Should you choose low fat or full fat dairy?
Posted by kathryn in Fats & oils
And now it’s on to dairy in Q & A Thursday. Rachel has asked:
Lately, I have become confused around dairy. I read one thing that said we should drink whole milk and use butter rather than margarine, as these are more natural products. But anything I read from nutritionists advocates low fat milk and olive oil based spreads. I want to know what is more healthy for the body in general.
My answer is going to be another one of those it depends answers.
Apart from a KFC Zinger Double BBQ Bacon & Cheese Burger, there are very few foods that are all bad. Most food has good points and bad points: nutritional pluses and minuses.
And whether you should be eating it or not depends . . . on:
- what else you’re eating
- how much of the food you eat
- whether you are at a healthy weight or not
And the same is true of dairy.
Full fat vs low fat
If you’re at a healthy weight and have a diet that’s generally low in saturated fat, then consuming full fat dairy is not a problem.
As long as you’re not eating it by the bucketload.
However, here in the Western world many people struggle to maintain a healthy weight. Plus most people eat far too much saturated fat – hence the recommendation from most nutritionists to make low fat dairy choices.
Therefore if you’re trying to lose weight, or you have a diet that’s already high in fat, you’d be wise to either restrict your intake of full fat dairy, or mix it up with some low fat choices.
In this case choose lower fat milk and yoghurt. And select the dairy foods which are naturally lower in fat – like cottage cheese, ricotta and fetta.
Alternatives to butter and margarine
Here in Australia we’re very reliant on dairy, but there are alternatives. While I’m not adverse to spreading a bit of butter on my toast now and then, I’m just as likely to use hummous, avocado or tahini. These all add nutritional depth and variety to what I’m eating.
I drizzle olive oil, lemon juice or tahini over vegetables and mix up the milks I use on cereal.
When it comes to cheese, I often select the low fat options. I’ll use ricotta or fetta instead of parmesan, on pasta and risottos. I often mix together ricotta and yoghurt, instead of using cream. While toast with ricotta and jam is heavenly.
All of these options are naturally lower in saturated fat, without compromising flavour.
So enjoy your full fat dairy, in moderation. And remember the alternatives, they’re a great way to increase the variety of foods you eat.
What is Q & A Thursday?
This post is part of Q & A Thursday – a monthly burst of blogging, where you get to dictate the subject matter. Q & A Thursday is all about simple, practical answers to food and diet dilemmas sent in by readers.
If you have a question you’d like answered send me an "email":mailto:me@kathrynelliott.com.au. For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.
05 June, 2008
Comments
Kathy, the the thing I think is interesting here is that when you say low fat cheese you don’t mean “fat reduced” cheese, rather styles of cheese that are inherently lower in fat.
“Low fat” and “reduced fat” labels are confusing for many as they don’t provide the full picture.
It never ceases to amaze me what people will eat, but refuse to drink half fat milk (let alone full fat) because of the fat content. If it was labelled 96% fat free people would it be the same story?
Hi Grocer – to be honest I can’t think of many things worse than rubbery “reduced fat” cheese. But that’s more of a taste than a health perspective.
I’d much prefer to have smaller and more sporadic amounts of cheddar and parmesan, than buy the reduced fat alternatives. There are some flavour compromises that I just don’t think are worth it.
And yes I think we have some of our food attitudes slightly screwy. Worrying about the fat in milk, when you’re still consuming chips and chocolate being one of them.
interesting post.
I probably should fret more about fat——but I dont.
Im all about the SHOULD I PUT THAT PROCESSED WHITE STUFF IN MY BODY and let the fat fall where it may :)
Thanks MizFit. I don’t recommend fretting about anything to do with diet! Definitely avoid the white processed stuff and if that’s all you can do, then it’s a good, good start.
i used to always buy and eat low fat dairy, but recently i’ve become more interested in eating the more natural versions of dairy, rather than the lower fat versions. i really like dairy but i don’t eat a huge amount so i figure it’s fine.
Thanks Kathryn, very helpful. The other comments reflect some of the things I was thinking!
I think there are a lot of other issues pertinent to the low fat dairy debate. The fat in milk is a source of nutrients such as A, D, E and K. If there is no fat there are no naturally occurring fat soluble vitamins. When we manipulate a natural food, such as milk, taking out one component leaves a very unbalanced product. In this case the sugar content is also boosted. I often wonder if children in particular are exposed to these high lactose/low or no fat products whether it will increase the incidence of lactose intolerance?
I’m not a fan of dairy but if someone is going to eat it I’d prefer they go for quality over quantity. Have a little of the dairy they love once a week or fortnight and rely on vegetable sources of calcium like seeds, nuts and beans for their daily intake.
Dairy is always such a hot topic. I’ve written more about my thoughts on dairy here.
I’m hoping a comment here will stop me getting email updates of the spam on this post.
hOpe you sortit out shortly Kathryn.
Sorry about the spam everyone – I know it’s appalling and offensive. We’re working on it at the moment and should be sorted soon.
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