I looked at the new food pyramid and I'm thinking that it may be something that is easy to follow. It says I should be having 3 cups of milk products per day. I don't care for many milk products. I do like cottage cheese, so maybe some FF cottage cheese with a handful of blueberries on it would be good. That would take some of the fruit requirement down (1.5 C) as well. I do have 1 or 2% on my Kashi cereal in the mornings, but not a cup!

I don't drink coffee.

Maybe I should go back to LF chocolate milk in the AM as well as my cereal. I cut it out because of the cholesterol and calories. I gave up soy milk because of the soy and women's health.

Any suggestions?

I always have ovaltine made with milk in the evening.

Humans are the only mammals that consume milk products after childhood. And it's a different species' milk, no less.

I like milk, cheese, yogurt, etc., don't get me wrong, but adult humans do not need milk. It is possible to get the protein, calcium, etc. from other foods.

Often government recommendations are influenced by industry, and the dairy industry has some $$$$.

I love milk, so 3 cups of milk products a day would be cake for me I have milk on cereal (I DO use 1 cup of milk--I'm one of those weird people that prefers my cereal slightly soggy instead of crunchy). I use skim milk to make sugar-free instant pudding. I love cheese on just about anything (limited quantities, of course, and usually a reduced-fat version--can't handle the fat-free stuff, though).

If you want chocolate milk, maybe try skim milk and a fat-free chocolate syrup? It will still have some sugar (they do make a sugar-free chocolate syrup, but I find it doesn't mix in as well), but it shouldn't have any fat.

Oooh, I also really really like the Carnation instant breakfast mixes. You just mix an envelope of the powder with 1 cup of milk, and, IMO, it really tastes like chocolate milk, plus you can get the no sugar added kind, and it has additional nutrients that you wouldn't get with the chocolate syrup.

I don't eat a lot of dairy. I don't consider the food pyramid to be a health bible. Check out Marion Nestle's Food Politics for some interesting reading about how the food industry/lobbyists shapes the pyramid. It's not always in the public's best interest - you can be sure it's in the DAIRY INDUSTRY'S best industry for you to drink 3 cups of milk a day.

I don't eat a lot of dairy either. I eat occasional cottage cheese and yogurt as well as very little cheese.

Oh, I'm well aware of how the food pyramid changes based on what needs to happen in the agricultural industry. However, this new one seems to be a bit different. They are basing it on age and activity. For me, they recommend milk and meat/beans at the bottom of the list. They recommend grains at the top, but only 5 ounces. However, I do have to watch that. I have diverticulitis and it can be a problem.


I was drinking the fat free chocolate milk. I enjoyed some of that each morning. Maybe I'll go back to it. I do miss it.

from the mypyramid.gov site, what counts as a cup of milk:

Milk
[choose fat-free or low-fat milk most often] 1 cup
1 half-pint container
½ cup evaporated milk

Yogurt
[choose fat-free or low-fat yogurt most often] 1 regular container (8 fluid ounces) = 1 cup
1 small container (6 ounces) = ¾ cup
1 snack size container (4 ounces) = ½ cup

Cheese
[choose low-fat cheeses most often]
1 ½ ounces hard cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, Swiss, parmesan)
1/3 cup shredded cheese
1 slice of hard cheese is equivalent to ½ cup milk
2 ounces processed cheese (American)
½ cup ricotta cheese
1 slice of processed cheese is equivalent to 1/3 cup milk
2 cups cottage cheese (½ cup cottage cheese is equivalent to ¼ cup milk)

Milk-based desserts
[choose fat-free or low-fat types most often]
1 cup pudding made with milk
1 cup frozen yogurt
1 ½ cups ice cream
1 scoop ice cream is equivalent to 1/3 cup milk

I love Marion Nestle and second the recommendation for her book. I heard her speak once and would jump at the chance to hear her again.

Put a cup of milk in the blender with some frozen berries ( sweeten it if you like, depending on the sweetness of the beries) frozen Banana is good to then you'r getting fruit and milk.

I remember when my MIL went to her Dr. and told her she must drink 2 cups of milk a day. She said "Then I'll be needing an awful lot of coffee".

Here's an article from the Harvard School of Public Health that backs up midwife's assertions: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritio...e/calcium.html

I just checked What to Eat out of library - it is some seriously good stuff.

I just read a wonderful article that quoted Nestle:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/ma...gewanted=print

One of the things that the article also mentioned was to eat food rather than the "edible foodlike substances" in the supermarket. Great euphemism for processed food!