It’s nearly as common as the old:
“Which oil is best to cook with” question I get (and spoke about recently)
But what I’m talking about today is:
Which milk is the ‘best’ to drink
Because I get it
there’s so many to choose from, right?
Now, first off
If you’re ever around for a cuppa
Don’t use the milk that’s in a bag labelled:
“Ottilie’s lunch. Touch it and risk sleepless nights”
Because it belongs to my 6 week old daughter (who starts yoga this week…very zen, I know!)
And she will dribble, head butt or – worse – scream at you at 3 am if you do
Anyway, enough about human milk
Today, I’m talking about red top milk, green milk, blue milk, gold top milk, almond milk, coconut milk, rice milk, hemp milk, hazelnut milk…
I could go on
Now, nuts are “healthy”
So does this mean nut milks are good for you?
It depends
^^^ sorry for the incredibly vanilla answer
Because if you’re talking about weight loss
Choosing something like unsweetened almond milk could be an easy way to reduce your overall energy intake without really noticing
It’s actually really tasty in coffee, smoothies and hot chocolates 😃
Is it as nutritious as cows milk?
Well, just look at the ingredients.
It’s pretty much 2% almonds, water and a multivitamin tablet to give you some calcium that you’re missing from cow’s milk
For 3 times the price!
And then you have the poor farmers selling 4 pints of cows milk for a £1
There’s more…
Dairy… has actually been shown to help with weight loss, muscle tone, and keeping you full.
Which may mean you snack less and lose weight
Now, which colour lid should I choose?
Well – again – it depends
^^^ I’m sorry. If you’re after the “secret”.. I haven’t got it and anyone who says they have is probably after a quick buck
Because if your favourite colour is green, I think you should for green
^^^ That was trying to be funny by the way.
Anyway, if you want weight loss…
Then the red top probably would help because it’s lower in fat which means it’s lower in calories
Now, that said…
Could your blue or gold top milk help keep you fuller for longer?
Stop you snacking?
Make you feel more satisfied?
Potentially.
And this could help with weight loss
Can you see where I’m going with this?
It doesn’t really matter which milk you choose
Because it ultimately comes down to your overall intake
So swapping from blue to green milk COULD help you do this
Now, any time I have milk…
I tend to have gold top
Because I like it (sciencey answer, I know)
^^^ sooooo creamy!!
Which means I “slightly” reduce my fat intake at other times in the day
Because in actual fact…
Even full fat milk is only 4% fat
So – again – its coming back down to:
F requency – how often are you eating fat?
A mount – how much fat are you having?
T ype – getting all your fat from milk probably isn’t a great idea
Now, I want to build on this last point
Because milk also contains high quality protein to help you recover
As well as carbs
^^ which means more calories!
And we know from research that drinking your calories “tends” to be a good way to gain weight
Because there seems to be something satisfying about chewing your food
^^^ psychological?
Now, whey protein does seem to be a bit of an exception to the rule
But I’ll go into that another day
What if I’m lactose intolerant?
You could take a probiotic (it’s been shown to potentially reduce symptoms)
You could try lactose free milk
Vegan?
You could try an alternative milk
Generally, I’d go for an unsweetened milk
Some of the sweetened hazelnut milks are so tasty
But…
Have added sugar
So…in summary:
*be careful what milk you get out of my fridge when coming over for a cuppa
*choosing lower fat milks could be an easy swap to make to lose weight but it depends how much you drink
*drinking your calories probably isn’t a great way to lose weight as there seems to be something satisfying about chewing food
*if you love your gold top…enjoy it and alter your intake elsewhere if needs be 😃 (my personal bias coming in)
*its not about “bad” or “good” foods or drinks…it’s what you do consistently over the day, week and month that counts
Which milk do you drink?
Matt “Monday milk run” Fruci
