The Slowcook at Spydog Farm The Slowcook at Spydog Farm

It’s Not the Milk, It’s the Lactose

May 14th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Posted in Blog, kids

Guess how many carbs in chocolate milk

Guess how many carbs in chocolate milk

Just poking around the lunch room at my daughter’s charter school here in the District of Columbia I happened to look at the nutritional information on the back of an 8-ounce container of chocolate milk. Milk is a health food for children, right? Builds strong muscles and bones, right? Imagine my dismay when I saw that there are 28 grams of carbohydrates in this little snack-sized container. About half of that comes from the naturally occurring lactose–a form of sugar–in the milk itself. The rest of it is added in the form of high-fructose corn syrup.

Even if you are following the food pyramid recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture–heavily tilted toward carbohydrates, unfortunately–this one 28-gram dose of carbs would represent 16 percent of the total carbohydrates a girl in the first grade would require for the entire day. It’s a huge number for me. Being on a high-protein diet, I try to consume fewer than 50 grams of carbs a day.

These numbers are significant because as we now know, carbohydrates prompt an insulin response from the body and insulin is responsible for storing fat. Too many kids are overweight or obese–or even suffering diabetes–because they are consuming too many carbohydrates, especially in the form of refined flours, polished grains and sugars. Schools have no business serving kids starchy foods such as French fries or sugary foods such as cookies or sodas–or especially high-fructose corn syrup hidden in milk. In addition, this little box of chocolate milk contains an astounding 210 milligrams of sodium.

Recovering from my shock over the chocolate milk, I started examining some of the other beverages in the lunch room fridge. The “Fresh” 2-percent (reduced fat) milk lists 13 grams of carbohydrates (again, the lactose). A four-ounce container (or half-cup) of “100% Pure Apple Juice” lists 14 grams of carbs–the same by volume as the chocolate milk. A four-ounce container of “100% Pure Orange Juice” lists 13 grams of carbohydrates.

Keep in mind, four ounces is just half a cup.

Most parents and food writers get worked up over the fat content in milk. As far as I’m concerned, the fat is the least of the problem. What we really need to eliminate from the milk we serve in schools is the lactose and any other added sugars. Since all carbohydrates are converted by the body into sugar (glucose), we should be asking why our federally-approved food pyramid recommends that we serve our typical first-grader the equivalent of a cup of sugar every day, much of it disguised as health food.

First thing: the chocolate milk has to go. Then we can start to get rid of all those yogurt cups laced with high-fructose corn syrup as well.

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  • Joanna

    My life changed the day I started reading and thinking about the information on the back of industrially processed food. It wasn’t long before I stopped buying virtually all of it. My husband sometimes says I’m a control freak, and in this area I’m prepared to concede that he’s right.

    It’s shocking what nutritional junk gets sold to schoolchildren, especially when there are studies which show that good food helps develop brainpower AND cuts down on difficult behaviours.

    How’s your diet going? Is it successful? And are you enjoying it?

    Joanna

  • Ed Bruske

    Joanna, as you can see, I’ve become very conscious of the carbohydrate information on nutrition labels lately. My diet is great, thanks for asking. I’ve lost 16 pounds in 10 weeks, which isn’t hugely dramatic, and I think it would be more if we hadn’t misplaced the power cord to my eliptical machine. I now walk everywhere. Restricting carbs has definitely had a calming affect on my appetite–I am no longer constantly grazing. And we are exploring new ways to prepare protein without the usual starches. More details to come in a post soon.