Milk: Which is best for you?

Milk has been recently brought to my attention as a controversial topic. Although sometimes I want to strangle people when they say something is
"bad for you", I am learning to be patient with people. That scene from Mean Girls goes off in my head... However, people can have their opinions if they want.

I am not going to reveal which milk is best for you, but instead I am going to go over the pros, cons, and nutrition facts of each one.

1. Cows Milk
So we know that the lower the fat percentage, the better choice it is when it comes to regular cows milk. In my household, we currently drink 2%. With two grown men, it'll be difficult to go down any further. But I am okay with this choice because it is a nutrient-dense drink with all your macronutrients and important micronutrients like Calcium and  Vitamin D. Regular milk has 8-10 grams of protein in 1 cup depending on which brand you purchase.  And milk has a little over 110 calories for a cup.
I am aware that there are plenty of people who are lactose intolerant and regular cow's milk is obviously not the choice for you.

2. Almond Milk
 So here's the deal with almond milk... Almond "beverage" I should say actually. Almond beverage is a great choice for a low calorie drink to put in a smoothie or protein shake. However, the reason I stopped drinking almond milk is the protein content. There is 1 gram. An analysis done in the UK on an almond beverage found that there was only a handful of almonds per container.
If you want a low calorie milk for your cereal or protein shakes, and you are not concerned with protein intake, almond milk is the choice for you!

3. Soy Milk
Okay, so soy milk is SUPER controversial. I won't get into all that for the sake of the point of this blog post.  This is also not a "Milk" but rather a "beverage".  I drink soy beverage occasionally with my protein shakes. The protein is as high as cows milk at about 9 grams per cup.  There is less carbohydrates/sugar than cows milk. The calorie range is right in between almond milk and regular milk at about 90-100 calories per cup. However, there is no calcium.

So it seems to me that each kind of "Milk" is missing something...

                                                                                                             

The Missing Nutrients

Soy Beverage: Calcium 

Almond Beverage: Protein

Cows Milk: Not missing... but Excess saturated fat.

One might argue, well Almond milk has almost as much calcium as regular milk. Well, you are correct. However, after taking food science and multiple other classes on metabolism, cows milk calcium has a better absorption rate. This means that calcium from cows milk is absorbed better in our body than from calcium in almond milk (or any other foods with calcium: leafy greens). 

Calcium is a very important nutrient. It may not seem like it now when you are moving properly and you don't fracture your hip when you bump into a counter, but one day you will. Calcium keeps our bones dense. Nourish your body now while you are healthy, so when you become older, you can still have independence. 

To understand the importance of protein, you can refer back to my protein blog post. 

Now that you know the difference between 3 popular beverages, please understand the benefits to each.  Every person has a different body. 

P.S. For those that drink rice milk, cashew milk, and other "milks", look at the nutrition facts next time you pour a glass and look out for calcium and protein.

Protein Sour Candy Recipe

This quarter I had a food science course and we had to develop a product that we think should be in the market. Of course my mind went straight to protein... and so did my partner. (We are gym junkies). I thought about protein cereal because I love cereal and there is only one brand I know that has 10 grams per serving. I thought about high protein ice cream, but that would have been an okay idea. Finally we thought of a protein candy. Our target market was obviously going to be individuals that workout regularly and need a protein snack before, during, or after the gym. We even thought this would be a great snack to have during the day to keep muscle protein synthesis stimulated. And so the creating of the Muscle Gummy came to be... with sour liquid BCAA inside!
Over 10 weeks we struggled a bit, slowly overcoming one obstacle after another.  We finally finished our final product this weekend just in time to present tomorrow!

Protein Gummy Recipe

Ingredients

BCAA Liquid: Yields about 50 drops

½ tsp bpi Sports BCAA supplement

¼ cup water

1 tsp tapioca Starch

¼ tsp Citric Acid

Gummy: Yields about 40 Cubes

¼ cup cold water

1 tsp Raspberry syrup

3 packets Knox original Gelatine Unflavored (33g)

¾ cup warm water

1 Tbls Raspberry syrup

1 Scoop Isopure Unflavored Whey Protein Isolate (16g)

Additional Sugar and Citric Acid to coat candies

Procedure

1. Add BCAA to Water and mix well,  add tapioca starch and mix well
2. Heat mixture while stirring constantly until desired consistency
3. Remove from heat and mix in Citric Acid
4. Use a measured syringe to form .625 mL droplets on a cookie sheet and then place in freezer immediately for later use

1. Add ¼ cup water to bowl and add 1 tsp raspberry syrup
2. Sprinkle gelatin over top to begin forming gel and let sit 1 minute
3. Heat ¾ cup water and add 1 Tablespoon Raspberry syrup
4. Pour warm juice mixture over gelatin mixture and mix well
5. Once mixture has slightly cooled add protein powder and mix well
6. Pour 7/8th of the  mixture in a shallow 4/6 bread pan and let stand until slightly gelled
7. Place the rest of the mixture on a hot plate and monitor temperature at >100◦F to avoid gel formation but below boiling (avoid overheating the goal her is just to prevent gel formation)
8. Carefully place frozen BCAA in desired locations (use a cookie cutter for your shapes and references)
9. Pour the remaining warm gelatin mixture over the top to seal the liquid inside.
10. Place in the Refrigerator immediately, and cut into 4 rows of 10

Upon consumption dip or dust the gummies with 5 to 1 sugar and citric acid mixture  

Note: Video below does not show how to insert liquid BCAA into the gummy base. 

Final Result

Our goal was to create a product with 10 grams of protein per serving. We managed 9 grams, so we are satisfied with our ending product! I could get into all the food science concepts incorporated, such as weeping, spherification, and foaming. All of which we had some problem overcoming.  But I will save that for another day!

Thanks for reading.