, AKA bST or BGH, the naturally-occurring hormone found in cow's milk. Neither requires dairy farmers to adhere to Federal organic standards.

Hi- I meant to say that I can tell the difference between Oberweis, and most of the milk in plastic containers that conventional grocery stores carry. I also prefer it to Organic Valley milk. I realize that not all of the store brand milk at Dominick's and Jewel is factory farmed, but a lot of it is, and as far as I know Oberweis buys all of their milk from smaller farmers, where the cows are allowed outside, and are partially grass fed. I am not sure if all of Dominick's house brand of milk is bgh free. I used to be involved in the protests when bgh first came out, and we were told by Dominick's that they got their milk from over 100 dairies, and that they could not guarantee that their milk was bgh free. It is not marked on their bottles right now as being bgh free, so you are taking your chances with their milk.

I know that Deans claims to be bgh free, and so does Aldi's. and I believe Jewel does too. Hope this helps, Nancy

I may have missed it upthread, but is it just me or does skim taste like real milk these days? I remember when I was younger, I thought it tasted like chalky water and I refused to drink it. Recently I tried some and I loved it. It tastes creamier than I remember.