Not all milks equal: check for CALCIUM for StRoNg BoNeS!.. and.. Beware Saturated Fat!

In our last nutrition class, we learned about dairy.
Dairy refers to milk and anything made from milk, like cheese, yogurt, and butter.

Where does milk come from?
We learned that milk comes from animals called mammals. Mammals produce [make] milk for their babies. Examples of mammals include cows [moo], sheep, goat, dogs, pigs, whales...


and... don't forget, [human] mommies make milk for their babies too!

We [humans] are the only animals to eat/drink the milk of other animals. Kind of strange, huh?. Animals, like cows [whose milk we eat/drink the most of], don't make milk for us but for their baby cows, aka. calves.

Some people don't like animal milk. For some it may be the taste, for others it may upset their stomach.

So instead of drinking animal's milk, a lot of people drink 'alternative milk', like soy milk. It's not really milk because it doesn't come from an animal but it's very similar to milk.

The one drawback of non-animal milk made from soy, rice, and nuts is that these milks don't naturally have calcium in them. We learned that calcium is found in animal's milk and is super important in building strong bones.


When I was young, I didn't drink 'regular' [cow's] milk because it upset my stomach-- a lot of Asians, African and Native Americans, in particular, have this 'problem', aka. lactose intolerance. So instead, I drank soy milk...


I know a lot of students at TALES drink 'wah ta nai', a particular brand of soymilk by Vitasoy and the one you see me drinking above. I don't drink it anymore, but when I did, I remember this particular soy milk did NOT have calcium added to it-- not all 'alternative' milks do. It's important to remember that when you choose a soy milk, it should be FORTIFIED with CALCIUM and not have too much added sugar. A little bit of sugar is ok [~6-7 g] and actually sort of necessary for it to taste somewhat good but too much, well, is too much..

So, does your milk have enough calcium?.
Check on the Nutrition Facts Label. It should look something like this: Calcium 30%.

Can you find 'Calcium' on these labels for nonfat [Label A] and 2% [Label B] milk?

We also started to learn about Saturated Fat-- the 'bad' fat that's not good for our hearts. Animal milk and products can be high in saturated fat-- not good-- like cheese and butter. That's why it's important not to eat too much of these foods.

Look at the labels again. Can you find how much 'Saturated Fat' is in nonfat versus 2% milk?. Which milk should YOU be drinking?.

Let me know in the Comments section at the bottom of this post!