Whole or reduced fat milk for your toddler? - Page 3

[SaoirseC]

Originally Posted by laohaire

When you remove the fat, you leave basically the sugar left over. I don't think high amounts of sugar, especially not tempered by fats, is good for kids - especially given that these days, kids are getting more than enough sugar anyway.

Not really true. First, the sugar is lactose (same sugar as in breast milk), and second, there's still a lot of protein in there. Personally, I can't stand lower fat milk (even the standardized whole milk sold in stores tastes weak- we drink local, raw), but I just had to point that out.

[JaneS]

Originally Posted by lyra1977

I would imagine that this is in response to the childhood obesity epidemic and IF my DD were gorging on McD fries and nuggets and ice cream and candy and cookies then she probably could use a reduction in saturated fat!

Actually these sources are high in omega 6 and polyunsaturated vegetable fats, acrylamides from high heat processing, refined flour and sugar and that is why they are unhealthy.

Saturated fats and cholesterol have nourished human bodies and brains for thousands of years, with no heart disease or other ill effects, until modern times. Saturated fat intake in America has actually gone down quite a bit as heart disease and obesity has gone up. Factory made vegetable oils and sugar/processed food consumption have way gone up. Saturated fat is not the cause.

In fact, it was cholesterol and omega 3 fats that allowed our human brains to grow larger than other animals. The brain is made up of mostly fat and mostly cholesterol. It is not built on vegetable fats which are high in omega 6 inflammatory fat and low in omega 3 fats (corn, cottonseed, canola, soy, sunflower, safflower). Olive and palm oil are neutral omega 6/3 and are okay but again, not as nourishing as animal fats to the human animal which needs cholesterol for brain development and hormone production.

We use tallow, lard, butter, ghee and coconut oil, and lots of pastured egg yolks and wild seafood esp. shellfish for cholesterol and high fat soluble vitamins you can only get in animal fat.

Whatever problems whole milk has, the main key is really getting animal cholesterol into your child to build their animal origin bodies. There are traditional cultures (such as the Masai) that drank gallons of full fat milk per day with radiant health, and there are cultures that ate no dairy but got high fats in their diet from fish, eggs or organ meats and other animal fat.

See the "WAPF fed" link in my sig. for more info.

[cmapperson]

Clearly the minority here...

But I'm switching my son (turned 2 in March) from whole to 1 or 2% in the next couple weeks. A personal choice, we are happy with it, and just wanted to voice in case anyone else is feeling alone in my boat...

CMA

[Ldavis24]

Originally Posted by karika

If a person were to want milk in their diet, I agree that free range, grass fed, raw milk taken from cows that are allowed to keep their calves with them and the farmer only takes after they feed is what cow's milk should be. I also believe that it is not a necessary part of a human diet. Milk is secreted to feed young in a mammal. Nowhere else in nature do you see a mammal drinking the fluid of another mammal that is specifically engineered for each species. You do not see a giraffe hunting down a boar to milk it for its young.

Just because it isn't necessary doesn't mean it is a bad thing. Some people enjoy drinking milk, it is what it is. I get frustrated with this argument, one I have heard from a couple of raw-foodie vegan friends because frankly it sounds a bit preachy to me. We know that it is not truly necessary, that isn't what she asked. Lots of things aren't necessary but they can be good for us and sometimes just taste good (I'm thinking chocolate and more chocolate).

If you are getting your milk from responsible farmers who aren't ripping the calves away from mother's to get all the milk for their own production what is the problem? Raw grass fed milk has some really great nutrients etc in it!
That said, OP I'm another vote for whole milk for everyone in the family. It is better for cooking too!

[fyrwmn]

whole milk for the entire family here. dd's dr recommended that we switch her to 2% when she turned 2, of course that was in the same breath as lecturing us on how she didn't weigh enough.

[Skippy918]

I've been giving DS whole, organic milk for the last several months. Today, at the farmer's market, I bought the low temp pasterized, non-homogenized milk to give that a try for him since after reading on these forums, it's supposed to be better for you. It's $$$ though, so I don't know how often I'll buy it.

For those that don't give milk, how do your LOs get their calcium?

[swd12422]

Originally Posted by Skippy918

...

For those that don't give milk, how do your LOs get their calcium?

I was just wondering the same thing... I'm in the whole milk category, but my son is TINY so I just feel like every calorie and fat gram helps. But I also sometimes wonder if milk is really the best thing for him -- other than the calcium, I'm sure he could get all the fat, etc. from other sources.

[JMJ]

The fat is important for the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins A and D. I don't see any reason to take a perfectly nourishing food and replacing it with something less nourishing. Milk fat is not responsible for our obesity epidemic. In fact, it's not fat at all. Sugar messes with our ability to tell if we are hungry. When we eat sugar and raise our blood sugar too high, insulin kicks in to protect us from high blood sugar and stores the sugar as fat. Our blood sugar decreases, and we get hungry again. Fat protects us against this by keeping our blood sugar steady so that our hunger relies on what we need rather than compensating for high and low blood sugar. There are other things in play as well, such as the addictiveness of sugar, raising triglycerides, interfering with leptin, etc. Don't try to reduce your kids' access to good fats because you're afraid of them getting fat. Instead, watch their sugar and processed food intake. If you like statistics, read "Good Calories, Bad Calories."

You can get calcium from other ways. I don't know of something that you're likely to eat that is going to be your only source of calcium like milk could be, but bone broth, collard greens, broccoli, most green veggies, salmon, eggs, etc, all have a reasonable amount of calcium that can add up to what you need.

[olien]

Originally Posted by JaneS

Saturated fats and cholesterol have nourished human bodies and brains for thousands of years, with no heart disease or other ill effects, until modern times. Saturated fat intake in America has actually gone down quite a bit as heart disease and obesity has gone up. Factory made vegetable oils and sugar/processed food consumption have way gone up. Saturated fat is not the cause.

In fact, it was cholesterol and omega 3 fats that allowed our human brains to grow larger than other animals. The brain is made up of mostly fat and mostly cholesterol. It is not built on vegetable fats which are high in omega 6 inflammatory fat and low in omega 3 fats (corn, cottonseed, canola, soy, sunflower, safflower). Olive and palm oil are neutral omega 6/3 and are okay but again, not as nourishing as animal fats to the human animal which needs cholesterol for brain development and hormone production.

We use tallow, lard, butter, ghee and coconut oil, and lots of pastured egg yolks and wild seafood esp. shellfish for cholesterol and high fat soluble vitamins you can only get in animal fat.

See the "WAPF fed" link in my sig. for more info.

The link doesnt work. Is this info available right on WAP site somewhere??

[Abraisme]

Originally Posted by karika

We don't use any form of dairy in our home. DD2 will get breastmilk until she no longer requires any form of milk (at the age of 3-5), like any other mammal. I use homemade almond milk and hempmilk for smoothies and in baking. Cow's milk is actually quite damaging to the human body, though I wouldn't expect a ped to know that or tell anyone. I already knew I felt this way, but this site gives some good facts. http://www.milksucks.com/index2.asp

I totally agree with this. Cow's milk is for baby cows and human milk is for baby humans. My older child never had anything but breastmilk until he was 3. With my DD I plan on giving her small amounts of raw goat milk (we just got dairy goats) when she's a little older, but more for taste than nutrition.

Oh, and to answer your question.. Always WHOLE MILK. The natural state of things is nearly always better than when we mess with it. There's a reason that it's full of fat. Your body needs the fat to metabolize everything else. Nature works in harmony, I always try to stick with that rule.

[gabsev]

We follow the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation. We used whole milk (organic) until 2, then we switched to 2% (organic) for about 6 months. She's currently in 1%, and my plan is to eventually switch to skim.