Whole-Fat Dairy vs Low-Fat Dairy

CalMark

I keep reading that whole fat dairy foods are nutritionally better for us than low-fat dairy foods, but embracing whole-fat dairy certainly makes it more challenging to create an efficient CRON diet and lifestyle.

On one hand, yes, I feel more full when I eat whole-fat dairy foods, and therefore, I eat less, but on the other hand, my calorie "account" for the day gets spent more quickly than it does if I eat low-fat dairy. Low-fat, lower-calorie foods allow for more food variety and more opportunities to fulfill my micronutrient goals throughout the day.

Does anyone else wrestle with this?

Susan_RD_101

@CalMark

Yes, health professionals struggle with this as well.

Full-fat dairy can help with fullness and decrease overall calorie intake. However, high-fat dairy can also be inflammatory and has been linked to the growth of certain types of cancers.

My professional advice is that if you eat dairy, get it from food, not beverages. Choose full-fat yogurt over lower fat (ensuring that it is also low sugar), but be mindful of how much cheese you consume, given that it contains a greater amount of saturated fat compared to yogurt.

Paul

The Calcium reqs threw me for a loop. I'm assuming there's some kind of dairy mafia cowing American scientists into raising the minimum requirements.

Only takes a pittance of tasty, hard cheese to top-up my calcium (UK recommendation: 700mg, that I otherwise get from Spinach and small fish), leaving 85-90% energy to spend elsewhere.

If you want to try something unusual, I recommend the Western umami explosion that is a pineappley soft cheese along with marmite (or the yeast extract of your own behest). be still my heart

CalMark

Hi Susan. Thanks for the response. I'm not concerned about saturated fat because there's been a growing amount of evidence over the past several years that suggests saturated fat doesn't cause problems for most people. It certainly hasn't for me. I eat eggs and lots of whole-fat dairy foods every day, and my triglyceride levels are very low every time I have them tested (which is every few months).

My bigger interest is in keeping the calorie count down while maximizing the nutrition I get from my food. I think I may give low-fat dairy another shot. It's been a few years since I switched to whole-fat dairy, but I feel like it's using up too much of my calorie budget for the day.

Susan_RD_101

@CalMark

In that case, you may want to opt for low-fat dairy. Fullness isn't based on calories, but volumetrics (i.e. how much space does the food take up in your stomach?). Liquid calories are never as satiating as solid calories, so keep this in mind when making your choices.

@Paul - I agree! I have a feeling that we will see a change in the RDA for calcium overtime. Countries significantly differ in the amount they recommend per day.

CalMark

I appreciate the suggestions, Susan. I've tried the Volumetrics approach in the past, and found that it didn't work well for me. Perhaps it does for other people. Fullness may be based, in part, on volume, but there's also the time it takes for our bodies to digest the food. In my experience, higher-fat foods are more satiating than lower-fat foods.

So... After giving it some thought (and of course, doing more reading - there's always more to read, isn't there? lol...), I've decided to stick with the whole-fat dairy foods for now. For those of us who are physically active and don't have any obvious metabolic issues, it appears that natural, whole-fat dairy has more advantages than disadvantages over low-fat dairy.

Thank you for all of your good work here. We're all learning lots from you.

CalMark

I appreciate the suggestions, Susan. I've tried the Volumetrics approach in the past, and found that it didn't work well for me. Perhaps it does for other people. Fullness may be based, in part, on volume, but there's also the time it takes for our bodies to digest the food. In my experience, higher-fat foods are more satiating than lower-fat foods.

So... After giving it some thought (and of course, doing more reading - there's always more to read, isn't there? lol...), I've decided to stick with the whole-fat dairy foods for now. For those of us who are physically active and don't have any obvious metabolic issues, it appears that natural, whole-fat dairy has more advantages than disadvantages over low-fat dairy.

Thank you for all of your good work here. We're all learning lots from you.

CalMark

I appreciate the suggestions, Susan. I've tried the Volumetrics approach in the past, and found that it didn't work well for me. Perhaps it does for other people. Fullness may be based, in part, on volume, but there's also the time it takes for our bodies to digest the food. In my experience, higher-fat foods are more satiating than lower-fat foods.

So... After giving it some thought (and of course, doing more reading - there's always more to read, isn't there? lol...), I've decided to stick with the whole-fat dairy foods for now. For those of us who are physically active and don't have any obvious metabolic issues, it appears that natural, whole-fat dairy has more advantages than disadvantages over low-fat dairy.

Thank you for all of your good work here. We're all learning lots from you.

CalMark

I appreciate the suggestions, Susan. I've tried the Volumetrics approach in the past, and found that it didn't work well for me. Perhaps it does for other people. Fullness may be based, in part, on volume, but there's also the time it takes for our bodies to digest the food. In my experience, higher-fat foods are more satiating than lower-fat foods.

So... After giving it some thought (and of course, doing more reading - there's always more to read, isn't there? lol...), I've decided to stick with the whole-fat dairy foods for now. For those of us who are physically active and don't have any obvious metabolic issues, it appears that natural, whole-fat dairy has more advantages than disadvantages over low-fat dairy.

Thank you for all of your good work here. We're all learning lots from you.

Susan_RD_101

@CalMark

Happy to help!

At the end of the day, nutrition is just as much an art as it is a science. I'm also a big believer in the "let's try it and see!" approach.

Good luck and keep us posted on your success!