LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
CAMP Fitness |
by Rick Moore |
Dave's parents did us a great favor by coming down from the Buffalo area to watch the old ball-and-chain for a couple of days while we took our Easter break. It was great to get away to Manhattan. We stayed in Times Square and it now seems to be the hub of New York's nightlife, even more than before. All these lights and crowds give it a very festive atmosphere. We took in the auto show and made our trek to Ground Zero. And all that walking around made us hungry. A stop at a restaurant was my inspiration this week. The couple sitting behind us was asked what they wanted to drink. The gentleman said "Milk, and make sure it's 2%." He went on to say he doesn't drink anything else, because it only has 2% fat. Right? Well, actually he's totally wrong. And many of us consumers don't know it either. Although I do enjoy those funny milk commercials with the skinny cows walking the runways and those chocolate cows with their chocolate milk, maybe the milk industry could educate the public better as to the actual fat content in their products. I'm surprised that Martha Stewart, who's done one of these milk moustache ads, hasn't thought it to be her civic duty to give us the breakdown on all the different milk products available. After all, poor people drink milk, too. The milk industry has been battling the beverages (i.e., soda, juice, even water) for more market share. They lost share of the market to soft drinks because people thought of milk as a juvenile drink. It was pass to drink milk. So the milk industry had to re-think their approach, and this resulted in the new milk marketing campaigns we see. We have whole milk, 2%, 1%, skim, chocolate, orange, strawberry, coffee flavored, you name it, the list of variations is endless. And I'm all for it. We drink too many soft drinks that have no nutritional value, but loads and loads of calories. At least milk has good nutrition. But can milk make you fat? Well, it depends on the type of milk and how much you drink. Whole milk can make you fat, for sure. You should avoid whole milk, and even 2% milk. Yes, even 2%, especially if you are dieting. Here's why. Both are high in butterfat, and most of that is saturated fat. And there's a huge amount of sugar calories in the form of lactose. Although homogenized whole milk is only 3.25% fat by wet weight, fat makes up a huge 30% of its dry weight (if you removed all the water, as in powdered milk). And believe it or not, the fat in whole milk accounts for 49% of its total calories. Whew! So our restaurant customer who insisted on that 2% "milk for health," well, he's in for a shock. That 2% milk isn't much better than whole milk. 2% milk gets 35% of its calories from fat, and 38% of the remaining calories come from sugars. Many people have been lead to believe that 98% of the fat has been removed from this milk to equal the 2% claimed on the label, but that's just not the case. Am I beating up on milk? Well, no. I love drinking milkskim, that is. What I'm trying to do is educate the consumer, because sometimes we may be misinformed. Milk is actually a nutritious source of protein and calcium. We should actually get 1,200 mg of calcium per day. Did you know that when your calcium gets low, you can suffer the fattening effects of a calcium-scavenging hormone that is released in your body? Some 25 million Americans a year, mostly women, come down with osteoporosiscommonly known as brittle bones. The reason is that most Americans drink only one cup of milk a day, if that. You're supposed to drink at least 2 cups of milk daily. Doing this will prevent diseases in the future like osteoporosis, and the addition of Vitamin D is essential for good skin, teeth, and bones. Oh, but hold on there. What if you're lactose intolerant? That means your body lacks an enzyme needed to digest milk. Two-thirds of the world's adults have this problem. It's very prevalent in African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asians. Lactose intolerance can cause cramps, gas, bloating, and even the big Ddiarrhea. But the milk industry now sells lactose-free brands. And there are also lactase enzyme tablets to take for digesting milk, yogurt, and even cheese. Or, if you want, you can get your calcium for stronger bones and teeth through supplementation. I suppose I should mention that there's a school of thought that says that any form of cow's milk is bad for human consumption. There are books out there with titles like, "Don't Drink Your Milk," and "Milk: The Deadly Poison." The authors often claim that antibiotics and bovine growth hormone given to cows is secreted in their milk, and this causes human diseases. Another line of argument is that the cows are mistreated. Of course, the dairy industry and the government deny these issues, and point to a lot of studies backing them up. Some people claim that there's nothing wrong with milk itself, but all the processing and pasteurization it goes through in modern America turns it into something hazardous, and you should be drinking "raw" milk instead. I guess these people never learned why Louis Pasteur invented his famous technique in the first place. It takes a "raw foods" scare every few years to wake people up to the fact that pasteurization isn't optional. Just ask the Odwalla juice company, when their "raw" apple juice spread e. coli and resulted in a child's death in 1996. They immediately switched to pasteurization. So here's to raising a tall, cool glass of milkmake mine skim. Yeah, I know people think it looks like chalky water but hey, at least mine's guilt free and fat free.Rick Moore is a personal trainer certified by the American Fitness Professionals & Associates. Visit his club, Rick's Fitness & Health, in Milton, Delaware or www.ricksfitness.net, or call 302-684-3669. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 12, No. 03, April 5, 2002 |