Does skim milk contain more sugar than full-fat milk? Discover the facts about the natural sugars in dairy milk and why you shouldn’t fear them.

The Myth About Sugar in Skim Milk

A common misconception is that skim milk contains more sugar than full-fat milk. This belief stems from the fact that when fat is removed from whole milk to create skim milk, the remaining components, including the natural sugars, become more concentrated. However, the truth is that the actual amount of sugar in skim milk and full-fat milk is nearly identical.

Understanding the Sugar in Milk

The sugar found in milk, both skim and full-fat, is called lactose. Lactose is a natural sugar that occurs in dairy products and is not the same as added or refined sugar. In fact, milk contains 12 grams of sugar per cup, regardless of the fat content.

The Nutritional Differences Between Skim and Full-Fat Milk

While the sugar content is similar, there are other notable differences between skim and full-fat milk. Skim milk has significantly less fat and fewer calories, making it a popular choice for those watching their weight or cholesterol levels. Full-fat milk, on the other hand, contains more of the fat-soluble vitamins A and D, which are important for overall health.

The Importance of Milk’s Nutrients

Milk, whether skim or full-fat, is a valuable source of essential nutrients like calcium, vitamin D, protein, and potassium. These nutrients play a crucial role in maintaining strong bones, supporting muscle function, and promoting overall health. The natural sugars in milk provide a source of energy, and the nutrients help the body effectively utilize that energy.

Addressing Lactose Intolerance

For individuals with lactose intolerance, the natural sugar in milk can be problematic. However, this does not mean that milk should be avoided entirely. Many people with lactose intolerance can still consume small amounts of milk, especially when paired with other foods, without experiencing discomfort. Lactose-free milk is also an option for those who struggle with lactose intolerance.

The Bottom Line

The natural sugars in milk, whether skim or full-fat, are not something to be feared. Instead, focus on the overall nutritional value of milk and its role in a balanced diet. When it comes to choosing between skim and full-fat milk, consider your individual health goals and preferences, but don’t let the sugar content be the sole deciding factor.

Why Does Skim Milk Sometimes Taste Sweeter?

Skim milk can sometimes taste slightly sweeter than full-fat milk due to the concentration of the natural lactose. When the fat is removed, the remaining components, including the lactose, become more prominent in the flavor profile. However, this doesn’t mean that skim milk contains added sugar; the sweetness is simply a result of the natural lactose being more pronounced.

Can Lactose Intolerance Be Managed?

Yes, individuals with lactose intolerance can often manage their condition by consuming milk in moderation, especially when paired with other foods. Spreading out milk consumption throughout the day, rather than consuming it all at once, can also help mitigate digestive discomfort. Additionally, lactose-free milk options are available for those who struggle with lactose intolerance.

Is the Sugar in Milk the Same as Added Sugar?

No, the sugar found in milk, known as lactose, is not the same as added or refined sugar. Lactose is a naturally occurring sugar that provides energy and is accompanied by a range of essential nutrients. In contrast, added sugars are refined and provide calories without the same nutritional benefits.

How Do the Nutrient Profiles of Skim and Full-Fat Milk Compare?

While the sugar content is similar, skim milk and full-fat milk do have some notable differences in their nutrient profiles. Skim milk is lower in calories and fat, making it a popular choice for those watching their weight or cholesterol levels. Full-fat milk, on the other hand, contains more of the fat-soluble vitamins A and D, which are essential for overall health.

Does the Sugar in Milk Pose a Health Risk?

No, the natural sugars found in milk are not a health risk for most people. Milk is a nutrient-dense food that provides a range of essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium, vitamin D, and protein. The natural sugars in milk provide a source of energy that the body can effectively utilize, especially when consumed as part of a balanced diet.

How Can I Ensure I’m Getting Enough Nutrients from Milk?

To ensure you’re getting the most out of your milk consumption, focus on choosing high-quality dairy products that are minimally processed. Whether you opt for skim, low-fat, or full-fat milk, be mindful of your overall dietary intake and ensure you’re consuming a variety of nutrient-rich foods to support your health and wellness.

Does skim milk have more sugar than full-fat milk?

Written by
on Wednesday, 07 September 2016.

Tagged: carbohydrates, carbs, health, healthy eating, healthy lifestyle, low fat, milk, nutrition, sugar

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A friend told me that she’s stopped drinking skim milk because it has “added sugar”. She’s gone back to the full-cream milk she once drank as a kid growing up. My first thought was “Whoa! Fresh plain milk doesn’t contain any added sugar unless you’re drinking flavoured milk like chocolate milk or strawberry milk.”

A Foodwatch investigation

Maybe my friend was mixing up the natural sugar of milk, known as lactose, with added sugar, known as sucrose?

Lactose is a disaccharide (double-sugar) but is analysed under the blanket term “sugars” on the food label. So is ordinary sugar. What’s more, all sugars ARE in fact carbohydrates.

I decided to investigate. I compared two milks from the same company – one a skim milk at almost no fat and one a regular full-fat milk at 3. 4 per cent fat. Here’s what I found.

Comparison of milks – full-fat vs skim

Source: Dairy Farmers website

What the table shows

Row 2 for Energy: Skim milk has had almost all its fat skimmed off, so it has fewer kilojoules or Calories. Fat contributes the most kilojoules – double that of protein or lactose.  Its energy has dropped from 266 to only 147.

Row 7 for Sugars: When you remove the fat from whole milk, you concentrate what remains. So the sugars go from 4.8 to 4.9 per cent, plus the protein, sodium and calcium go up.

In other words, if you start with 100 mLs of full-fat milk, then remove the 5 per cent fat to create a fat-free skim milk, you end up with only 95 mLs of final skim milk. That 95 mLs turned into a percentage magnifies what was there. Take a look at my diagram in order to see this at a glance.

The yellow section is the Fat content which drops from 3.4 per cent to almost zero in skim milk. The dark blue (lactose) and red (protein) increase slightly. There is more pale blue (water) in skim milk.

Lactose and sweetness

• Skim milk sometimes tastes slightly sweeter, thanks to this higher content of natural lactose and because the fat isn’t there any more to round out the flavour. However, this doesn’t mean you’re consuming any added sugar (which is extracted and purified from cane sugar).
• This natural sugar is the problem in lactose intolerance, which is caused by an inability to digest the lactose in milk. Most people can tolerate small amounts of milk, say in tea or coffee and over cereal. But not a large milk shake on an empty stomach.
• Lactose is better managed if eaten with other foods (say milk in porridge) or spread out over the day, rather than being eaten in large amounts at once. In fact, people with lactose intolerance are better off drinking full-fat milk with its natural fat – which helps slow down the digestion of the milk.

The bottom line

Plain skim milk (or low-fat or light milk) doesn’t have any sugar added to it. Drink full-fat milk if you like the taste or seek a ‘less processed’ milk, but not because you take in LESS sugar – you don’t.

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The Sugar In Dairy Milk Is Nothing To Fear.

Here’s Why.

By Pro Basketball Player and Registered Dietitian
Briana Butler Yes, dairy milk contains natural sugar – but that’s really nothing to worry about. Though there’s a raft of misinformation floating around the web, I’m here to tell you that the sugar found in dairy milk is as natural as the very cows making the stuff. I’m not a sports dietitian for nothing – trust me!

Here are the facts

Milk contains 12 grams of sugar per cup – and that holds true whether we’re talking about whole milk, 2% milk, 1% milk or skim milk.

Still, that shouldn’t give you pause when you’re standing in the dairy aisle poring over the nutritional labels on milk cartons. As Everyday Health reports, “one of the unfortunate side effects of the widespread campaign against added sugar has been misplaced concern over the natural sugar found in milk.”

Sugar is energy

Real milk contains lactose, a sugar that occurs naturally and is responsible for that subtly sweet and delectable taste. But it’s important to note that real milk also has 13 essential nutrients, including vitamin D, potassium, zinc, and calcium. These nutrients are an important part of staying healthy and strong: they help you build muscle, strengthen bones, and maintain a healthy immune system.

Added vs. natural sugar

The key is that the lactose found in milk is not the same as added sugar, which adds sweetness without the nutrients. If you check out the label on cartons of soy, almond, rice or coconut milk, you’ll likely find that sugar, and in some cases several grams of sugar, has been added for taste.

The problem with added sugar? It adds calories to your day without adding any nutritional benefits. Translation? Over time, extra calories from sugar can lead to potential weight gain, increased triglycerides and can wreak havoc on your dental health, increasing the likelihood of cavities.

Milk sugar’s effect on blood sugar

While drinking large amounts of added sugar can lead to a blood sugar spike then crash, the same is NOT true with milk! In addition to the 12 grams of sugar in milk, it also contains eight grams of high-quality protein per cup. Protein takes longer to break down, which helps blunt a blood sugar spike.

What does this mean? It means milk’s natural combination of carbohydrates and protein makes it ideal for stabilizing blood sugar and ultimately stabilizing energy throughout the day. And not only that, studies have shown a link between drinking milk and a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. To learn more, read this article.

How sugar fuels activity

When it comes to exercise, sugar is your friend! Pre-workout, it provides a quick source of energy that your body can use to fuel activity. Including milk with a pre-workout meal or snack before exercise can help you maximize your glycogen (muscle fuel) stores. Think of it as filling up your gas tank before a long road trip: you want your glycogen stores to be full at the start of exercise and milk can help do that for you!

Post-workout, simple sugar, like lactose, digests quickly to replenish glycogen stores that were used during exercise. Adding milk to a post-workout smoothie is the perfect way to provide your body with the nutrients it needs to recover.

To sum it all up

Real milk in its simplest form does NOT contain added sugars. It has 12 grams of naturally occurring sugars that can easily be broken down to glycogen and provide your body with the energy it needs to fuel your activity. In my humble opinion, milk is the original sports drink and an essential addition to any athlete’s playbook! For more information on the sugar in milk, check out this article.

5 most dangerous products for losing weight. Fitness Trainer’s Blog / NV

Low-fat foods, milk, bread – these foods, in theory, should not contain sugar. But it is, and in considerable doses

“I eat right, go in for sports, but I’m not losing weight,” I have to hear these words in my practice almost every day. As a result, it turns out that the human diet includes foods with hidden sugar, which either seriously slow down or completely stop the process of losing weight.

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What are these foods and why do they make you gain weight?

Simple sugar is dangerous not only because it grows like yeast, but it also provokes the very “wolfish appetite”, which forces you to constantly overeat. Glucose is responsible for the feeling of hunger. When its level in the blood falls, the appetite increases, and, conversely, when it rises, the appetite decreases. Information about the level of glucose regularly enters the brain, where the satiety center is located. After eating sugar-containing foods, blood glucose levels rise sharply, and soon fall just as quickly. Because of this, there is an acute feeling of hunger, which is becoming increasingly difficult to satisfy.

I definitely want something very high-calorie – fast carbohydrates, that is, sugar. It causes another jump in glucose, after which there is a sharp drop in it. This process is endless. It turns out a vicious circle and a long-term addiction, which is very difficult for a person to cope with on their own. Of course, unreasonable zhor can occur for various reasons, but the main one is sugar spikes.

Scientists have proven that sugar consumption stimulates the same areas of the brain as opiates

Getting hooked on simple carbohydrates is easy. Scientists have proven that sugar consumption stimulates the same areas of the brain as opiates, causing a sharp sensation of pleasure that you want to experience as often as possible. Therefore, dependence on sweets is the most dangerous and strongest of all types of food addictions.

Of course, these mechanisms are well known to food manufacturers. They quietly put us on food that, in theory, should not contain sugar. But it is, and in large doses. This makes the product “delicious” and encourages us to buy it regularly.

There is a lot of sugar in sweets, ice cream, pastries, jams, honey, soda, yoghurts with sweet fillings, etc. This is obvious. Also, everyone knows that it is in store-bought packaged juices, muesli and various types of cereals. Where can you find hidden sugar?

1. Low-fat products

Source: interfax.by Photo:

The most common mistake of losing weight and the weak point of many programs recommended by experts in “traditional” nutrition is the use of low-fat products. European scientists and nutritionists have presented compelling evidence that low-fat foods, including yogurt, kefir and milk, are harmful not only to the figure, but also to health. To make their products taste good, manufacturers add huge amounts of sugar or, worse, inverted corn syrup, one of the main culprits in America’s obesity epidemic, to their formulas. The simple carbohydrates contained in such products – sugar and syrup – the body immediately stores in reserve in the form of fat. But a person who has drunk a bottle of low-fat yogurt or milk is sure that he has eaten almost nothing, therefore, with a clear conscience, he can also afford a sweet bun along with a “diet” drink.

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Studies have been conducted around the world, as a result of which it turned out that in healthy people who regularly drink skim milk, the chances of gaining excess weight are 57% higher than those who consume whole milk – due to the presence of sugary and harmful additives. Not only is skimmed milk high in sugar, but along with fat, vitamins A and D are also removed from it, providing satiety. That is, in fact, a person drinks sugar diluted in water. This not only does not saturate the body, but also provokes overeating or hunger. Hence the extra pounds.

2. Milk

Source: biomiks.com Photo:

At the same time, ordinary whole milk is also harmful to the figure – all dairy products contain sugar in the form of lactose. Moreover, regular full-fat milk contains both fat and sugar, and this is the most dangerous combination. This combination disrupts metabolism, and provokes the rapid formation of the most disgusting “lush” fat, which is very difficult to get rid of.

No matter how many disputes about the use of milk in principle, the truth is born empirically. Both my personal experience and the experience of my wards show that the consumption of milk and dairy products should be reduced to a minimum. The process of losing weight after that goes much faster, volumes go off in parallel and the body acquires a beautiful clear relief. By the way, experts in the field of sports came to this a long time ago – milk and dairy products are no longer included in the menu of American and European bodybuilders.

3. Bread

Source: wildyogi.info Photo:

Sugar is found in all bakery products, including ordinary bread. Moreover, white flour has a high glycemic index, that is, it itself provokes an increase in blood glucose levels. Think whole grain bread is the lesser evil? You are wrong. In fact, whole grain bread does not contain whole grains. Flour is made in the process of grinding grain, which turns into powder. It is thanks to the powdered form that the body is able to digest bread. In fact, it is almost the same flour as for ordinary bread. The starch contained in it is quickly broken down in the digestive tract and enters the bloodstream in the form of glucose. This causes sugar levels to rise and fall rapidly, which increases appetite. Plus, the composition of any bread, even the blackest, always includes ordinary refined sugar.

4. Sauces, semi-finished products

Source: lichnorastu.ru Photo:

Many foods with pronounced salty, spicy or piquant taste contain as much sugar as sweets. These are semi-finished dishes and sauces. Sugar in this case is added not only to make the products tasty and addictive, but also for a longer shelf life. Sugar not only improves taste, but, like salt, acts as a preservative. So, in a standard package of ordinary ready-made ketchup, the sugar content reaches 15 grams, and in barbecue sauce – 30 grams. Sugar is also added to mayonnaise and fat-free salad dressings. In addition, sugar and syrups thicken the dish and give it a particularly pleasant texture, and this is extremely cheap for the manufacturer.

5. Alcohol and carbonated drinks

Source: molomo.com.ua Photo:

It is important to remember that most alcoholic drinks contain a fair amount of sugar. In particular, it is included in all strong drinks, even if they are not sweet: vodka, whiskey, tequila, not to mention cocktails, sweet wines, liqueurs, etc. Drinks are also food, and one hundred grams of whiskey is comparable in calories to a decent portion of pork chop. The mechanism of action is the same as that of any sugar – a sharp jump, and then a drop in glucose levels and zhor. Plus, alcohol reduces the level of consciousness in the choice of food and the amount of its consumption. If you still plan to drink, you should choose dry wines and dilute them with water or ice. This will help increase the serving and reduce harm to health and figure.

Various sweet non-alcoholic sodas are no less dangerous. Global manufacturers produce drinks marked light or zero , which means that the sugar content is reduced or not at all, but the sugar content in them still remains dangerously high – it just disguises itself behind new names for the consumer.

The trend of recent years is to hide sugar behind special terms. At the moment, there are about 54 names for sugar in food. Among them: hydrolyzed starch, concentrated fruit syrup, dextrose, fructose, glucose, high fructose (glucose) syrup, corn sugar, honey, invert sugar, isoglucose, levulose, maltose, molasses, sucrose. The most common are everything that ends in “-ose”: sucrose, maltose, glucose, etc. Also quite often you can find molasses, molasses and corn syrup in the composition. When reading store labels, remember that the closer an ingredient is to the top of the list, the higher its content.

The conclusion is that sugar is overeating, food addiction and overweight, and even if it is not listed in the composition of the product, this does not mean that it is not there.

Be vigilant, take care of your health and figure.

Read more Tatiana Godard tips on thebroccolitrick.com

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Tags: Overweight Sweetener How to lose weight Sugar Food dependence Tatyana Godard

What foods contain sugar

Time to update your shopping list

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Healthy foods

We all know firsthand about the dangers of a large amount of sugar. Here are skin problems, and overweight, and fatigue, and, if you really get carried away, more serious health problems. With this knowledge, we stop putting sugar in coffee and tea, limit the use of cakes and chocolates. However, there are foods that hide their high sugar content behind the label of usefulness, and we often do not even suspect what kind of threat they pose to our body. Below we talk about five products, the sugar content of which can be an unpleasant surprise.

• Low-fat dairy products

When choosing cottage cheese, yogurt or kefir, we are accustomed to looking only at the percentage of fat. However, low-fat foods are often much more harmful to the figure than their fatty counterparts. It is impossible to prepare a product from natural whole milk that does not contain fat, therefore it is skimmed artificially. After this simple procedure, the product loses not only the percentage of fat, but also the taste and presentation. To fix the second, manufacturers add starch, preservatives and dyes, and for the first, sugar. A lot of sugar. Fat cottage cheese (5%) will do your figure much less harm than low-fat cottage cheese, and will saturate you for a long time.

• Granola

ola. But do not forget that this is just a picture on which the same oatmeal or a plate of cottage cheese will look much less attractive. True, the granola you buy in supermarkets often consists of more than just whole grains and nuts. There are dyes, and preservatives, and flavorings of all kinds, and, of course, a ton of added sugar. Granola will only become a fitness breakfast if you make it yourself at home. This is the only way to be one hundred percent sure that there will be nothing superfluous in the composition.

• Dried fruits

The controversy about the usefulness of dried fruits does not stop, but one thing we can say for sure: they are very high in sugar. Unlike the previous products from the list, it is not added there, but quite natural. During the drying process, fruits lose only water, while all vitamins, antioxidants and fructose (fruit sugar) remain unchanged. And this means that eating a kilogram of apricots is not the same as eating a kilogram of dried apricots. Nutritionists do not recommend eating dried fruits in an amount exceeding 3-4 pieces per day.

• Flavored soymilk

Lactose-free has become one of the biggest dietary trends, and many people are switching to plant-based milk even without a medical indication. Such milk really has many advantages only if you buy it in its pure form. The popular chocolate, banana, vanilla soy milk is clearly not a product that should be consumed daily. Not only do they add a huge amount of sugar, but also bananas are hardly real. You can drink a banana latte once, if you really want to, but for a daily diet, the choice is not the best.

• Quick Oatmeal

Oatmeal is a great breakfast option when it is brewed from natural oats.