Dairy Nutrition

Milk, Cheese and Yogurt Pack Your Plate with Nutrients and Goodness

Nutrient-rich dairy products are one of the most affordable sources of nutrition and make healthy eating easy. Together, milk, cheese, and yogurt provide a unique package of nine essential nutrients, including calcium, potassium, phosphorus, protein, vitamins A, D and B12, riboflavin, and niacin (niacin equivalents).

Bone health is so important because bones provide structure for the body, protect organs and act as support for muscles and tissue. They can better perform these functions when they are strong. There is much emphasis on ensuring good bone health for growing children but adults need it too. It’s not too late to take care of your bones as an adult. Adults up to age 50 need 1,000 mg of calcium a day and up to 1,200 mg when older. You can easily satisfy this requirement for bone health with low fat milk, which contains 305 mg of calcium in each cup.

Reputable health information sources point to the nutritional value of milk as an important part of bone health. People who don’t drink milk are at greater risk of developing osteoporosis because they are missing the calcium and other nutrients in milk necessary for strong bones. You can also satisfy your calcium requirement with healthy dairy foods. Talk to your doctor if you are worried about your bone health or think you might be at risk for osteoporosis. Your doctor will examine you and run tests to determine the health of your bones. He will also tell you how you can keep your bones strong and healthy.

Dairy products may also contribute to lower blood pressure and reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. More specifically, research shows the low-fat Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan—which emphasizes dairy, fruits and vegetables and whole grains and is supported by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans—may help manage blood pressure.

Dairy products, together with milk, contribute the nutrients required to complete a healthy diet. Health experts also point to dairy products as a daily necessity. But what are dairy products? What is dairy?

What is Dairy?

With the number of food items being compared to dairy or loosely referred to as dairy products, you might ask “What is dairy?” Dairy is any product made from cow’s milk, such as cheese, yogurt and butter. There are dairy products made from goats and sheep milk, yet these foods do not measure up to the nutrition found in cow’s milk. Cow’s milk, and healthy dairy products, provide the dairy nutrition necessary for a balanced diet and bone health. Products marketed as “milk alternatives” have many more ingredients, are more processed and do not deliver the nine essential nutrients milk and dairy products do.

Learn how to shop smarter and properly store dairy products to ensure your family gains the nutritious benefits of dairy products and reduce food waste!

Dairy Products List

A dairy products list would include well-known items like cheese, butter, yogurt, ice cream, cream and buttermilk. Consider creating a dairy products list of your own that contains you and your family’s favorites and other dairy products you would like to try. This can be helpful on grocery shopping trips. With so much variety in the dairy aisle, you can find types that fit individual taste preferences, as well as nutritional needs.

Click on the pictures below to learn about these nutrient-rich, healthy dairy foods and their role in building strong bones, a healthy diet, and more.

Milk, Flavored Milk and Milk Alternatives: 

Facts about Fat and Nutrients

While milk varies in fat and calorie levels, every type — from whole, low-fat or fat-free to chocolate — delivers nine essential nutrients (calcium, potassium, phosphorus, protein, vitamins A, D and B12, riboflavin and niacin).

The addition of flavoring and sugar does not take away any of these nutrients. Although flavored milks have added sugars, they account for less than 50 calories per serving — a small amount compared to how many nutrients it can provide both children and adults. Almost one-half of the sugar is naturally occurring lactose which is found in all milk.

The body is able to better absorb and digest the essential amino acids found in dairy protein as compared to soy, wheat, almond or rice proteins. Compared to most milk alternatives, cow’s milk also has higher amounts of and more absorbable calcium, making cow’s milk a great choice for supporting bone and muscle health.

Food & Nutrition

Food & Nutrition Overview

The effective management of food intake and nutrition are both key to good health. Smart nutrition and food choices can help prevent disease. Eating the right foods can help your body cope more successfully with an ongoing illness. Understanding good nutrition and paying attention to what you eat can help you maintain or improve your health.

What Is Good Nutrition?

Food and nutrition are the way that we get fuel, providing energy for our bodies. We need to replace nutrients in our bodies with a new supply every day. Water is an important component of nutrition. Fats, proteins, and carbohydrates are all required. Maintaining key vitamins and minerals are also important to maintaining good health. For pregnant women and adults over 50, vitamins such as vitamin D and minerals such as calcium and iron are important to consider when choosing foods to eat, as well as possible dietary supplements.

A healthy diet includes a lot of natural foods. A sizeable portion of a healthy diet should consist of fruits and vegetables, especially ones that are red, orange, or dark green. Whole grains, such as whole wheat and brown rice, should also play a part in your diet. For adults, dairy products should be non-fat or low-fat. Protein can consist of lean meat and poultry, seafood, eggs, beans, legumes, and soy products such as tofu, as well as unsalted seeds and nuts.

Good nutrition also involves avoiding certain kinds of foods. Sodium is used heavily in processed foods and is dangerous for people with high blood pressure. The USDA advises adults to consume less than 300 milligrams (mg) per day of cholesterol (found in meat and full-fat dairy products among others). Fried food, solid fats, and trans fats found in margarine and processed foods can be harmful to heart health. Refined grains (white flour, white rice) and refined sugar (table sugar, high fructose corn syrup) are also bad for long-term health, especially in people with diabetes. Alcohol can be dangerous to health in amounts more than one serving per day for a woman and two per day for a man.

There are many high-quality, free guidelines available for healthy eating plans that give more details on portion size, total calorie consumption, what to eat more of, and what to eat less of to get healthy and stay that way.

Nutritional Deficiencies

Even if you are getting enough to eat, if you are not eating a balanced diet, you may still be at risk for certain nutritional deficiencies. Also, you may have nutritional deficiencies due to certain health or life conditions, such as pregnancy, or certain medications you may be taking, such as high blood pressure medications. People who have had intestinal diseases or had sections of intestines removed due to disease or weight loss surgery also may be at risk for vitamin deficiencies. Alcoholics are also at high risk of having nutritional deficiencies.

One of the most common nutritional deficiencies is iron deficiency anemia. Your blood cells need iron in order to supply your body with oxygen, and if you don’t have enough iron, your blood will not function properly. Other nutritional deficiencies that can affect your blood cells include low levels of vitamin B12, folate, or vitamin C.

Vitamin D deficiency may affect the health of your bones, making it difficult for you to absorb and use calcium (another mineral that you may not be getting enough of). Although you can get vitamin D by going out in the sun, many people with concerns about skin cancer may end up with low levels of vitamin D by not getting enough sun.

Other nutritional deficiencies include:

• beriberi: low levels of vitamin B1 (found in cereal husks)
• ariboflavinosis: low levels of vitamin B2
• pellagra: low levels of vitamin B3
• paraesthesia: low levels of vitamin B5 leading to a “pins and needles” feeling
• biotin deficiency: low levels of vitamin B7, which can be common in pregnancy
• hypocobalaminemia: low levels of B12
• night blindness: low levels of Vitamin A
• scurvy: low levels of vitamin C
• rickets: severe vitamin D and/or calcium deficiency
• vitamin K deficiency
• magnesium deficiency: occurs with certain medications and medical problems
• potassium deficiency: occurs with certain medications and medical problems

Eating a balanced diet can help prevent these conditions. Vitamin supplements may be necessary for certain people, such as pregnant or nursing mothers and people with intestinal conditions.

Diseases and Conditions Influenced by Nutrition

Many health conditions are caused and/or affected by food and nutrition. Some are directly caused by food, such as “food poisoning” or bacterial infections from contaminated food. Some people can have severe allergies to foods like peanuts, shellfish, or wheat (celiac disease). Gastrointestinal ailments—such as irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)—are also directly affected by the consumption of food.

For other diseases and conditions, the type or quantity of food can influence the progress of the disease. Diabetes mellitus, for example, which results in the inability of the body to regulate blood sugar, is drastically affected by the types and quantities of food eaten. Carbohydrate intake has to be carefully monitored if you suffer from diabetes, or blood sugar can rise to dangerous levels. Other conditions affected by food and nutrition include:

• hypertension: Salt intake affects blood pressure.
• heart disease/high cholesterol: Fatty foods and partial hydrogenated oils can create plaque in arteries.
• osteoporosis: Low calcium, low vitamin D and excess fat can result in fragile bones.
• certain cancers: A poor diet and obesity are associated with increased risk of breast, colon, endometrial, esophageal, and kidney cancers.

Your food choices and nutritional status can influence your overall health over the entire course of your life.

Fruit Nutrition Facts

Fruit is a fabulous food. It’s nutrient-rich, it’s convenient, and it can be relatively inexpensive. Fresh fruit is portable, and if it is whole, it usually requires no refrigeration. Most fruit is naturally low in fat, sodium, and calories and a source of many essential nutrients such as potassium, vitamins A and C, folate, and dietary fiber. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends adults consume a minimum of 2–4 servings of fruit per day, mostly whole fruit.

Eating fruit not only provides nutrients vital for health and maintenance of your body. Research suggests fruit may help reduce the risk of diabetes, obesity, stroke, heart disease, and cancer. Diets rich in foods containing fiber (like most fruits) may reduce the risk of heart disease, obesity, and Type 2 diabetes, and eating fruits rich in potassium may lower blood pressure. Research also shows that because fruits are lower in calories per cup than other foods, they may be useful in helping to lower total calorie intake.

The main source of calories in fruit is from carbohydrate. Carbohydrate and calorie content in fruit will vary according to serving size and type of fruit. A typical serving of fruit is one small to medium-sized fresh fruit, 1/2 cup of canned, or 1/4 cup of dried fruit. Each fruit serving has about 15 grams of carbohydrate and 60 calories. The calories and carbohydrate from fruit can add up quickly.

However, some fruits are naturally lower in calories and carbohydrate than the typical fruit. For example, one cup of fresh rhubarb contains 26 calories and 6 grams of carbohydrate. In contrast, one cup of grapes contains 110 calories and 29 grams of carbohydrate.

Fresh fruit is a good source of dietary fiber.The fiber content of fruits varies, with certain berries such as blackberries and raspberries containing 8 grams of fiber per one cup serving. Other fruits such as grapes, grapefruit, and cantaloupe contain only 1 to 2 grams of fiber per serving. The edible peels of fruits such as apples, pears, and peaches provide a good source of insoluble fiber, the dietary fiber that can help prevent constipation. Many fruits such as apples and oranges contain soluble fiber, which has shown to lower blood cholesterol levels.

Fruits are naturally low in fat and protein, with most containing less than one gram per serving. However, when fruits are made into desserts such as blueberry pie or strawberry ice cream, the dish may no longer be low in fat. To keep your fat intake low, carefully select and prepare foods containing fruit. For example, serve frozen blueberries or strawberries (no-sugar-added) on frozen yogurt or angel food cake.

All fruit is good fruit, but some fruits are higher in vitamins and minerals than others. Antioxidant vitamins such as vitamin A, beta-carotene, and vitamin C may help prevent cancer and the effects of aging by neutralizing free radicals, unstable oxygen molecules that can damage cells.

For adequate intake of essential vitamins, include at least one vitamin-A-rich fruit (guava, watermelon, grapefruit, papaya, cantaloupe, apricots, dried peaches, tangerines, persimmon, and mango) and at least one vitamin-C-rich fruit (pineapple, plums, blueberries, honeydew melon, mango, tangerine, raspberries, grapefruit, blackberries, apricots, strawberries, oranges, kiwifruit, and watermelon) every day.

Fruits are also good sources of potassium, a mineral that may help prevent high blood pressure and that is vital for people who are taking the kind of diuretics that increase potassium losses. Potassium-rich fruits include kiwifruit, papaya, cantaloupe, apricots, peaches, honeydew melon, bananas, and pomegranate.

To derive the best nutritional value from fruit, make most of your fruit choices whole or cut-up fruit rather than juice. To help you eat more fruit, keep a bowl of whole fruit on the counter or in the refrigerator. Buy fresh fruits in season when they may be less expensive and at their peak flavor. Some fruits, like bananas and most frozen fruit, are affordable year round.

When buying fresh fruits, buy only what you need. Even when properly stored, produce is perishable. The freshest produce contains the most nutrients. If you plan to eat the produce that day, buy the fruit ripe. Otherwise, look for produce that needs a little ripening. Fresh fruit in season is higher in quality and lower in prices. Out-of-season fruit is typically more expensive. Proper storage and handling of fresh fruits enhances flavor and keeps nutrient loss to a minimum.

Canned fruits offer a nonperishable supply of fruit to keep on your kitchen shelves, especially when fresh fruit is not in season. Check canned fruit labels for descriptions like “packed in its own juices,” “packed in fruit juice,” “unsweetened,” “in light syrup” or “in heavy syrup.” Fruits packed in juices have less sugar and calories than fruits packed in syrup. Compare the Nutrition Facts label for carbohydrate content. Read label ingredient panels to determine when sweeteners have been added. Canned fruit packed in syrup will contain higher amounts of carbohydrate per serving than fruit packed in fruit juice or its own juices.

Frozen fruits are convenient and less perishable than fresh fruit, since freezing retards bacterial growth. Frozen fruits are sold both in sweetened and unsweetened varieties. Frozen fruits with added sweetener are most often packed with dry sugar or syrup. Read Nutrition Facts panels and ingredient lists to select unsweetened frozen fruit and avoid added calories and carbohydrate. Fruit is nature’s “superstar” dessert. Including two to four servings of a variety of fruit each day will ensure intake of essential nutrients. For people with diabetes, it is important to weigh or measure fruit portions to help keep blood glucose under control.

How to Become an Exercise Addict

We all have friends who, despite hectic schedules, never miss a day at the gym. Who can’t stop talking about the next 10K. Who can’t stop smiling after yoga class. Sure, they’re a little, well, obsessive about working out. But we envy them! The good news is we all have the potential to become fitness-obsessed, says Tom Holland, a Connecticut-based celebrity fitness trainer, exercise physiologist and expert in sports psychology. Here are 10 proven ways to make exercise a habit.

Get up earlier

Right this minute, go set your alarm and lay out everything you need for your morning workout. (Switch on a lamp as soon as your alarm goes off, says fitness blogger Tina Haupert, so you wake up faster.) Working out at the same time every day may help you improve more quickly, a study from the University of North Texas found, and other research has shown that people who exercise in the morning are more likely to stick with their workout than those who exercise later in the day. After all, if you get your sweat session out of the way first thing in the a.m., you won’t miss out if unexpected distractions come up later in the day. (And while we’re on the subject, skip the snooze button: Research suggests that those extra few minutes in bed may actually make you more tired.)

Give it six weeks

There’s an urban legend that it takes 21 days for something to become a habit, but there’s little evidence to back up this claim. For exercise, it’s probably more like six weeks, says Rebecca Woll, a personal trainer in New York City. “This is when you start to see aesthetic changes in your body,” she explains. “Once you see these changes you won’t want to go back to the old you!” This is also about the time you’ll start to notice the difference in how you feel if you miss a day or two of exercise, and you’ll start to appreciate the natural high that comes after a good workout.

Find your niche

So you tried spinning and you hated it, or you hurt yourself on your first day of CrossFit. That doesn’t mean that all forms of fitness aren’t for you—so get back out there and try a different one. “Find something that makes you tune out and gives you a release from your daily grind,” says Woll—whether that means focusing on the ground ahead of you on a trail run, or following the instructor in a Zumba class. “You’ll know you found it when you look at the clock and an hour flashes by without you noticing.” Holland agrees: “I always tell my clients, ‘I don’t exercise,’ ” he says. “I’ll go for a run or go to the gym, but I don’t think of it as exercise because that suddenly gives it a negative connotation.”

Hire a trainer

Whether you’re a total newcomer to the fitness scene or you just need a little motivation and guidance, a personal trainer can help you set goals and develop a plan to make them happen. “People think they can’t afford it, but they don’t realize that even just one or two sessions with a trainer can be so beneficial,” says Holland. “Investing just one or two hundred bucks can go a long way.” Plus, a good trainer will also hold you accountable and will motivate you to work your hardest, Holland adds. “It’s all about positive reinforcement and being there for the client when they need it.”

Become a groupie

The right teacher can make a fitness class feel more like a party than a workout, whether it’s Zumba, spinning or cardio kickboxing. “Finding an instructor is like dating,” says Woll. “If the first one doesn’t work, keep looking. This person should make you want to come to the gym!” (Just be ready for some competition: Popular fitness instructors see their classes fill up fast, and maintain loyal followings even when they switch class times and locations.) You can even glean workout inspiration from celebrity instructors and trainers. Even if you’ve never met them in person, following your fitness idols on Facebook, working out to their DVDs or reading their advice in magazines can all be powerful motivators to follow their examples.

Don’t overdo it

One way to put a stop to your new exercise habit before it even gets off the ground? Getting hurt. Beginners (or people just returning to fitness after a long break) need to be careful about trying to do too much, too soon, which can leave you sore and exhausted—or worse yet, with a real injury that will keep you sidelined for even longer. It’s normal to have some muscle aches and stiffness a day or two after working out muscles you haven’t used in a while, but if you start to feel sick or overly tired, you could be training too hard. Following a training plan or working with a personal trainer can help you make sure you’re progressing at a reasonable pace.

Get techy (and social)

For some people, the feel-good side effects of exercise are enough to keep them going. Others need something a little more tangible to get themselves up and out of bed every morning. If you thrive on statistics and numbers, you may find that using apps, computer programs, or wearable pedometers and fitness trackers can help you stay on track with a new routine. Whether you’re counting your daily steps or the number of calories you’ve burned, technology can help you challenge yourself to new personal bests every day. Plus, many of these programs can be integrated with your social networks, making it easy to let your Facebook feed know that you just ran three miles or checked in at the gym. Once your friends start asking you about your new exercise habits, it may be harder to let them fall by the wayside.

Make it a ritual

The most important thing about establishing a regular routine, whether it’s exercise or anything else, is to truly make it a habit—something you don’t even think twice about before doing, says Holland. This will come with time, but you can help hurry the process along by creating daily rituals that center around your workout: Sip a cup of coffee on your way to the gym in the morning, roll out your yoga mat in front of the TV when you wake up in the morning, or listen to a favorite song to get you pumped up before you head out for a run. Before you know it, these cues will be signaling to your brain that it’s time to work out—not time to make excuses.

Plan a (fitness-focused) vacation

“Combining vacations with exercise is a great reward, and it helps people set goals that they’ll actually want to accomplish,” says Holland. “Say you want to go to Italy, so you sign up for a bike tour around the country while you’re there; well, now you’ve got to get in shape for it so you can have the best possible experience while you’re there.” Sign up for a destination race—the Paris Marathon, for example—or just book a trip that involves a lot of physical activity, whether it’s hiking or skiing.

How to Gain Weight and Build Bigger Muscles

We're always talking about how to lose weight, but there are plenty of guys who want to gain weight in order to increase muscle mass.

While eating more food sounds like a dream, it doesn’t mean you can just start gorging on pizza at every meal. Food quality is just as important as quantity, especially if you want to build muscle.

“You need to make sure that you’ll fueling your body so that it can recover,” 

Essentially, resistance training creates micro tears in your muscles, she explains. The muscle repairs itself, and your muscles will become bigger and stronger, but they need the right building blocks, like protein, to do so, she says. And if you decide to bulk up by eating junk, you’ll gain fat along with muscle.

Here are three tips for how to gain weight the right way:

Start slowly

It’s tempting to go overboard, but eating too much too quickly could cause gastrointestinal problems. “Our bodies like certainty and routine,” says Registered Dietitian Christen Cupples Cooper, EdD and Assistant Professor at the College of Health Professions at Pace University. Although side effects vary by person, adding too many calories quickly upsets your normal routine, and may cause an upset stomach, bloating, heartburn, diarrhea or constipation.

She recommends adding 250 calories per day to gain weight.

Increase portion sizes

Cooper says it’s easier to increase calories by having larger meals and a few snacks, instead of simply eating more meals. “For example, if you have two scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast, have three scrambled eggs on whole wheat toast with a piece of fruit or container of yogurt with fruit.”

She also recommends snacking on nuts, which have omega-3 fatty acids and protein that help build muscle.

Eat clean

Adam advises against relying on junk food and supplements for extra calories. Instead, chomp on legumes, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, and yes, protein.

Need meal ideas? Use this daily meal plan to gain weight, courtesy of Leslie Bonci, R.D., sports dietitian for the Kansas City Chiefs:

Breakfast

Select from one of the following menus

• Orange juice (12-oz glass)
• Bowl of Cheerios (large) with granola added, skim milk
• Bagel or 2 slices of wheat toast with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter on each piece

or

• 2 pieces of fruit
• A glass of juice (12 oz)
• A breakfast sandwich on an English muffin
• Scrambled eggs (2)
• 2 pieces of ham
• 2 slices of cheese

or

• Bagel with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter
• Smoothie, made with:
  • 1 scoop of protein powder
  • 8 oz yogurt
  • 12 oz skim milk
  • 1 cup of frozen fruit

ROMAN LARIN / EYEEM

Post-Workout Snack

Eat something within 15 minutes of finishing your workout, even if you are not hungry. If you exercise more than once a day, you need to eat something after every workout. Choose between one of the following options that are optimized to recover as well as increase weight.

• Sports drink
• Snack (choose one)
  • Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
  • A container of yogurt with granola
  • A small bag of trail mix and sports drink
  • Energy bar

Lunch

Select from one of the following menus

• Submarine sandwich on whole wheat (12-inch), made with one of the following proteins:
  • Chicken
  • Tuna
  • Steak
  • Ham and cheese
• Baked chips
• Juice

or

• Grilled chicken salad
• Baked potato
• Juice

or

• Bagel sandwich with turkey, cheese, and fruit
• Pasta with sauce and 2 pieces of chicken
• Salad

or

• Omelet with 3 eggs, cheese, vegetables,
• Hash browns
• Toast (2 slices)

Afternoon Snack

• Drink (choose one)
  • Low-fat milk
  • Juice
• Snack (choose one)
  • Banana with peanut butter (2 tablespoons)
  • Trail mix with cereal, nuts, and dried fruit (1 cup or 2 handfuls)
  • Cheese and whole wheat crackers
  • Cereal (large bowl)

Dinner

Split your plate evenly between protein and carbohydrates

• Protein (choose one)
  • Steak
  • Chicken
  • Fish
  • Pork
  • Turkey

• Carbohydrates (choose one)
  • Pasta
  • Baked potato
  • Rice
  • Corn
• Side (choose one)
  • Salad
  • Cooked vegetables
  • Fruit
• Drink (choose one)
  • Low-fat milk
  • Juice

Late-Night Snack

• Snack (choose one)
  • Smoothie or protein shake with ice added
  • Peanut butter and jelly sandwich

Join a gym

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is not always easy. It takes time and effort, but workouts play a critical role and can help improve your lifestyle.

Working out at a gym is fun and energizing, and often includes classes (kickboxing, yoga, Pilates, spinning and strength training). Gyms also provide opportunities to meet new people. In fact, being with friends and peers will help you exercise better. Not only will this create good feelings but a more positive attitude since endorphins are released, which make you feel happy and energized. 

People often lack motivation to exercise, so belonging to a gym will help since they require a monthly fee, making you want to use what you paid for. The atmosphere is motivating since trainers offer safe, planned workouts. Many intend to exercise at home, but it’s very easy to get distracted and gym equipment and videos are costly and take up space.

The best part of a gym, though, is the health benefits. Working out helps burn fat and calories and even after just a short time, people tend to lose weight and become more fit. Exercising also contributes to increased muscle. Being stronger will help you perform daily activities with more ease. Also, once muscle replaces fat, it’s easier to burn more calories in a shorter amount of time. Gyms even offer nutritional classes and easy access to personal trainers. 

Joining a gym may appear to be expensive, but most are about a dollar a day (if you go daily) and the majority offer reduced rates for students. It does take time to exercise, but to maintain a healthy lifestyle, working out is essential. Chances are there is a gym near your house. Even if you’re busy, exercising should be a priority and takes 30 to 60 minutes a day (even every other day will help). This is about the time the average person spends in front of TV. And since many gyms have TVs, you can even watch while exercising. 

Having the motivation and ability to exercise on a regular basis will take you one step closer to achieving a healthy life.