Hi Christina, 

Yes, it makes sense choosing low-fat dairy over regular dairy if you’re trying to control your weight because you can “save” a couple of calories from fat. 

However, eating low-fat dairy products can get counterproductive when you eat too many too often. Low-fat dairy contains as much lactose (milk sugar) as regular dairy. (All unsweetened dairy products still contain natural milk sugar -look on the nutrition facts on the package to see how much sugar you’re getting). 

If you’re having 1 cup plain low-fat yogurt + 1 cup strawberries + a small cappuccino, you get around 30 g of sugar. (If you’re eating a fruit-flavored yogurt instead of plain yogurt with fruits, you’re getting even more sugar.) Of course it depends on the amount of sugar you’ll be getting the rest of the day, but this can be a bit too much depending on your goals.

If you’re trying to lose weight but still want to drink cappuccinos or lattes every day, you’re better off going for unsweetened almond milk that contain less sugar and less calories than skim milk.

I hope this wasn’t too confusing and that it helps a bit,

Elise 

Hi! You don’t have to avoid milk to keep yourself in shape. Unless you’re lactose intolerant, using milk on your oatmeal 2-3 days a week is perfectly fine.

Reading the nutrition facts on the package is a very good initiative. It means that for a big glass of skim milk, you get around 10 g of milk’s natural sugar and 7 g of protein. Proteins help keep you full and provide “building blocks” for your muscles. 10 g of milk natural sugar may be a bit too much if you’ve already eaten enough sugar and carbs that day and if you’re trying to lose weight, but would be perfectly ok if you don’t eat many sweets that day. 

100% fruit juices provide no protein but more calories and sugar than most types of milk. The difference between skim milk and 2% reduced fat milk is only 3 g of fat per glass (27 kcal).

Hi Jessica,

It all depends on your goals, personal preferences and the availability and the prices of the different milks where you live. Here is a table I made comparing different kinds of milk.

Prices are in euro because I live in Europe. I used the British words “skimmed milk” for skim milk and “semi-skimmed milk” for 2% reduced-fat milk. The nutritional values will vary depending on the different brands and prices may be totally different in your country. 

- Whole cow milk and goat milk are perfect for skinny guys and girls who want to gain weight. 

- Unsweetened soy milk is the plant-based milk with the highest amount of protein and the lowest amount of sugar, which makes it interesting for people who want to reduce their sugar consumption to “shape up”.
(However, soy products are a bit controversial. Jillian Michael for example says that you should not consume any soy products. I think drinking soy milk is fine as long as you don’t drink it daily but only occasionally.)   

- The only difference between reduced-fat milk and skim milk is less than 3 grams of fat per glass. This isn’t a lot. Skim milk still has 10g of sugar per glass. Skim milk is actually not that interesting for people looking to lose weight. 

- Unsweetened almond milk looks like an alternative for people who want to lose weight or people who want to drink a lot of milk regularly without taking in too many calories. But it’s quite expensive (may be much cheaper in sunny countries that produce almonds). People looking to lose weight on a budget are just better off sticking to water and not drinking any of their calories.