Speaker 1: Welcome to brain stuff from how stuff works. Hey, brain stuff,
Speaker 1: it's Christian Sager. Here. Are you ever walking around through
Speaker 1: the grocery store and you're looking in the cases and
Speaker 1: you see the milk and you get thirsty? But then
Speaker 1: you say, why are there all these different colored caps?
Speaker 1: Why is there blue and yellow and green and red?
Speaker 1: And what do these things all mean? Well, all right,
Speaker 1: let's break it down. Whole milk, which is three point
Speaker 1: two five fat, that's the stuff that comes from a
Speaker 1: cow before any processing. Then there are the others. There's
Speaker 1: reduced fat milk, which is two percent fat. There's low
Speaker 1: fat milk, which has one percent fat, and then there's
Speaker 1: fat free or also known as skim milk, which has
Speaker 1: zero percent fat, and all of those undergo processing to
Speaker 1: remove extra fat that comes from the cream. Besides the
Speaker 1: noticeable difference in taste, whole milk and low fat or
Speaker 1: skim milk differ in their fat, nutrient, and calorie content.
Speaker 1: So there's a lot going on under all those different caps.
Speaker 1: Making low fat and fat free milk involves skimming cream
Speaker 1: from whole milk out of the final product, and unfortunately,
Speaker 1: fat soluble vitamins like D A, E and k, which
Speaker 1: are found in the milk fat all go along with it,
Speaker 1: so as a result, reduced fat, low fat and skim
Speaker 1: milks contain lower amounts of many nutrients. But milk companies,
Speaker 1: even some organic brands, have figured out how to add
Speaker 1: these vitamins back in during processing to fortify the final
Speaker 1: product with nutrients, particularly vitamins A and D. So some
Speaker 1: brands also boost their product with powdered milk solids to
Speaker 1: achieve that thick white texture that we're so accustomed to seeing.
Speaker 1: And since fat free milk is naturally blue too, died
Speaker 1: in pretty watery, they want to add stuff to that.
Speaker 1: Fortification ensures that lower fat milks are nutritionally similar to
Speaker 1: whole milk and can remain a significant source of vitamins
Speaker 1: in our diet regardless. Whole milk proponents argue that fat
Speaker 1: soluble vitamins are not as easily absorbed without the actual
Speaker 1: milk fat present. Okay, so let's look at the whole
Speaker 1: milk first. Whole milk must contain no less than three
Speaker 1: point to five percent milk fat and eight point to
Speaker 1: five percent quote milk solids that are not fat, And
Speaker 1: what they mean by this is protein carbohydrates, water soluble vitamins,
Speaker 1: and minerals. All milks are approximately eighty seven percent water.
Speaker 1: Whole milk itself contains a hundred and fifty calories and
Speaker 1: eight grams of fat per eight fluid ounce serving, although
Speaker 1: this isn't required. Whole milk maybe fortified with vitamin A
Speaker 1: and or D, which you know we talked about earlier.
Speaker 1: And what whole milk does have is more fat. It
Speaker 1: has about ten grams of fat per cup. Now, the
Speaker 1: homogenization process with whole milk, that process breaks up fat
Speaker 1: and disperses it through milk to give it a smooth,
Speaker 1: uniform consistency. And most whole milk is homogenized to prevent
Speaker 1: all of the fat in it from rising to the top.
Speaker 1: And then, of the four options that I've presented here,
Speaker 1: whole milk actually has the highest amount of saturated fat
Speaker 1: and calories, with around a hundred and fifty calories compared
Speaker 1: to skim milks nine d calories and four grams of
Speaker 1: saturated fat per eight out serving. Now, while whole milk
Speaker 1: has more saturated fat, this isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Speaker 1: More and more research suggests that saturated fat may not
Speaker 1: actually be unhealthy. Whole milk does contain a more cholesterol
Speaker 1: per eight out, serving about twenty four milligrams of cholesterol
Speaker 1: compared to skim milks five milligrams, but some studies have
Speaker 1: found that whole milk might not increase total cholesterol and
Speaker 1: it may actually raise good cholesterol levels. Those are HDL levels. Still,
Speaker 1: given the conflicting existing research and the fact that most
Speaker 1: diets contained plenty of sources of fat and cholesterol, most
Speaker 1: doctors actually recommend making the switch from whole to low
Speaker 1: fat or skim milk. So let's look at those. We've
Speaker 1: got two percent next, and that's the reduced fat one,
Speaker 1: and it's a good choice for those seeking moderate restriction
Speaker 1: of their fat intake. Reduced fat milk is just whole
Speaker 1: milk in which the milk fat level has been reduced
Speaker 1: from three point to five percent to two percent. Hence
Speaker 1: you know the popular name two percent milk. And remember
Speaker 1: in two percent milk, vitamins A and D are removed
Speaker 1: from the milk fat, so they have to be added
Speaker 1: back in too. Reduced fat milk, just like we talked
Speaker 1: about with fortified milk. Then you've got your one percent.
Speaker 1: That's the low fat milk, and like it implies, it
Speaker 1: has one percent in it. A cup has one calories,
Speaker 1: which is about a fifth from fat, and this is
Speaker 1: a good choice for those who are seeking a somewhat
Speaker 1: greater restriction of their fat intake. This also has vitamins
Speaker 1: A and D removed, but they are also added back
Speaker 1: into low fat milk. Then we have skim milk. This
Speaker 1: is the one we call fat free. Why because it
Speaker 1: has the most fat removed or skimmed off the top,
Speaker 1: but it has the same nutritional benefits as whole milk.
Speaker 1: Non fat or skim in. A cup has about eighty calories,
Speaker 1: but none of those are from fat. And how does
Speaker 1: a company create fat free half and half you're probably wondering. Well,
Speaker 1: the way they do it is by adding stuff like
Speaker 1: corn syrup, solids, or artificial color or sugar to non
Speaker 1: fat milk. So aside from that, if you want to
Speaker 1: drink fat free milk, it's a good choice for those
Speaker 1: who are seeking to restrict their fat take considerably. But
Speaker 1: again they remove vitamins A and D, so they have
Speaker 1: to be added back in the bottom line on all
Speaker 1: of these different types of milk, drinking two to three
Speaker 1: glasses of milk a day, whether it's skim two or whole,
Speaker 1: lowers the likelihood of both heart attacks and strokes. And
Speaker 1: while you've probably always been told to drink reduced fat milk,
Speaker 1: the majority of scientific studies actually show that drinking whole
Speaker 1: milk actually improves cholesterol levels, just not as much as
Speaker 1: drinking skim does. So if you're dieting, the lower fat
Speaker 1: option is an easy way to save a few calories,
Speaker 1: but when it comes to building muscle, whole fat milk
Speaker 1: maybe your best choice. Scientists at the University of Texas
Speaker 1: Medical Branch in Galveston actually found that drinking whole milk
Speaker 1: after lifting weights boosted muscle protein synthesis, which is an
Speaker 1: indicator of muscle growth. In fact, it boosted it two
Speaker 1: point eight times more than drinking skim milk did. Check
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Speaker 1: dot com.