One of the most common and acted upon pieces of dietary advice given to the American public is the recommendation to drink three cups of milk a day; but it may not be as solid advice as it appears. According to a Harvard researcher conventional milk and dairy products are actually detrimental to your health, thanks to the health-compromising sweeteners that are added to them.
Artificially Sweetened Milk
David Ludwig–a Harvard researcher and pediatrician–recently published the results of his research in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics. There have already been countless pieces of research documenting the negative effects of sugar-sweetened drinks, and no one is surprised to learn that the overconsumption of sugary drinks is tied to obesity, diabetes, and inflammatory pain, along with other unpleasant conditions. Because of all this, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the United States Department of Agriculture have recommended a limited consumption of these beverages.
However, reduced-fat milk is still the one drink high in calories and sugar that they still promote. As far as David Ludwig is concerned, the USDA recommendation to drink three cups of milk a day is encouraging the added consumption of sugar. The problem with reduced fat milk is that the fat in the milk is simply replaced by more sugars. They add sugar into the milk to make it tastier for kids to drink, becau
se without the fat, most of the flavor is lost.
“This recommendation to drink three cups a day of milk – it’s perhaps the most prevailing advice given to the American public about diet in the last half century. As a result, Americans are consuming billions of gallons of milk a year, presumably under the assumption that their bones would crumble without them,” says David Ludwig.
Just How Bad is 2% Milk Anyways?
Ludwig argues that although milk is a good source of calcium, the amount of sweetener that’s put in milk just isn’t worth it. And, after all, milk isn’t the only food that contains calcium.
According to Ludwig, there are actually several health benefits to drinking full fat milk. In its most pure state (raw, organic, from grass-fed cows), full-fat dairy promotes heart health, controls diabetes, lowers bowel cancer risk, aids in vitamin absorption and aids in weight loss. Remember that this applies purely to organic, pure dairy, and not conventional store-bought milk.
Vegan Milk is The Way To Go
If you want to avoid calories and dangerous levels of sugars, the best solution might be something that vegans have been drinking for years. Vegan milk, such as almond milk, soy milk or coconut milk, contain less fat, less cholesterol, and less calories than conventional dairy milk. If you’re searching for a non-dairy alternative to milk, you’re far better off with vegan milk as an alternative than sweetened low-fat varieties. Unsweetened soy milk has just 2 grams of fat. compared to the 12 grams of fat found in low-fat milk! Now that’s a no brainer!
