Which milk has less fat and less calories - skim or lite white?
Skim milk (fat-free) has less fat and less calories than lite white, with one cup of skim milk containing 36 calories and only 0.15% fat.
Last updated 17/01/2024
There are a range of ‘fat-modified’ milks available in Australia. Regular or full fat milk has an average of 3.5% fat, reduced-fat milks (e.g. lite white) have at least 25% less fat than regular milk (approximately 2% fat) and skim or ‘fat-free’ milk has the least amount of fat with no more than 0.15%. Fat-modified milk is made by removing part or most of the fat in regular milk.
Reduced fat milk varieties will naturally have less calories than regular full fat milk as fat is high in energy and contains 9 calories per gram. Regular milk has 60 calories in every 100ml, while reduced fat has 47 calories and skim (fat-free) has 36 calories in the same amount of milk.1
Skim (fat-free) milk contains both the lowest of amount of calories and fat compared to other dairy milks. This applies to fresh, powdered and long life milk varieties too.
The good news is that all types of milk, no matter the fat content, contain the same essential nutrients including calcium for bone health and protein for muscle growth and repair.
Research also continues to show that milk, cheese and yoghurt are not linked to weight gain - this applies to all varieties, including regular fat products. 2,3,4
References
- Dairy Australia - Fresh Milk
- 1. Food Standards Australia New Zealand. (2011). NUTTAB 2010 – Australian Food Composition Tables
- 2. Abargouei A, Janghorbani M, Salehi-Marzijarani M, Esmaillzadeh A. Effect of dairy consumption on weight and body composition in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2012;36(12):1485-93.
- 3. Chen M, Pan A, Malik VS, Hu FB. Effects of dairy intake on body weight and fat: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Am J Clin Nutr. 2012 Oct;96(4):735-47
- 4. Rautiainen S, Wang L, Lee I, Manson J, Buring J, Sesso H. Dairy consumption in association with weight change and risk of becoming overweight or obese in middle-aged and older women: a prospective cohort study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2016; published online ahead of print.
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