is milk sometimes to ditch if you want to loose weight ? right now i drink 1% milk.

Low fat or skim milk is a great source of calcium and protein. There are a lot of other things I'd ditch before I got rid of milk.

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Milk is very good for you and reported to have extra benefits for weight loss too. If you are worried about the calories try switching over to fat free . . . once you get used to it it's great. One of the strong points about milk, as well as the calcium, of course, is that it is a wonderfully balanced combination of carbs and protein. Even better, because of the extra good bacteria it contains is FF yogurt.

Don't forget the Vitamin D. New research show we don't get nearly enough of this important nutrient. It isn't plentiful in cheeses or yogurt, only in fortified milk.

I grew up drinking 1% Milk, and reduced fat everything else too. It never helped me lose weight or maintain my weight. So I decided a few months ago that DAMN IT! I was going to start eating/drinking all full-fat dairy. So now I drink whole milk, about 4 - 8 oz. a day, and I've gone down a dress size in 1 month. Milk's great -- vitamin D, protein, calcium, etc.

One of my favorite snacks, PS: Peanut butter (Skippy or whatever, I just CANNOT acquire a taste for the natural peanut butters) on a spoon with like 4 - 8 oz. of milk.

But is the saturated fat good for your cardio health? I don't understand how that is helping you lose weight... I wonder if you can explain it a little more...?

Sure. Eating a diet higher in fat and protein keeps many people, myself included, feeling satisfied and fuller longer. That's how I got control over my growing binging problem, by lowering my carb in-take and upping my fats and protein. I've read numerous places that doing a low-carb AND low-fat diet is dangerous (it sounds dangerous to me), so I swapped one for the other. Mind, I AM vegetarian, so I don't eat *any* meat, so all of my fat in-take is from dairy, olive oil, flax, avocado (and some fish), and probably some other things I can't think of right now.

Granted, I have NOT been to the dr in the months since I've started eating this way (I will be going this summer or in the early fall), but going on how I FEEL -- under control in terms of binging, full and satisfied (but not bloated after I eat), down a dress size, lots of energy to work out, etc. I think I'm doing well. BUT if, when I go to the dr, I'm told my cholesterol is through the roof or something, i will revert to a low-fat diet with a quickness for sure. But I suspect all my tests would be normal (I've been reading studies comparing people on the Atkins diet with people on a low-fat diet; both groups maintained healthy chol. levels, etc and the Atkins people, with their full-fat diets, actually lowered their tryglicerides).

And based on other things I've read, I'm skeptical of the whole "(dietary) fat = death" concept. People have been eating full-fat dairy for centuries and some whole cuisines are based on the consumption of fat. I don't have any articles with me at the moment, but apparently many of the studies surrounding dietary fat were NOT performed with full versions of the food. The tests done to determine how terrible eggs are, for instance, was supposedly done on egg yolk POWDER, not on actual eggs. I will see if I can find that article (reputable source)...

Calcium has been shown to help weight loss. It has to be naturally occurring, not in supplements. Maybe some dairy is good for you. Yogurt perhaps if you want to get rid of milk?

KLK, I think that people may have been safely consuming full fat dairy for centuries, but it's only been in the last century (or probably the last few decades) that we've taken everything to excess. It's a combination of things from reduced activity to increased consumption of food. Also, we didn't have cardiologists and high tech equipment over the last few centuries, so people could well have suffered the effects of a fatty diet. Their life spans were rather short, and chances are other diseases hit them first.

I don't think low fat or high fat diets are good. I believe in a moderate fat diet, and it has to be good fat - no sat fats.

One of my really good friends is a personal trainer at Gold's gym and she tells all her clients (and me for free) that milk is the number one thing to drink after a work out (1% or fat free of course). It apparently replenishes what we lose during a work out and is better than any sports drink and water.

KLK - I see. Thanks for the explanation. And I do know (and agree) that fats are important to a healthy diet, and it sounds like the majority of your fat comes from *good* (unsaturated fats) - nuts, olive oil, avocado, etc. I also get the satiety factor, but I still am not convinced that the saturated fat in whole milk is necessarily healthy. I think the benefits of milk (calcium, vitamin D, protein) can be attained through 1% or skim.

Mind you, I am NOT a milk drinker! I drink soy creamer in my coffee! I have been off milk for probably 10 years, however my DH drinks about 1 gallon a week. I buy him 1% (he is a type 1 diabetic and has been for 30 years, so I know his heart doesn't need saturated fat).

Suzanne - you raise an interesting point too... my great aunt turned 101 in May. She is sharp as a tack and in quite good health. She went into a nursing home in June. Up until fall 2007, she was still driving and living on her own (amazing woman). She and my grandfather were raised on a farm on full fat milk, cream, butter, eggs, lots of bacon and meat. I remember about 3 years ago on a visit with her how she raved about the Oscar Meyer already cooked bacon. She LOVES bacon, but she had stopped making it because of the trouble and mess. The fact that she could take it out of a box, plop it on a plate, and nuke it THRILLED her. She will never stop eating her butter and bacon. She also ate lots of fresh vegetables and fruits and worked (i.e. exercised) very hard her whole life. So, who knows...

When I was seven, I had gotten quite pudgy. My mom didn't want to draw any attention to it or make me aware of it, but she told me later that she had talked to the pediatrician about it. Apparently, I had a very hearty appetite, and as a kid, I loved milk (whole). The doctor told my mom to do nothing else but to switch me to skim milk, so she switched the whole family to skim. The pudge fell away (maybe just from growing taller or maybe from the skim).

Anyway... interesting discussion.

BTW, KLK, congrats on your awesome success and loss... you are clearly doing lots right! And it sounds like you are staying on top of your cholesteral, etc. Keep up the great work!

Interesting. Low fat milk and fat free milk didn't come into existence until the late 70's here in the UK. I just saw a documentary on people living the 70's lifestyle and while all their foods were the full fat versions they didn't put on weight despite eating an average of over 700 calories more than people eat today. The doctor monitoring the subjects said it was do to having the more active 70's lifestyle that kept them slimmer than we are today. Now most of us have jobs we sit at and drive cars.

I personally like the low fat low carb diet. And by low I mean keeping fat intake between 15% and 30% of my calories and my carbs at around 100 grams a day which means between 30% and 35% of my calories, except for my cheat day

Just be sure to count it in your calories for the day.
And 8 oz. is a serving-measure it.