Does drinking milk cause weight gain?
According to the Nutrients Journal, most children and about half of adults in the United States drink milk regularly, making it an important health food in this country. Drinking too much milk can increase your calorie intake, leading to weight gain.
If you love delicious glasses of milk but don't want to gain weight, you can cut calories by switching from whole milk to skim milk.
For each type of milk, the number of calories in a cup of milk is also different. Below is a breakdown of calories for each type of milk according to the Healthshots page:
- Whole milk: 146 calories
- Reduced fat milk: 122 calories
- Low-fat milk: 102 calories
- Skim milk: 86 calories
However, a report published in the Journal of Nutrition Advances found that consuming whole milk products is not linked to weight gain. Instead, regular milk consumption may help increase muscle mass and reduce body fat.
Is drinking milk good for your health?
Milk provides protein, calcium, and vitamin D. Calcium is essential for building and maintaining strong bones, and vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium from food. Therefore, milk is a food that helps improve bone density and reduce the risk of fractures in the elderly.
However, food is not the only source of calcium in the diet. Foods rich in calcium include kale, green leafy vegetables, beans, calcium supplements. In addition to calcium, 8 ml of whole milk contains 8 grams of fat, 11 grams of carbs, 55% of the daily value of vitamin B12, providing a large amount of vitamin A, selenium, magnesium.
Milk provides vitamins A and D, which help reduce the risk of certain diseases. A study published in the Journal of Food and Nutrition Research found that regular milk consumption is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease and certain cancers, such as colon, breast, bladder, and stomach cancer. Milk and other dairy products may also reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.
However, another study published in the Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism found that only low-fat milk, yogurt, and cheese were effective in protecting the body against type 2 diabetes.
