Skim Milk vs. Full Cream Milk
The question of whether skimmed or full fat milk is better for you has been debated for many many years. A friend of mine asked me recently “is skim milk really better for you then full fat milk?” and I thought to myself, as a nutrition science student I really should investigate and see what kind of an answer I can come up with for this question, as it is not the first time I have come across it.
The Australian dietary guidelines recommend that people consume a “wide variety of foods” from each of the food groups. In “Guideline 2” they state that dairy foods consumed should be “mostly reduced fat” unless the person consuming is under two years old. This begs the question of whether reduced fat alternatives are as nutritionally complete as the full fat options.
Obviously, the calories of low fat and skim milk are lower than that of full fat or whole milk. Using Dairy Farmers full cream and skim milk as an example I compared macro and micronutrients within the milk to see if the difference in these was substantial. Interestingly enough, in a 100mL quantity the only nutrient which varied drastically was the fat.
Further, upon investigation into studies of full cream and skim milk on children over 2 it was observed that so long as the skim milk was a still nutrient rich it was perfectly okay to opt for a skimmed milk. It was additionally suggested in these articles that it may be a good alternative for overweight and obese people.
In conclusion, I don’t find there is any nutritional benefit to drinking full cream milk in preference to skim milk – as the nutritional benefits available in each milk are similar. However, drinking skim milk in preference to full cream milk will lower one’s dietary fat intake thus helping to keep daily fat consumption down. With the Australian population currently 67% overweight or obese the consumption of skim milk over full cream milk is likely the better option for many Aussies.
Australian Government Department of Health. (2019). Overweight and Obesity. Retrieved from: https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/Overweight-and-Obesity#:~:text=In%202017%2D18%2C%20the%20Australian,63.4%25%20in%202014%2D15
Australian Government National Health and Medical Research Council. (2013). Eat for Health Australian Dietary Guidelines. Retrieved from: https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/sites/default/files/content/n55_australian_dietary_guidelines.pdf
Bega Dairy & Drinks. (n.d.) Milk. Retrieved from: http://www.dairyfarmers.com.au/products/milk
Kavezade, S., Mozaffari-Khosravi, H., Aflatoonian, M., Asemi, M., Mehrabani, S., & Salehi-Abargouei, A. (2018). The effects of whole milk compared to skim milk and apple juice consumption in breakfast on appetite and energy intake in obese children: A three-way randomized crossover clinical trial. BMC Nutrition, 4 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40795-018-0253-8
Rehm, CD., Drewnowski, A., Monsivais, P. (2015). Potential Population-Level Nutritional Impact of Replacing Whole and Reduced-Fat Milk With Low-Fat and Skim Milk Among US Children Aged 2–19 Years. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behaviour,47 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2014.11.001