Milking it: The latest advice for milk consumption

Posted on 24 February, 2016

Did you grow up in the 50s and 60s receiving milk each day as part of the free milk scheme?

The advice around milk and dairy consumption has come a long way since the days of warm, sour milk at ‘little lunch’ and despite a large amount of controversy, dairy is still a recommended contribution to a healthy, well-balanced diet.

Milk is regarded as a whole food, meaning that the processing it goes through between the farmer and you is very minimal.

Milk is pasteurised, to kill the bacteria, and homogenised, to evenly distribute the fat molecules throughout the liquid, and then (if it’s full cream milk) it’s bottled up and sent to your local supermarket.

The best source of calcium

One of the most well known benefits of dairy is that it’s a great source of calcium. It also contains the most bioavailable source of calcium, meaning that the calcium is more easily absorbed by our digestive system.

Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body and makes up the majority of the skeleton. It’s very important that throughout your life, from childhood, through adolescence and into your elderly years that you consume sufficient amounts of calcium to first grow and then maintain healthy bones. This is particularly important if you are a woman, as calcium depletion from your bones becomes more rapid after menopause.

It’s recommended that adults consume 1000mg of calcium per day. If you’re a woman over 50 or post-menopausal than this recommendation increases to 1300mg per day.

So how much dairy do you need to eat every day to meet these needs?

250ml milk (full cream, lite or skim) provides approximately 300mg calcium

200g yoghurt (full cream or low fat) provides approximately 360mg calcium

40g cheese (regular or reduced fat) provides approximately 340mg calcium

That’s right! Just 3 serves of dairy a day helps you grow or maintain a healthy skeleton. It’s pretty easy. Click for for some non-dairy food sources of calcium.

Some meal or snack ideas:

Drink your milk as a cappuccino or poured over your breakfast cereal.

Dollop your yoghurt on top of your muesli or eat it as a snack to help curb your afternoon munchies. It’s also great for dessert with some freshly cut fruit.

Chuck some cheese on your lunch time sandwich, sprinkle it over homemade pizza or add it to an omelet or quiche.

Great for weight loss

There is quite a lot of research suggesting that daily dairy consumption can help with weight maintenance. The reasons why it’s helpful is still not clear however it’s likely that one of the ways is through improving appetite control.

Milk is a good source of protein, one of the macronutrients which helps keep us feeling full. A 200g tub of natural yoghurt or 250ml glass of fresh milk is a great afternoon snack to help curb your hunger and keep you feeling in control of your appetite until dinner time.

Having dairy for breakfast, combined with a high fibre source of carbohydrate like muesli or wholegrain toast and a piece of fruit is also a great way to keep you feeling fuller for longer in the mornings and a healthy breakfast is proven to help people eat better throughout the day.

One study has shown that people following a healthy eating plan to lose weight were more successful when low fat dairy serves were included in the eating plan compared to when it wasn’t.

Very nutritious

Most people know that milk is a good source of calcium but did you also know that dairy is a good source of other vitamins and minerals? Yep! Dairy contains vitamin A, vitamin B12, riboflavin (another B vitamin), potassium, magnesium, zinc and phosphorous.

With so many benefits dairy is definitely an important part of a healthy balanced diet.

What’s the deal with low fat dairy?

The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating is based on the best available evidence and still suggests the use of low fat dairy products for regular consumption in our diets.

Be mindful of products that have the fat removed and then contain large amounts of added sugar (different from the sugar that naturally occurs in milk). Skim and lite milks have the fat removed and then generally do not have anything extra added. Check ingredient lists to be sure.

Compared to 15 years ago, however, the research is also telling us that it’s overall diet quality, rather than individual foods, that’s most important when it comes to good health.

Back then, research was showing us that consumption of saturated fat (the type of fat found in milk and other foods) increased ones risk of developing heart disease. As research has progressed, we’ve found this to become largely untrue. Further research has shown that consumption of full cream milk products does not increase your risk of heart disease and may well decrease it.

My opinion will always be that balance is the answer rather than singling out individual nutrients or foods as the problem for our ill health. Go with your preference when it comes to how much fat you have in your milk and like every thing, be mindful of your total consumption. Too little or too much of most things can be detrimental to our health.

My recommendation:

Choosing full fat diary products like milk and yogurt, as part of a balanced diet rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, meat, eggs, whole grains and seafood has been associated with lower rates of cardiovascular disease and some cancers and contributes to overall long term health.

Image of ‘lips and milk‘ via Shutterstock