Powdered milk is more convenient to transport and store than fresh milk because it's less perishable -- unlike fresh milk, you don't need to refrigerate powdered milk. This makes powdered milk particularly useful for disaster relief and aid operations, especially as the nutritional differences between fresh and powdered milk are minimal.
Calories
A typical brand of powdered milk takes about 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of powder to reconstitute 1 cup of liquid milk. One cup of reconstituted skim, or fat-free, milk contains about 80 calories. One cup of reconstituted whole milk has about 150 calories. In both cases, this is the same or slightly lower than the calories in fresh milk.
Fat & Cholesterol
Both powdered and fresh skim milk have 0 g fat and virtually no cholesterol. However, both reconstituted and fresh whole milk contain about 8 g of fat per cup, and about 5 g of saturated fat. Both types of whole milk also contain about 30 to 35 mg of cholesterol in 1 cup.
Protein
Fresh milk is a good source of complete protein, an important nutrient for your body to build and repair muscles. Powdered milk is no exception. Fresh milk, regardless of its fat and calorie content, contains about 8 g of protein per cup -- in whole milk, 2 percent milk, 1 percent milk, or skim milk. Powdered milk contains virtually identical amounts of protein in the same size liquid serving, whether it is powdered whole milk or powdered skim milk.
Vitamins & Minerals
There can be some variation in the quantity of other nutrients the milk contains, depending on the brand, as some brands of both powdered and fresh milk boost nutrient content through fortification. Naturally, powdered milk retains virtually all of the calcium content of fresh milk -- about 30 percent of your recommended daily intake in 1 cup, regardless of the milk's fat and calorie content. These types of milk also all contain about 25 percent of your daily vitamin D intake as well. Calcium, vitamin D, iron and vitamin A are some of the nutrients typically added to milk.
Member Comments