Skim milk and skim milk products such as yogurt and cottage cheese are good sources of protein, calcium, vitamin D and other nutrients. Unless you are a strict vegetarian or are lactose intolerant, it makes sense to include 2-3 servings of skim milk dairy products each day. Whole milk, cheese and other full-fat dairy products are high in saturated fats so are best limited by everyone except for young children and high-performance athletes who burn huge amounts of calories.
People who are lactose-intolerant or vegan have plenty of other choices; most supermarkets now carry an array of soy beverages and other plant-based milk substitutes such as rice milk or almond milk. Use the nutrition labels on these products to guide your selection, since they vary widely in the amounts of calcium, vitamin B12 and nutrients they contain.
While skim milk dairy products have little or no fat, they all have
the
Don't let advertising campaigns persuade you to drink huge amounts of milk. Several studies that show that osteoporosis may be associated more with taking in too much protein, than with not getting enough calcium in the diet. Taking in too much protein causes the body to convert protein building blocks called amino acids into organic acids, and the kidneys respond by taking calcium from bones and pushing it out through the urine. Two or three cups of milk is reasonable; six or eight cups (of milk or any other single food) a day is too much. A healthful diet is a varied diet.
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symbol in the lists. That's because they have no fiber, so
they are not very filling. Limit your portion size if you need to control
diabetes, cholesterol or high blood pressure, or are trying to
lose weight. A reasonable serving is one cup of milk or yogurt, or 1-
2 ounces of cheese.