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