Milk is the only food item that works as a standalone meal in childhood and a nutritious, leisurely beverage in adulthood. Be it lattes, tea or a tall glass, life is just not the same without a splash of pristine goodness.
These days selecting edibles is mind-boggling; every item seems to have at least 5 variants, including milk. You are expected to choose between full cream, single-toned, double-toned, skimmed milk, soy milk, flavored milk and what not!
* Full cream milkFull cream milk, also called whole milk is usually given to children, teenagers and body builders. This milk is called so because it contains all the milk fat without adding or removing anything. It is collected from the dairy herd and it undergoes various processing techniques like pasteurization to kill potentially harmful bacteria before it reaches the general public. One glass would generally contain 3.5% milk fat, which provides about 150 calories. Full cream milk is also creamier and full of flavor.
* Single toned milkAdding skimmed milk powder and water to whole milk makes single toned milk. It has about 3% fat and minimizes body’s absorption of cholesterol from the milk. It contains almost the same nutrition as whole milk except the fat-soluble vitamins. One glass of toned milk provides around 120 calories.
* Double toned milkThis milk is obtained by adding skimmed milk powder to whole milk and has about 1.5% fat content. Double toned milk is ideal for those trying to maintain weight as it keeps the calorie intake under control and also helps in weight loss.
* Skimmed milkSkimmed milk has 0.3% to 0.1% fat content. Though skimmed milk contains all the nutrients found in whole milk like the vitamins and minerals, it gives you just half the calories of full cream milk (around 80 calories per glass of milk). It contains slightly more calcium than whole milk and even lower levels of fat-soluble vitamins, particularly vitamin A, as this is lost when the fat is removed.