NUTRITION

Sharon, a Facebook friend from Minnesota, asks:

“What is the best kind of milk to drink?”

D. Check the nutrition label on the container to see how the milk you are choosing compares to these values. It is also important to make sure you are not consuming an overload of saturated fat from milk, which is easy to do since whole milk contains abundant quantities of saturated fat.

These days there are many other things about milk being promoted. Be forewarned that most of the extras being added to milk are for promotional, marketing and advertising purposes rather than having proven nutritional benefits. It makes the milk much more expensive, but not healthier, and is an extremely poor use of your food dollars. Examples of these marketing approaches include “organic” milk, milk with extra protein, milk from “happy cows,” or “so-called” milk made from soy, almonds, coconuts, or oats.

For all the city slickers reading this column, you should know that it is impossible to hook up milking machines to almonds. The fact that these non-milk products are sold as milk is unfortunate and very misleading for the consumer. Beware.

One of the special and more expensive milks that might have a place in your home is lactose-free or low-lactose milk for people with lactose intolerance. Even then, the data shows that fewer people have lactose intolerance than is popularly promoted. In addition, lactose intolerance is not an all-or-nothing phenomenon. It may be that you cannot drink a full glass of milk on an empty stomach, but adding milk to recipes (substitute the water for milk) or having cereal and milk may be very acceptable.

True, there are other ways of getting protein, calcium, and vitamin D, but the data shows that, especially for children, if you eliminate milk and dairy from their diet they are not meeting the requirements for these important nutrients in their diet. Those are the facts. Another important fact about milk is that for newborn babies, breast milk is best, followed by infant formula if breastfeeding is not an option. Cow’s milk does not meet the needs of human infants. I want to warn you all about the dangerous idea pushed on social media that unpasteurized cow’s milk is healthier than pasteurized milk. Never drink raw, unpasteurized milk. It is downright dangerous. Raw milk contains disease-causing bacteria that can make you sick. In the early 1900s, when the pasteurization of milk became routine, deaths and diarrheal illness dropped precipitously, particularly in children. Another false claim that you hear these days is that whole milk is real milk and skim milk is “watered-down milk” and not as healthy. This could not be further from the truth. Skim milk has the identical protein, calcium, and Vitamin D content as whole milk. What is missing is all that saturated fat (and calories).

Reading the nutrition labels of different “milks” in the supermarket makes it clear which ones are worth your food dollar. Using taste alone as a deciding factor in which milk you choose is not a good idea, although almond “milk” is being marketed that way.

Let’s review the guidelines again. Buy milk that has at least 20-25% the Daily Value for calcium, at least 8 grams of protein per serving, is enriched with vitamins A and D, and is low in saturated fat.

I happen to have the nutrition labels of several different milks and so-called milks in front of me right now. Many of them do not meet these guidelines. For example, the oat milk nutrition label lists some calcium, but it is exceptionally low in protein. Rice and coconut milk may also be extremely poor sources of protein. Coconut milk, specifically, may contain large amounts of saturated fat, very little calcium, and almost no micronutrients. Going by the nutritional guidelines, you are usually left with a choice between soy milk and skim milk. Either one meets nutritional criteria for buying healthy “milk.” The next criterion I use is price. Do you really want to spend more money on a milk-like drink that is less healthy than skim milk? The other day at the supermarket I noticed that the skim “organic” cow’s milk costs twice as much as the supermarket’s own brand skim cow’s milk. Guess which milk I chose? I would be remiss if I did not mention the environmental and animal-treatment issues related to cow’s milk. They are substantial. To help the environment I do other things, like having an extremely low “carbon footprint.” Your choice might be to spare the cows and buy soy milk. Either choice, from a nutritional point of view, is acceptable, although soy milk is more expensive.

What is the “No-Nonsense Nutrition” advice about milk? If you want an inexpensive source of protein, calcium, and vitamin D, then buy store-brand skim or low-fat milk. It is a wonderful use of your food dollars. Milk from “blasé cows” is just as nutritious as milk from “happy cows.” And remember, oats, almonds and coconuts cannot be hooked up to milking machines.

Have a question about food, diet or nutrition? Post or private message your question on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/ AskDrKarp) or email your question to askdrkarp@gmail.com If your question is chosen for a column, your name will be changed to insure your privacy. Warren B. Karp, Ph.D., D.M.D., is Professor Emeritus at Augusta University. He has served as Director of the Nutrition Consult Service at the Dental College of Georgia and is past Vice Chair of the Columbia County Board of Health. You can find out more about Dr. Karp and the download site for the public domain eBook, Nutrition for Smarties, at www.wbkarp.com Dr. Karp obtains no funding for writing his columns, articles, or books, and has no financial or other interests in any food, book, nutrition product or company. His interest is only in providing freely available, evidenced-based, scientific nutrition knowledge and education. The information is for educational use only; it is not meant to be used to diagnose, manage or treat any patient or client. Although Dr. Karp is a Professor Emeritus at Augusta University, the views and opinions expressed here are his and his alone and do not reflect the views and opinions of Augusta University or anyone else.

Dr. Karp