Milk
Pick your family’s diets in the bar above.
Every diet
It comes from an animal.
Milk from halal-slaughtered animals; the animals themselves must be halal.
Dairy is kosher, though the equipment and the rest of the meal have to be kosher too.
Plain milk has about 5 grams of carbohydrate per cup.
A small glass is low FODMAP; a large one is not.
Safe in small amounts; may bother some people or raise blood sugar.
Rules by country
Milk is a food, not an additive, so none of the three regulators has evaluated it as an additive and no E-number applies. What the regulators do regulate is the labelling: milk has to be declared as an allergen in the US, the EU, Canada and Australia, and the fat and sugar content has to match what the label claims.
What is it?
Cow's milk is about 87% water, with the rest split between protein, fat, lactose and minerals. Whole milk has about 3.5% fat, semi-skimmed 1.5% and skimmed almost none. It is a complete protein with a high calcium content, and it is one of the few foods where the nutrition depends strongly on which fat is left in.
Where it comes from: Taken from a cow, and from sheep, goat or buffalo in some regions. It is a food in its own right rather than something made from other ingredients, and on a label it is normally the first thing listed.
Why it’s in food
- Drinking
- Cooking
- Yogurt and cheese making
- Coffee and tea
- Baking
Often found in
Also listed as: Milk, Whole milk, Skim milk, Semi-skimmed milk, Full cream milk, Milk, whole
Health & gut impact
Milk carries about 4.8 grams of lactose per 100 ml. Most adults digest it, but as many as a third of people worldwide lose the enzyme that does so as they age, and the result is the bloating and diarrhea that makes many people think they cannot tolerate milk at all.
EFSA, dietary reference values for carbohydrate (2011)
Milk is one of the few foods that supplies calcium, phosphorus, protein and vitamin B12 together at a density most other foods do not match, which is why it appears in almost every dietary guideline for bone health.
US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, report on calcium and bone health
Whole milk carries around 2.2 grams of saturated fat per 100 ml, most of it palmitic acid. Skimmed milk removes almost all of it, and the effect of the fat on blood cholesterol is much smaller than the effect of replacing butter and cheese in the rest of the diet.
Sacks and colleagues, American Heart Association presidential advisory on dietary fats (2017)
What can I use instead?
Ratio: Use the same volume; it has the most protein of the plant milks
Best for: Anything that needs protein
Related
More dairy:
Common questions
Is milk bad for you?
For most people it is a good source of protein, calcium and vitamin B12. The questions worth asking are whether you tolerate the lactose, how much saturated fat is in the version you buy, and whether the added sugar in flavored milk matters to you.
Is milk vegan?
No. It comes from a cow or another animal, so it is not vegan. Every plant milk is made to replace it and all of them are fortified with calcium and vitamin D to match.
Why does milk make me feel bloated?
Most often it is lactose rather than the milk itself. If small amounts are fine but a glass is not, that is the usual pattern for a mild intolerance, and lactose-free milk or hard cheese, which contains almost none, usually solves it.
Is Milk safe?
Use in moderation (75/100). Milk is a food, not an additive, so none of the three regulators has evaluated it as an additive and no E-number applies. What the regulators do regulate is the labelling: milk has to be declared as an allergen in the US, the EU, Canada and Australia, and the fat and sugar content has to match what the label claims.
Is Milk vegan?
No. It comes from an animal.
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Scientific sources & regulatory citations
- EFSA, dietary reference values for carbohydrate (2011)
- US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, report on calcium and bone health
- Sacks and colleagues, American Heart Association presidential advisory on dietary fats (2017)