I’ve been thinking lately about milk and eggs: two food items that, in my opinion, are absolutely indispensable in the kitchen and in our diets and yet somehow have a bad rap.
[DISCLAIMER: I should start by saying that everyone is entitled to make his or her own food decisions and in NO WAY am I intending to pass judgement on those very sacred choices. There is absolutely nothing wrong with veganism, and certainly nothing wrong with simply not liking the taste of milk or eggs. I don't mean to offend anyone's food sensibilities.]
Anyway. Milk: It’s good for you. Here’s why:
- It’s loaded with calcium, which not only strengthens bones but may also help you burn fat faster
- It can help you build muscle
- It may improve cholesterol levels
(Source. However, do keep in mind that nutrition studies are not always all they’re cracked up to be. For more information on why that is the case, read In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. Also, it’s important to know that there are people on the other side of this debate.)
So, milk’s good, imho. But what about skim v. whole?
Well, if you’re on a low-fat diet, and you like to drink a shit-ton of milk, you’ll probably want to stick to skim (however, again, read In Defense of Food for a brilliant explanation as to why the low-fat diet may not actually be good for you). But whole milk sure does have some virtues going for it, not the least of which is the fact that it doesn’t taste like water. To quote Pollan (who, I can’t lie, is my absolute hero):
To make dairy products low fat, it’s not enough to remove fat. You then have to go to great lengths to preserve the body or creamy texture by working in all kinds of food additives. In the case of low-fat or skim milk, that usually means adding powdered milk. But powdered milk contains oxidized cholesterol, which scientists believe is much worse for your arteries than ordinary cholesterol, so food makers sometimes compensate by adding antioxidants, further complicating what had been a simply one-ingredient whole food. Also, removing the fat makes it harder for your body to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins that are one of the reasons to drink milk in the first place. (In Defense of Food, 153-4)
So, despite what we’ve been led to believe, whole milk may actually be better for you than skim milk is. Not to mention that the less processed a food is, in my opinion, the better.
That leads us to cow milk v. soy milk.
There are many good reasons to question the safety of soy milk. For one (and this applies to rice milk as well), it contains a lot of additives that aren’t necessarily good for you. Sweeteners such as evaporated cane juice may (or may not, depending on who you ask) be better than high-fructose corn syrup, but the fact is that all added sweeteners are best consumed in moderation. Some brands also contain polyunsaturated oils such as safflower or soybean oils, which also have their questionable health effects.
What’s more, there are some studies that indicate that too much soy can be problematic for your health: it may increase the risk of breast cancer in women and affect brain functioning in men. It is the soy isoflavones that are in question; these are compounds that resemble estrogen, and the effect of these additives on our bodies’ ability to function properly is not entirely known.
Bottom line: we’ve been led to believe that soy milk is healthier than cow milk by the very corporations who most stand to benefit from the sale of highly-processed (and highly subsidized) soybeans.
Then there’s the distance thing, which is a tricky issue. In general, I believe, it all comes down to who you buy your food from. Soy milk is often sourced and processed in the midwest (from GMO soybeans). Most organic milk usually travels from afar and needs to be UHT-pasteurized in order to extend its shelf life long enough to make it to your refrigerator. Non-organic milk tends to be local, but is made from cows treated with rbGH and antibiotics.
In short? Not a whole lot of great options, unless you have access to buying direct from a small, local dairy farmer and have the means to do so. Those of us in the Portland area have the choice of New Seasons’ Pacific Village brand, which is milk produced by a cooperative of local, organic dairy farmers. You can also buy one of the local, non-organic brands. Or buy soy milk, or corporate organic milk. Whatever makes most sense for you.
[EDIT: a reader rightly pointed out that raw milk is also an option. Yes! If you have access to it, by all means! There can be some serious safety issues with consuming raw milk, so do your homework and make sure you're comfortable with it. To locate where to buy it, go here.]
Or, make your own almond milk, but almonds are pretty spendy.
Me? I like to buy my organic whole milk from New Seasons and savor every damn delicious drop.
So…what about eggs? Eggs are by far the most amazing whole food I have ever encountered. But it turns out that I had too much to say about milk, so I’ll have to wax poetic about eggs in Part II.
9 responses so far ↓
1 Natalie B // Jan 13, 2010 at 8:11 am
I love milk (more than pretty much any other food), and I love eggs. Nothing like a nice fried egg in the morning to give you that kick of protein and hold you over until snack time (yes, I called it snack time). I feel for you ladies and gents in the States. I’m so glad that rgBH isn’t allowed in Canada. I don’t know about elsewhere, but I do know that here on Vancouver Island the dairy producers aren’t allowed to use antibiotics; the milk gets tested for it regularly. As for GMOs, they pretty much scare the crap out of me - and there doesn’t seem to be much regulation in Canada in regards to them. I sincerely hope all the bees and other pollinators will be okay.
Great write-up! Looking forward to hearing about eggs!
2 Truly // Jan 13, 2010 at 1:39 pm
Thanks for posting this—I learned so many new things! The holistic medicine ladies I went to last fall were big fans of whole milk, although it’s so hard for me to get used to, as I was raised on skim. I admit: I drew the line at 2%. But yeah. Our society is bizzare. I’ve been getting irate at the Weight Watchers commercials lately that demonize hunger (it’s the ones with the little orange monster named Hungry). Eating when you’re hungry is a GOOD thing. It’s all the boredom eating and giant proportions and what people are eating that is bad. In related news: I could really go for a spinach feta omelet right about now.
3 mydogischelsea // Jan 13, 2010 at 2:14 pm
That sounds delicious!
I agree — hunger is what helps us know it’s time to eat!
4 Melissa // Jan 13, 2010 at 4:22 pm
I, too, am looking forward to Eggs! I think I’ve told you that we get our eggs from a woman I work with, and they’re beautiful, golden, happy free-range glories. Even Anya is an egg-snob. The birds weren’t laying very well a few months ago, and I was forced to buy grocery store eggs in a pinch. Anya asked for “runny eggs” (fried), then commented “Why aren’t these eggs very runny?”, i.e. small, pathetic yolks.
I considered trying to eat an increasingly vegan diet once. We eat veg a lot just to keep costs down, since we’re picky about our meat (read: happy meat is expensive). However, it came down to lattes and cereal. I won’t give them up. Cereal is my processed-food guilty pleasure, and I’m suspicious of soymilk for the reasons you outlined.
5 Terra // Jan 14, 2010 at 3:28 am
I’m so on this milk team! It’s my very favourite drink, and I avoid skim. (Favourite to the point that when my work had a secret Santa and we were asked to write down what kind of drink we’d like to be surprised with, I said cold milk. Everyone else said some sort of coffee/tea/latte kind of thing.) I like to keep the fat in milk - it makes me feel fuller, longer. Same goes for yogurt. Non-fat yogurt irks me. I refuse to buy it. Another food related annoyance about living in the US is the lack of GOOD yogurt choices here. I miss Canadian grocery stores - which has really been a surprise to me.
6 B // Jan 14, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Having very bad allergic reactions to all kinds of milk growing up, it was hard to find anything to fit the bill. But sometimes only milk will do. I like soy sometimes when I want a thick chocolate that won’t put me to sleep with respiratory problems, but daily it is skim on cereal. I know people think it is like water and it is! But that’s why I can drink it. There seems to be almost no milk in it. I pour it over ice too. ha!
But you’re dead on about the calcium being important. I’ve taken supplements because of the milk issue. I do not want to eat enough cheese to make up the difference!
I might like the taste the whole milk if I could stay awake long enough after to notice it. I do keep a little handy if I know it will be a stressful week. That stuff is like a natural sleeping pill for me.
I look forward to reading about the eggs! I am a huge fan of them.
7 mydogischelsea // Jan 14, 2010 at 5:14 pm
Boo-
Yes, of course, not everyone’s bodies can tolerate milk, and for those people, other options are better. And some people simply prefer the taste of skim milk to whole. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that. Everyone’s systems handle things differently. Only you know what’s best for your body.
8 sara // Jan 15, 2010 at 7:08 am
as far as the whole vs skim issue you should check out real food by nina planck. http://www.ninaplanck.com/
She talks a lot about how fats don’t actually make us fat, and (as you mentioned) our bodies are better equipped to handle them as whole foods than these “low-fat” products. this goes for all animal products. also worth noting that lactose intolerant people can usually handle eating yogurt, since the lactose gets broken down by the cultures.
9 michael5000 // Jan 22, 2010 at 6:40 pm
This is the awesomest food post I’ve ever read. Also the carefulest. And the politest.
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