Watch out for the skim milk weight-loss scam

If your new year’s resolution is about losing weight — then don’t fall for the skim scam.

It’s the ongoing fable that skim milk will help you drop the pounds.

Stop in any Starbucks and you’ll hear just about everyone ordering skim this and skim that. But what all those people ordering skinny lattes don’t realize is that their non-fat choice is actually less healthy — and MORE likely to cause weight gain.

In the world of mainstream “nutrition” skim milk equals skinny. End of discussion.

Even the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says parents should give kids low-fat milk, beginning at age two, to prevent weight gain.

Well, they can cling to that myth all they like. But it won’t make it right.

A study of more than 10,500 U.S. pre-school kids shows the exact opposite is true. In this study, there is a clear (and significant) link between drinking skim milk and higher body weight. And it held up across all racial, ethnic, and economic groups.

Researchers say they are mystified. But that just means they haven’t read the literature. Previous research has produced similar results.

NPR talked to a pediatrician who’s a member of the AAP Committee on Nutrition. Of course, he’s not letting go of the advice about switching kids to low-fat milk at age two. No way. He claims that the results of the new study don’t make sense “from a biological perspective.”

Really? Well here are some biology fun facts I’ve been talking about for 10 years…and it’s not just about kids.

One: calcium intake helps kids lose weight. This isn’t a surprise. Calcium does the same thing for adults. But Dr. Spreen has two important points to add… 1) The milk skimming process strips away nutrients, such as calcium. 2) Your body absorbs calcium better when you consume the mineral with — yep! — milk fat.

But wait. There’s more… Your body absorbs milk sugars slower when they’re consumed with milk fat. Take away the milk fat, and your body absorbs the sugars rapidly and turns them into fat. That’s why low-fat milk has a HIGHER glycemic index rating than whole milk.

Wow! Biology! Who knew?

Well… We knew. These aren’t secrets we’ve been hiding from mainstream nutritionists. It’s more like those nutritionists are stubbornly hiding from any details that will shatter their “fats are bad” myth.