Milk- Fun Fact Friday

Last Year I posted a fact about Milk on Facebook, about how switching from full cream milk to skim milk can reduce your fat intake by ~ 9 g and reduce kilojoule intake by ~350 kJ per 250 mL (1 cup) serve. And a fab fact that really put it into perspective for me was- if you are a tea/ coffee drinker you could cut 1 kg of saturated fat out of your diet each year just by switching to a skim/ non-fat milk.

So I thought for this weeks Fun Fact Friday I would take the guess work out for you guys and show a comparison of full cream, hi-lo and skim cow's milk, regular and lite soy milk, and regular and unsweetened almond milk. So that next time you head into the supermarket you will have the knowledge of varied nutrition value of the milks before you buy it!

Overall Winners of the Stats per serve:

Lowest Calories: Unsweetened Almond Milk
Highest Protein and Calcium: Skim  Cow's Milk
Lowest Fat: Skim Cow's Milk

Full Cream Milk:

Hi-Lo Milk:

Skim Milk:

Verdict on the cow's milk:

•  Decrease in calories from 160 Cal (Full Cream Milk) > 117 Cal (Hi-Lo) > 97 Cal (Skim Milk)
• Increase in Protein from 8 grams in Full Cream to 9.5 grams in Skim Milk
• Increase in Calcium from 300 mg (Full Cream) to 353 mg (Skim Milk)
• The only con would be the slight increase in sodium from 123 mg in Full Cream up to 142 mg in Skim

pictures and nutritional panels from http://brownesdairy.com.au/products/

Soy Milk Regular vs Lite:

 1) Regular

2) Lite



Verdict on Soy Milk:

• Contains no gluten or lactose so great for people suffering from these intolerances
• No Cholesterol as it is plant- based not an animal product
• Same level of Calcium as Full Cream Cows Milk, but less than Skim and Hi-Lo milk
• contain the 'good' fats (source of monounsaturated and polyunsatured fats)
• In my opinion choose the Lite Soy Milk over the Regular as you will decrease calories from 155 Cal to 95 Cal, and decrease fat from 8.5 grams to 2.3 grams.

Almond Milk Regular vs Unsweetened:

1) Regular


















2) Unsweet

















Verdict on Almond Milk:

• Gluten, Lactose and Cholesterol free 
• Source of Vitamin E
• Defiantly choose the unsweetened version over regular Almond Milk as there is 10.5 grams difference in sugar! There is the smallest increase in fat (0.5 g) but is a monounsaturated fat and not saturated.
• Less calories than that of  Lite Soy Milk and Skim milk, with the unsweetened version on having 43 Cal per serving.
• Con: Less calcium than Soy and Cow's milk 

pictures and nutritional panels sourced from http://sogood.sanitarium.com.au/

Enjoy your milk over the weekend whatever you choose :) Now time for a little snack after all this milk talk!