Healthy Dairy Choices

Research on the Mediterranean diet does include good information on dairy products. The data says that including dairy is healthy, but most of the dairy is lower in fat or processed, such as cheese or yogurt. The Dairy Council would have you believe that drinking milk can lead to weight loss. This really isn't the case. In one study, men with the largest increase in total dairy intake gained slightly more weight over the course of the 12-year study than those who decreased their dairy intake the most. The good news is that the weight change was in those individuals drinking high-fat dairy products and low-fat dairy was not associated with the weight change. So what are the best choices for stocking your cupboard?

Milk
The lower in fat the better. The best choice is skim milk for such things as drinking or with cereal. I generally use 2 percent milk for cooking because it adds a creaminess that skim or 1 percent milk can't. Buttermilk these days is almost always made with skim milk.

Cheese
As mentioned most of the research on Mediterranean diet shows that the dairy eaten is generally processed like cheeses. Often these are lower in fat because many of the cheeses are made with goat's or sheep's milk. But, regular cheddar cheese contains around 9 grams of fat per oz. There are some great reduced fat cheeses on the market in the range of 4 to 6 grams per oz. You can find reduced fat cheddar, Swiss as well as Monterey jack. Mozzarella is a great choice and keeping some mozzarella on hand means that you are always ready to make pizza. In many recipes these lower fat cheeses work better because when they melt there is less chance that they will separate. The very low-fat or non-fat cheeses are not very good. Besides being bland, because they don't have fat they don't melt well. It is good to have Parmigiano-Reggiano and a Romano on hand. They are higher in fat, but because they are so full of flavor you don't need to use very much. Stores these days will cut you little bits of cheese if you like and keep in mind that a little goes a long way.

Yogurt
Yogurt is made by fermenting a milk with bacteria (usually lactobacillus and/or streptococcus species). Like most dairy products, yogurt contains some fat. There is non-fat, low-fat (usually 2 percent fat) and plain or whole milk yogurt (4 percent fat). It is important to note that a lot of yogurts that have fruit in them or are custard-style have a lot of sugar (often high fructose corn syrup).

Sour Cream
Regular sour cream has a whopping 5 grams of fat in 2 tbsp. Of this 3.5 grams are saturated. There is not much difference in flavor or texture between this and the reduced or lowered fat sour cream that has only 3 grams of fat in 2 tbsp. The fat-free or non-fat sour cream is just that. The regular and reduced fat can be used in cooking, but even at moderate temperatures the fat-free sour cream separates easily. When adding it to hot sauces or soups, cool them first and then add the sour cream reheating gently.