Skinny or full?

Are you one of those diehard ‘skinny milk’ fans, refusing to take full cream for fear of that old saying: ‘a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips?’ Many people, females in particular, are armed with the knowledge that a few lattes a day topped with full fat milk can see the calories really add up.

But, and there’s always a ‘but’, study after study in recent years has shown that skimmed milk may not be the healthiest choice after all. Shocked? Here’s why:

1. You absorb far less nutrients without the fat. The nutrients in milk (including vitamins D, E, and A) are fat-soluble, which means your body absorbs them better when they’re delivered via fat. What’s more, the vitamin K found naturally in butterfat gets left behind completely

2. Skimmed and low-fat milk contain powdered milk, which is made with oxidised cholesterol, a carcinogen. Oxidised cholesterol can contribute to the build-up of plaque in your arteries. That’s not good! On the other hand, untreated cholesterol in whole milk is an “antioxidant”, which means it fights off cancer producing cells

3. Milk producers have started adding sugary flavouring to skimmed and low-fat milk to encourage kids to drink more of it. This means ‘empty calories’ in milk that releases fewer nutrients into your body. Go figure!

4. Skimmed milk can leave you feeling unsatisfied, which can lead people to fill up on less-healthy ‘non-fat’ foods. You see, saturated fats, like those found in whole milk, trigger the release of the hormone “cholecystokinin”, which gives you a feeling of fullness

5. Skimmed milk has been linked with ‘transient’ weight loss, which means that whilst you may lose some weight from cutting out whole milk at first, you’re likely to gain that weight right back

6. Fats slow the release of sugar into your bloodstream, reducing the amount that can be stored as fat. This is why it’s important to include some ‘healthy’ fats into your daily diet overall, not just from milk but from olive oil and nuts etc.

So, is skimmed milk just adding to the obesity epidemic seen in so many parts of the world? Perhaps if we shift the focus from low-fat and fat-free to choosing foods with more nutrients, we’d all be a lot healthier.

The key message is that ‘fat-free’ doesn’t go hand in hand with ‘healthier.’ Remember those days as a kid, when you had no qualms about reaching out for whole milk? Why not try revisit those and indulge in a yum scrum creamy full fat cappuccino for a change…you’ll enjoy your coffee with it and so will your body!

Love what we brew!

The Bean Team