Which one is more likely to cause obesity? Low-fat or full-fat dairy products? Nutritionist Lin Shihang: This is the key to avoiding obesity

The National Health Administration's latest 2018 daily dietary guidelines changed the six major food categories in 2011 from "whole grains and root vegetables" to "whole grains and cereals", "beans, fish, meat, and eggs" to "beans, fish, eggs, and meat", and "low-fat dairy products" to "dairy products". But what are the nutritional differences between full-fat dairy products and low-fat dairy products? What impact does it have on human health? Let nutritionist Lin Shihang explain the common myths about dairy products among the public!

Q1/Is whole milk more nutritious than low-fat milk? After fresh milk is skimmed, will the nutrients be lost significantly?

Nutritionist Lin Shihang said that before discussing whether nutrients are lost after skimming the common fresh milk, it is helpful to first understand how "whole milk", "low-fat milk" and "skim milk" are defined, and what the differences in fat content are among them. In fact, according to the definition of the National Standard of the Republic of China (CNS 3056), the milk fat content of "whole milk", "low-fat milk" and "skim milk" are:

【Whole-fat fresh milk】: Milk fat content is 3.0% or more but less than 3.8%.

【Low-fat fresh milk】: Milk fat content is above 0.5% and below 1.5%.

【Skimmed milk】: Milk fat content <0.5%.

Therefore, even skimmed milk still contains a very small amount of milk fat and is not completely fat-free. Nutritionist Lin Shihang also emphasized that although the content of fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamins A, D, E, and K, in skimmed milk will indeed decrease. But it is worth noting that fresh milk is not the best source of these vitamins for the human body. The vitamins that will be lost can also be supplemented through a balanced diet and the intake of whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

In addition, the main purpose of most people drinking fresh milk is to strengthen calcium supplementation. Skimming does not take away the calcium ions in fresh milk. Therefore, for friends who want to supplement calcium by drinking fresh milk, whether drinking low-fat or full-fat dairy products, the same health benefits can be achieved.

Q2/Rumor on the Internet: Low-fat fresh milk is not real fresh milk, but is made by adding extra starch?

Ans: Nutritionist Lin Shihang explained that the key to controlling milk fat in fresh milk lies in standardized operating procedures. Because the fat content of milk varies with the season and the dairy farmer's feeding methods. Therefore, in order to ensure consistent milk fat content in fresh milk leaving the factory. During the fresh milk processing process, manufacturers will use centrifugation to separate the lighter milk fat to make skimmed milk with a lower milk fat content.

Then, the milk fat is added back to meet the standard value according to the needs of producing skim, low-fat, or full-fat products. Therefore, there is naturally no possibility that low-fat fresh milk is made up of starch!

In order to ensure consistent milk fat content in fresh milk leaving the factory. During the fresh milk processing process, manufacturers will use centrifugation to separate the lighter milk fat to make skimmed milk with a lower milk fat content.

Q3/Can drinking whole milk reduce the risk of diabetes compared to drinking low-fat milk?

Ans: According to a study published in the medical journal Circulation in 2016, researchers tracked the health data of 3,333 adults for 15 years and found that those who had substances in their bodies that were only produced by drinking whole milk or eating whole-fat dairy products had a 46% lower risk of developing diabetes than others.

However, does this study really mean that people who drink whole milk are more likely to reduce their risk of diabetes than those who drink low-fat milk? Nutritionist Lin Shihang pointed out that since we only know from the discussion provided by the scholars in this article that some fat-soluble nutrients in whole milk, such as short-chain fatty acids, specific fatty acids, vitamin D and Ganglioside (ganglioside), which are slightly beneficial to the human body, may be lost due to the removal of fat during the processing.

And because the study only observed more than 3,000 people, it was unable to clearly point out that drinking low-fat milk could not supplement the above nutrients, nor could it clearly point out that there was a significant causal relationship. Therefore, it is recommended that people should maintain a reserved attitude towards diabetes prevention.

Q4/Does drinking whole milk help reduce the risk of obesity more than drinking low-fat milk?

Ans: In this regard, nutritionist Lin Shihang pointed out that after analyzing the statement made by Professor Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health in 2014, which explored the relationship between full-fat dairy products and reduced obesity risk. The following key points can be summarized briefly:

First, the reason why the study has such results is that the key lies in the increase in the overall intake of dairy products; and full-fat dairy products help to enhance this effect! The possible reason is that full-fat dairy products have a better taste, which helps increase people's willingness to consume dairy products, thereby increasing the overall dairy product intake and thus reducing the risk of obesity.

However, it is worth noting that even so, the public should not over-interpret this document. Because the literature does not emphasize low-fat or whole-fat milk, but focuses on low-fat dairy products (low-fat lactic acid beverages, low-fat flavored milk, low-fat yogurt, etc.), which often have additional sugar added for flavoring compared to full-fat products. This indirectly causes people to consume large amounts of sugar without realizing it, which in turn increases the calorie problem.

Therefore, for this type of research, we can only say that if we want to avoid obesity, it is better to discuss the difference between low-fat and full-fat dairy products. It would be better for people to learn how to read food labels and try to choose dairy products without added sugar; or products with lower sugar content, which can help reduce calorie intake and prevent obesity.

Instead of discussing the difference between dairy products being low-fat and full-fat. It would be better for people to learn how to read food labels and try to choose dairy products without added sugar; or products with lower sugar content, which can help reduce calorie intake and prevent obesity.

When supplementing with dairy products, is it better to have full fat or low fat? Nutritionist tells you!

Finally, nutritionist Lin Shihang also emphasized that when discussing dairy product supplements, it is important to consider whether full-fat or low-fat is better. People may wish to think about what is the main purpose of the daily dietary recommendation of moderate intake of dairy products? In fact, the reason why the nutrition community emphasizes the importance of consuming fresh milk and dairy products is that the key is to strengthen calcium supplementation.

In particular, according to the National Nutrition and Health Survey conducted by the National Health Administration from 2005 to 2008, the calcium intake rate of adults is over 80%, and the calcium intake of male and female students in elementary, junior high and high schools is nearly 100% below the recommended amount. From this we can see that the problem of insufficient calcium intake among Chinese people is very serious.

Therefore, compared to discussing whether to choose full-fat or low-fat dairy products, nutritionist Lin Shihang emphasized that getting people into the habit of consuming enough dairy products every day is the only way to ensure adequate calcium supplementation! This is believed to be one of the main reasons why the National Health and Family Planning Administration is considering changing the "low-fat dairy products" item in the daily dietary guidelines to "dairy products" in the "Draft Revision of the National Nutrition Standards."