The Case of Whole Milk vs. Skim Milk

This case is a tough one. As anticipated, there is a mess of conflicting information out there. Luckily, my husband has been out of town for work so I got to geek out reading research articles all night. (Woo hoo! Anybody want to come over?)

You will be the jury in the case. The voting is now open. Below you will find the evidence on both sides. After weighing the evidence, vote on Health-e-Confusion's facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Health-e-Confusion/193710437345611?sk=wall.

The rules for voting:

• Vote only once.
• Supply any additional information or ask questions in the comment box below.
• Vote by Tuesday, June 28th, 5 pm ET. 

Now, for what we've all been waiting for. ("We all" meaning me and the other three people in the world who are hopelessly obsessed with nutrition news.)

Whole milk’s argument:

No suspicious additives in this brand.

• In 2-3 year old children, switching from full-fat to reduced-fat milk doesn't make a difference in children’s weight (Huh, 2010). (Take that, Skim!)
• A handful of studies that followed people over several years found that people who consumed high-fat dairy lost or maintained weight, but many of these studies didn’t take into account physical activity or other factors (Rosell, 2006).
• A study that followed teens over several years found that girls who regularly drank large amounts of skim or 1% milk gained more weight than girls who drank large amounts of whole milk when everything else was the same (Berkey, 2005).
• The study that brought this whole controversy to light is interesting, but doesn’t quite show that consuming high-fat dairy causes weight loss. The researchers at Harvard found that seniors who had high levels of something called trans-palmitoleic acid in their system has lower rates of diabetes, smaller waist circumferences, and weighed less. They also found that these people consumed more high-fat dairy, ate more red meat, and did a few other things that we think of as not so healthy. Interesting results, but the article doesn’t go as far as to claim that they proved that the full-fat dairy was the reason for this; it’s just an interesting association (Mozaffarian, 2010). 
• If you look on a carton of skim milk, you might see more ingredients than just milk and the added vitamins A and D. When the fat is removed, powered milk is added for color. That’s why it’s pretty and white and not blue. I didn’t see this additive listed on my skim milk (pic above), but I know it’s on some brands.
• One study found an increase in prostate cancer among men who regularly drank skim milk or ate low-fat dairy (Park, 2007).
• Eating a diet somewhat high in fat, doesn't make you fat and eating a low-fat diet doesn't make you skinny (source: The 1990s).
• On my favorite app, Fooducate, most brands of whole milk are graded around a C based on the rating system behind the app. (You should really download this app. It makes the grocery store super fun.)

Skim came back strong with:

• In 2006, a review of a large number of studies on dairy and weight management was published. The authors found that people who consume more dairy generally weigh less, regardless of the type of dairy. However, studies don’t show that consuming dairy causes weight loss or prevented weight gain. It’s more likely that people who consume dairy tend to make overall healthy choices. There’s a correlation, but not a cause-and-effect relationship. All of these studies in this article revolved around low-fat dairy, like the defendant in this case, Skim, or did not make a distinction about type of dairy (Barba, 2006).
• In response to the hype surrounding the magical weight-loss powers of dairy products, many people thought that the type of dairy product did not matter. Researchers at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health tested low-fat and high-fat dairy products on a group of college students. The young people who ate high-fat dairy experienced significant weight gain and their systolic blood pressure (the top number) increased. Neither weight nor blood pressure changed significantly in the low-fat dairy group (Alonso, 2009).
• There are a very large number of studies published looking at low-fat dairy and its positive effects on weight and health. There is a reason that the government recommends low-fat dairy.
• Eating a diet high in calories causes weight gain, regardless of the fat content. Whole milk provides 150 calories a cup, and skim provides a mere 90 calories. 
• The brand of skim milk pictured above received an A- from Fooducate. 

What's healthier, skim or whole? Voting will be open until Tuesday, June 28^th at 5:00 pm ET.

Where I got my info:

Alonso, A. (2009). The effect of low-fat versus whole-fat dairy product intake on blood pressure and weight in young normotensive adults. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics. 22(4):336-42.

Barba, G. & Russo, P. (2006). Dairy foods, dietary calcium and obesity: a short review of the evidence. Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases. 16(6), 445-451.

Berkey, C.S., et al. (2005). Milk, dairy fat, dietary calcium, and weight gain: a longitudinal study of adolescents. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. 159(6), 543-550.

Huh, S.Y., et al. (2010). Prospective association between milk intake and adiposity in preschool-aged children. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 110(4): 563-570.

Mozaffarian, D., et al. (2010). Trans-Palmitoleic acid, metabolic risk factors, and new-onset diabetes in U.S. adults.  Annals of Internal Medicine. 153: 790-799.

Park, Y., et al. (2007). Calcium, dairy foods, and risk of incident and fatal prostate cancer: the NIH-AARP diet and health study. American Journal of Epidemiology. 166(11), 1270-1279.

Rosell, M. (2006). Association between dairy food consumption and weight change over 9 years in 19,352 perimenopausal women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 84(6), 1481-1488.