The Skinny on Milk

Do you ever wonder, how much of a difference does it really make when deciding what kind of milk to buy?

Every time I go to the store, it's an internal battle. I can never decide what kind of milk I should buy. Let's see, I like the taste of 2% milk, but skim milk is usually cheaper and a lot healthier. I usually compromise with myself and quickly grab a gallon of 1% milk then sprint away before I change my mind. So, for my first real post I decided to do a little analysis to see how much of a difference does it really make over what kind of milk I buy.

When shopping at Albertson's yesterday, I collected this information on milk:

I did a little bit of research and found that the average American drank 23 gallons of milk in 2001. This came from a study done by the USDA, which is clearly a credible source. Let's assume that number still holds true today.

I'm going to assume I am an average American. For two people, I usually buy about a gallon of milk every 7-9 days. This  comes out to about 23 gallons of milk consumed for one person in a year in my house.  So, I took the data I collected at the store and based it on one year's consumption of milk. I was able to determine that by drinking the same amount of skim milk, instead of the 1% milk I have been purchasing, I would lose 2.45 pounds over the course of a year (assuming I change NOTHING else in my daily life). Consequently, if I decided to go for 2% milk, I could expect to gain 2.91 pounds if I did nothing to compensate for the extra calories. And, over a 5 year period of time...that's 14.55 pounds extra pounds just from 2% milk! Based on the numbers I ran below, you better be careful about your milk or your milk might make you MOO!

	Calories per Serving	Calories per Gallon	Avg Gallons Consumed per Year	Calories per Year From Milk	Difference Compared to Skim Milk	Calories in One Pound of Body Fat	Pounds Gain Per Year from NOT Drinking Skim Milk
Skim	90	1,440	23	33,120	-	3,000	0.00
1%	110	1,760	23	40,480	7,360	3,000	2.45
2%	130	2,080	23	47,840	14,720	3,000	4.91
Whole	160	2,560	23	58,880	25,760	3,000	8.59

I understand that calories isnt the only thing I should be looking at when glancing at the nutrition label. But, across the board, all types of milk had the same amount of protien, calcium, and vitamins. Litterally, the only differences on the nutrition labels were fat content and calories. I read an article stating that only toddlers benefit from the additional fat content in milk because it helps with brain development. For the rest of us, its just extra calories and comes down to taste preferences.

Looking at the pricing data, I wouldn't really save anything buying skim milk. I also compared nutrition data across different brands of milk and found no differences. Essentially, milk is alot like buying gasoline. The prices differ from one company to another, but at the end of the day milk is milk. Therefore, I would save $9.20 per year if I always bought the cheapest milk (remember, I'm buying for two people). Now, if I had a house full of 4-5 people that savings adds up to $18.40 to $23.00 per year!

	Darigold	Albertson's Store Brand	Shopper's Value
Skim	$3.79	$2.89	$2.69
1%	$3.79	$2.89	$2.69
2%	$3.79	$2.89	$2.69
Whole	$3.99	$3.09	$2.89

So, is all this information enough to change my mind about the type of milk I buy? I don't really need to lose weight and I run alot, so I think I'll stick with my 1% milk for now ;) If I ever quit running, I'll probably consider switching to skim.  For all you out there drinking 2% milk and looking to loosen the belt, this might be an easy way to help drop those numbers on the bathroom scale!

In conclusion, if you dont mind the taste, buy the cheapest skim milk. It will help you reach both your physical and financial fitness goals without asking you to make too much of a sacrifice. Otherwise, I can now say with confidence that 1% milk is definately worth the compromise.

Resources:
http://life.familyeducation.com/teen/fitness/42269.html
http://www.ers.usda.gov/amberwaves/june03/pdf/awjune2003datafeature.pdf