Milk Myths

Don't be fooled by what you hear about milk.  According to Samantha B. Cassetty, M.S., R.D., GHRI Nutrition Director, the latest legends about milk are as followed:

1. Whole milk has more calcium than fat-free.  Actually, the opposite is true.  A cup of whole milk has slightly less (276 mg) than fat-free (299 mg). But what you'll see on the carton label for either type is that a cup delivers 30 percent of your Daily Value for calcium, which is based on a rounded-off figure of 300 mg.

2. Raw milk is better for you than pasteurized. Devotees credit raw milk with curing eczema, IBS, and many other ills. But science is lacking, and unless you want to risk food poisoning, the FDA says, buy milk that has undergone pasteurization, which kills harmful bacteria while leaving nutrients intact.

3. Regular milk has the most vitamin D. Nope. The FDA limits the amount of D that can be added to cow's milk to 100 IU per cup, so it provides less of your Daily Value (25 percent) than soy milk (30 percent), which doesn't fall under the same regulations.  But both are still excellent sources of the vitamin.

4. Almond milk is a good substitute for cow's milk. Not when it comes to protein. A cup of milk has 8 grams. More protein than a large hard-boiled egg, while almond milk has just 1 gram of this hunger-buster.  Nuts are high in protein, but the first ingredient in almond milk is filtered water, not almonds.