I'm Sorry, Did She Just Ask For Whole Milk?

My clients, friends and colleagues are ALWAYS surprised when I order a cappuccino or latte with whole milk. When I pour half & half instead of nonfat into my coffee cup. When I buy full fat yogurt at the store, full fat ice cream, or full fat anything dairy.

In truth, I try not to consume too much dairy altogether. That is a WHOLE other issue itself. But if I do dairy, I do it FULL FAT.

Why? Don't I want to reduce my caloric intake? I mean, I'm a Health Counselor in Nutrition for pete's sake. I should definitely know better.

Actually, this is something that makes me a different from a dietician or a nutritionist. Both of them dwell of calorie counting. How many fats + how many proteins - how few carbohydrates = me being skinny. Precisely. Or so you think?

In truth, that is not so much the case. As Americans we are the largest consuming country of sugar in the world. It is estimated that we consume approximately 70 grams of sugar a day. As comparable to the 15 - 25 grams we should be averaging.

I could get into soda, alcohol, granola bars, Cliff bars, protein shakes, trail mixes, pasta sauces, ketchup, etc. right now but I won't. I'll stick to the dairy.

Next time you are in the dairy section of your local grocery store check out the food label on the back. Most of the time, at least for me before I learned all about healthy nutrition, I would look at how many calories and how many grams of fat the product contained. If those two passed, the product went into the basket.

It wasn't until my awareness was brought to the SUGAR content. I figured I was saving myself some serious inches off my waist by buying the nonfat milk, yogurt (Yoplait for sure is a trickster with the "only 90 calories" advertisement). Ya, 90 calories of SUGAR.

But why is sugar so bad? It tastes SO delicious. Well, if you'd like I am happy to discuss this with you further in the future. I'll even come over to your house, you can invite ALL your friends over and I will gladly volunteer my time explaining the ins and outs of why we crave sugar, how to overcome your sugar addiction and answer any questions.

For now, I will tell you that in the end, it will "do your body MORE good" (let alone your immune system - it is no wonder we are the sickest, most overweight and unhealthy country in the world) to consume the natural WHOLE fat in those dairy products than the lowfat, nonfat, reduced fat but MUCH more added sugar ones. Trust me on this. I know it is hard to wrap your head around but your body will thank you.

You'll come to realize you won't want, need or crave as much of whatever dairy product you are consuming the most often.

If that is ice cream, the richness of the fat will leave you more satisfied than the SUGAR packed nonfat brand that leaves you running back to the freezer for more. Over and over and over again.

Thick cream in my coffee (when I drink it, that is) is WAY more satisfying than the nonfat artificially flavored creamer.

Fatty Greek yogurt is so much richer than the artificially flavored but tons of sugar added Yoplait yogurt.

In closing, ALWAYS READ THE LABELS. Look for: how many grams of sugar the product contains. Then check the ingredients. If sugar is the main or first ingredient, you should probably put it back. If you can't pronounce the ingredients or don't know what it is, then you probably shouldn't be putting it in your body.

EXCEPT if you are reading the natural live cultures in yogurt that are the "good bacteria". These may be some listed: s thermophilus l bulgaricus l'acidophilus and bifidus and they are, like I said, the GOOD BACTERIA in yogurts and kefirs.

When all is said and done, the more natural the product, the fewer the grams of sugar and the less the modification, the better for your body.