Dairy Milk: Liquid Smoothie Ingredient

This is Part 2 of my Liquid Smoothie Ingredient series. If you’re just getting started, here is a quick summary of your options for liquid smoothie ingredient bases:

• Water
• Dairy Milk
• Plant Milk (Soy Milk, Almond Milk, Coconut Milk and Others)
• Juice (Fresh Squeezed or Store Bought)

Milk is one of the most classic ingredients for making smoothies, and responsible for giving smoothies a creamy texture, unlike smoothies with water.

So why should you consider using dairy milk as a base for your smoothie recipes? Read on to find out...

5 Types of Dairy Milk

You have 5 basic options to choose from, all with varying nutritional values:

• Skim milk, AKA nonfat or fat free milk. It has zero fat and is the healthiest option for dairy milk. Some don’t like the watery texture, but for me it’s the opposite. I grew up on skim milk and can’t stand anything higher.

• Low fat milk (1%) is a good compromise between 2% and skim. It still has saturated fat, but only 2g per serving.

• Reduced fat milk (2%) is still better than whole milk but has a considerable amount of fat – 5g per serving, with 3g saturated fat.


• Whole milk is the least nutritious option. It has 8g of fat per serving, including 5g saturated fat. Almost twice as much as reduced fat! You could benefit significantly just by switching to 2%
  
  
• Chocolate milk is a hybrid of the above types. You can buy in whole milk, 2%, 1% or nonfat.  It does have about twice as much sugar as regular dairy milk, so don’t go hog wild.

Got Milk?

We’ve all seen the Got Milk ads and know that we "should" be drinking more milk.

3 glasses per day to be exact, right?

At least that's how much we need according to the creators of those commercials, backed by the powerful dairy industry players.

It’s true that milk boasts some health benefits:

• Source of protein
• Lots of calcium
• Other vitamins and minerals
• May contain cancer-fighting and immunity-boosting materials.
  
  

But more and more scientific studies are emerging which show that drinking cows milk actually poses several health risks. 

Drinking milk could increase chances of:

• Heart Disease
• Cancer
• Diabetes
• Obesity

And if you’re lactose intolerant or have milk allergies, drinking milk could be downright dangerous for your body.

It also isn’t so good for the environment or animal welfare, as it takes more resources to raise cows than to grow plants.

To Drink Milk Or Not?

At this point, you may be a bit confused. And you're absolutely right to feel that way, because that is some pretty conflicting evidence.

Is milk healthy or not? Should you include it in your own healthy eating plan?

As for the first question, we'll let the scientists hash that one out. I am not a scientist so I cannot go further than presenting both sides.

In the meantime, it's up to you to answer the second question for yourself, based on your own unique circumstances.

I recently made the decision to eliminate cows milk from my diet...but more on that later.

If you’re still not sure, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. For example, you could compromise and drink 1 glass of regular milk per day, and 1 glass of plant milk such as soy milk, almond milk, or coconut milk.

Making Smoothies with Dairy Milk

Milk still has a place in your smoothies, if you drink it.

It’s an easy way to get a bunch of nutrients in one glass, including calcium and protein.

By adding a little milk to your smoothies along with fruit and other healthy ingredients, you create a very powerful combination of protein, fiber, healthy fats, and vitamins.

Lose Weight With Milk Shakes?

How exactly can milk shakes help you lose weight? It’s simple…

Milk creates a smoothie consistency like a milk shake, so you trick your body into thinking it’s dessert. This makes you less likely to go overboard on actual dessert and junk food.

The Abs Diet calls for using milk as a smoothie ingredient along with other “power foods”. For years I enjoyed making these abs diet smoothies with milk.

Recipes for Healthy Milk Shakes

Whether you drink dairy milk or substitute any type of plant milk as your liquid smoothie ingredient, these are some of my favorite fruit shake recipes with milk:

• Easy recipe – combine chocolate milk and bananas with ice for a quick post-workout recovery smoothie with the right ratio of carbs to protein.
  
  
• Classic milk shake recipe – if you crave the classic taste of a banana split but not all the calories that come with it, try combining fresh strawberries, bananas, a bit of peanut butter and milk.
  
  
• This homemade smoothie recipe is a mix between a banana split and a PB&J sandwich, but it’s actually good for you.
  

Remember, you can substitute soy milk, almond milk or any other type of plant milk for the cows milk in any of these recipes. I highly recommend it.

This brings me to my next page in the Liquid Smoothie Ingredient Series:

Liquid Ingredients Page 3 - Benefits of Soy Milk

Or jump to any other page in the liquid smoothie ingredient series:

Part 1 Water | Part 2 Dairy Milk | Part 3 Soy Milk | Part 4 Almond Milk | Part 5 Coconut Milk |

Back from Dairy Milk Smoothie Ingredient to How to Make a Smoothie

Back to Joy of Smoothies Home

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