Dairy Products: Myths and Facts

There are primarily 5 types of milk available for consumption. These are whole milk, reduced fat milk (low-fat milk), fat-free milk, organic milk and lactose-free milk. Whole milk contains 3.5% fat by weight, reduced fat milk or low-fat milk contains 2% and 1% fat respectively and fat-free milk has no more than 0.2% milk fat. No matter what the fat content is, all the types of milk offer you the same health benefits.

You gain weight when you consume more calories than what your body can burn off as energy. On the contrary, studies show that including three servings of low-fat dairy products in your diet can contribute to weight loss. A Strong correlation has also been found between calcium intake and reduced body weight, body fat percentage and waist size.

Calcium is just one of the nutrients you get from milk. Apart from this mineral, milk offers you other vital nutrients such as proteins, vitamins A, D, B12, riboflavin, potassium, magnesium, and zinc. Yogurt and other probiotics can also be delicious and healthy options to for improved gastrointestinal health. And to sum up, taking calcium supplements can never give you the same amount of joy as drinking a cold glass of milk would.

Lactose intolerance is often confused with milk and dairy intolerance. People fear that they can get allergies if they consume milk or any other dairy product. The truth is that lactose intolerance means the inability to digest the sugar lactose present in milk. People with lactose intolerance can safely go for alternatives such as lactose-free milk or yogurts. Aged cheeses such as Cheddar cheese and Swiss cheese are very low in lactose content as well.