Milk: The Great Debate

I love milk. It’s creamy and filling and just makes me feel all warm and gushy inside. That said, I can’t remember a time when there wasn’t a debate over which milk to buy.

Growing up we always had to buy 2 types of milk. My mom would only drink whole milk—it’s what she grew up on, who could blame her? My sister agreed with my mom, but my dad and I didn’t want the added calories so we went with 2%. Two gallons of milk in the fridge takes up a lot of room, but when no one will budge, what can you do?

I’m having the same dilemma now. My boyfriend and I have been swaying between whole milk and 2% and organic vs non-organic for months now. We’ve tried them all and now we’re just really unsure of where we land on the whole (no pun intended) subject. It’s a much harder decision than you’d think.

Do we go with what tastes best? (Whole Organic Milk). What tastes good but is cheap? (Whole Non-Organic Milk). Or what’s best for our waist line? (2%). Sigh.

The deets: Whole milk has 8 grams of fat and 150 calories per cup, 2% has 5 grams of fat and 130 calories. Organic is awesome and tastes so much better, but it’s $6 per gallon versus $3ish for non-organic.

So I did some research and turns out everyone else is as confused as I am. The best article on the subject is probably this one that basically says, that there are good and bad qualities to all variations of milk and that any study you find on the subject will have another study that says the opposite. UGH! So now what? I have to decide? There isn’t an article that will tell me what to do?? NOOOOOOO!

It’s ok. (breathe) I’m fine.

Ok, this week we’ll go with non-organic because this article says the advantages of organic milk are not worth the price you pay and they may not even be that beneficial after all (plus it’s REALLY hard for me to spend $6 for a gallon of milk when I can spend $3 for essentially the same thing).

Basically, what I’m finding out is that there isn’t enough research to really know what to choose. Some articles say that if you drink lower-fat milk you don’t’ absorb the nutrients promised to you and other say that’s complete bull-hockey (yup.).

I guess, bottom line, if you like whole milk and don’t mind the added calories (it’s only 20 calories more) then go with that—do an extra 2 minutes on the elliptical. If you like the idea of organic, go with that—even though it may not really mean much. Buy locally if you can—that will always be your best option, but just get what you like.

Feeling unsatisfied with that answer? Me too, kinda. Anyone wanna go in on buying a cow? You'll have to do the milking, of course.

P.S. There was no mention of 1% or non-fat milk in this post because I simply do not accept these as forms of milk. If you drink this clear-bluish substance, be my guest, but I won’t even let it near my coffee.

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