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For decades, government steered millions away from whole milk. Was that wrong?

washingtonpost.com

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Re: For decades, government steered millions away from whole milk. Was that wrong?

#51

Post by tomkinstinch »

vonmoltke wrote: post #22
acacia314 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is more than mixing. It is a reduction in the size of the fat molecules which changes the way the fat acts in the mixture. Shaking the milk before drinking is not the same thing.

Creating an emulsion, which is exactly what homogenization is, does not do anything to the molecules. It reduces the size of the clumps of molecules, which simply allows it to exist in a consistent suspension. It has no effects whatsoever on how those compounds behave in the digestive tract.

Right. Homogenization should not impact fatty acid chain length. Dairy systems are complicated though, and there are protein interactions that help the emulsion by supporting the formation of micelles[1]. It's the same stuff after pasteurization, just distributed differently.

Pasteurization is an entirely different matter though. Heat treatment will convert some fraction of lactose into smaller sugars, including its constituent galactose and glucose[2]. This is why ultra-pasteurized can taste a bit sweeter than untreated milk. Pasteurization also inactivates lipases which would otherwise cleave the fat molecules, reducing the likelihood of rancidity[3].

1. https://books.google.com/books?id=1OhFPZ7tFz8C&pg=PA864&lpg=...

2. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=6Q8mX8DsDe4C&oi=...

3. https://books.google.com/books?id=gJ6jA7LG-bsC&pg=PA276&lpg=...

Re: For decades, government steered millions away from whole milk. Was that wrong?

#53

Post by sp332 »

jobu wrote: post #41

"[Whole milk] was banned from school lunch programs." Most schools don't even have 1% milk, but they all have chocolate milk with tons of added sugar. Great healthy choice there.

A Pepsi representative commented that people are so confused about healthy food, they'll avoid orange juice because of the high sugar and avoid diet sodas because they don't trust the artificial sweeteners.

Re: For decades, government steered millions away from whole milk. Was that wrong?

#55

Post by natch »

iamcurious wrote: post #40
ElijahLynn wrote: post #32

Drinking the milk from another species designed to grow that species babies is wrong. Would you even drink human milk designed for human babies as a grown adult?

I know! and so is eating honey! eating food designed for a baby bee to grow is wrong. /s

Just don't give honey to baby people.

Totally not what you were saying, I get that, but I think it's always a good public service type message to spread.

http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/honey-and-infant.html

Re: For decades, government steered millions away from whole milk. Was that wrong?

#56

Post by Retra »

underdown wrote: post #49
Retra wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The population is largely children, and nearly 100% of the population were children when they adapted to most of their culture, (specifically the kinds of ideas you are rejecting here.) You don't think "freedom is the right to be wrong" wasn't something you were taught as a child by adults?

Yes, but they aren't the government's children.

They're adopted.

Or are you trying to suggest that your genetics have a role in determining what rights you have or who has power over you?

Re: For decades, government steered millions away from whole milk. Was that wrong?

#57

Post by ousta »

sp332 wrote: post #53
jobu wrote: post #41

"[Whole milk] was banned from school lunch programs." Most schools don't even have 1% milk, but they all have chocolate milk with tons of added sugar. Great healthy choice there.

A Pepsi representative commented that people are so confused about healthy food, they'll avoid orange juice because of the high sugar and avoid diet sodas because they don't trust the artificial sweeteners.

I dont see a contradiction in this.

Re: For decades, government steered millions away from whole milk. Was that wrong?

#58

Post by smt88 »

ceejayoz wrote: post #25
clarkmoody wrote: post #3

For decades, government ______ only to find out later that it was really bad. The social engineering has got to stop. A free people should not be subject to the latest schemes of self-appointed masterminds. The most evident and dangerous venue for such engineering is the public schools, in which the government subjects our children to every sort of social experiment, and what have we to show for it?

> The most evident and dangerous venue for such engineering is the public schools, in which the government subjects our children to every sort of social experiment, and what have we to show for it? First two to spring to mind: A dramatic drop in violent crime since the 1970s because the "self-appointed masterminds" restricted lead. A dramatic drop in road deaths because the "self-appointed masterminds" required seatb…

> A dramatic drop in violent crime since the 1970s because the "self-appointed masterminds" restricted lead

There are many possible factors that went into this reduction in crime, but it's not entirely settled. For example, a substantial portion is attributable to a decrease in unwanted pregnancies [1].

1. http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/LevittUndersta...

Re: For decades, government steered millions away from whole milk. Was that wrong?

#59

Post by mywittyname »

The problem, IMHO, is that dietary science makes recommendations based on gross over-simplifications. Creating guidelines based on such overly simplistic grouping of information leads to sub-optimal results because it glosses over important nuances.

The saturated v. unsaturated distinction is one that we are finally realizing is not an important to overall health. However, this has been replaced by another is the trans fat v. cis fat distinction.

The government is pushing for the removal of trans fats from foods without consideration to the fact that vaccenic acid is a trans fat that is extremely good for mammals (it's found in high quantities in breast milk, for instance) while elaidic acid is what has been linked to low HDL and heart disease.

Of course, the population as a whole is no better. They also cherry-pick things they want to be healthy with little consideration of the science behind it. So I'm not sure this is an issue that needs addressing.

Re: For decades, government steered millions away from whole milk. Was that wrong?

#60

Post by DiabloD3 »

ousta wrote: post #57
sp332 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A Pepsi representative commented that people are so confused about healthy food, they'll avoid orange juice because of the high sugar and avoid diet sodas because they don't trust the artificial sweeteners.

I dont see a contradiction in this.

Because they'll drink the non-diet Pepsi, even though it is equivalent to every orange juice on the market in terms of unhealthiness.
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