Why Americans are Obese: Chocolate Milk

July 16 2011 by in Industrial food-like products, Weight loss, Why Americans are obese

Here’s another shocker from an American supermarket. At first you’d think it’s milk, it’s found in the dairy aisle after all. But actually this is not milk. Although it has “as much calcium as milk”.

It’s also called “Healthy and Delicious” and “Light”. But what is it really?

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This has “Zero cholesterol and saturated fat”, and “Only 90 calories”. Must be good for you, right? In case you don’t get the message they spell it out for you:

It’s one of the healthiest ways going to satisfy that daily chocolate craving. Bye-bye, guilt. Hello, bliss.

So what is it?

The Nutrition Facts

Ingredients: All Natural Soymilk and All Natural Cane Juice. Doesn’t that sound very natural?

It’s “free of lactose, dairy, cholesterol, eggs, casein, MSG, and worries”. It’s free of a lot of things (like decent nutrition). But it’s not free of sugar. In fact, it’s almost all sugar:

1.5 grams of fat
3 grams of protein
14 (!) grams of sugar

The 14 grams are per serving, there are 8 servings in this, so the “guilt-free” chocolate drink contain a massive 114 grams of sugar. Unbelievably, even with all this sugar, they still add extra artificial sweetening (Stevia).

This hidden sugar bomb is marketed as a “healthy” option to real milk in America. It’s one reason why the American obesity epidemic is out of control.

LCHF for beginners

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Why Americans are obese, part 1

Why Americans are obese, part 2

Weight loss and LC: Time to stop denying the science

22 Comments

1
mezzo
July 16 2011
How about eating real food? I always find the experience of an American supermarket both exhilarating and depressing. There is a very large choice of a whole lot of things I don't need, that's the exhilarating part. The depressing part is, that there is very little real food.
2
Peggy Holloway
July 16 2011
My local newspaper posts a daily recipe, often with a caption about the health benefits of the food or touting it as a healthy alternative to conventional recipes for that dish. Invariably, the recipe contains ingredients labeled as "fat-free" or "low-fat." I have rarely seen a recipe in this feature that does not contain some sort of sweetener or added sugar. Most of the recipes are grain-based. Even vegetable and meat dishes have some sort of sugary sauce or glaze. I honestly can't think of one example of a recipe in this feature that I would use. Americans have been horribly brain-washed to believe that fat is the enemy and to ignore the sugar/carb content of their diets. Recently published statistics, state-by-state, on the obesity rates are shocking. The state with the lowest rate, Colorado, has a rate just under 20%. 20 years ago, that number would have qualified as one of the highest rates. There are several states with rates above 30%. And still, the "eat low-fat" insanity continues.
3
Laurie
July 16 2011
Yes, we sell this in my store; I'm a cashier for a living. I roll my eyes when I see people buying products like this, thinking they are doing their health a favour. If the sugar doesn't kill your health the soy will. Sad indeed :(
4
Barb
July 16 2011
There was a recent story in our local paper about a non-profit civic group that has an annual "sugar drive" for the local homeless shelter and soup kitchen. This year they delivered 2,000 pounds of sugar. According to the article, the shelter uses that much per month! I was stunned. Doing the match, this shelter serves 55,541 meals in the soup kitchen per year, 4629 per month. 2000 pounds of sugar divided by 4629 meals equals .43 pound of sugar per meal. And they wonder why strokes and type 2 diabetes are rampant in this area!
5
Dana
July 16 2011
Yesterday I was in the grocery store getting snacks for the playground, trying to find a trail mix that didn't have chocolate or other sugary coatings in it. (I found ONE.) Over the PA the manager announced that cherries were on sale and that they were good to eat because they were fat-free. He kept harping on that. "Fat-free, fat-free cherries," all throughout his little speech.

I wanted to punch him. Cherries ARE a wonderful food--but NOT because they are fat-free. In fact, eating them with cream only improves them.

At least he wasn't touting fat-free Froot Loops or something, I guess. *sigh*
6
Jen
July 16 2011
Same serving size of skim cow's milk has 12g of sugar... So 14 is so terrible? As a substitute for a milk chocolate snack as part of moderation in your diet, how is this so awful? And this actually has calcium and vitamins. Not sure you're focused on the right "problem" with the American diet.
7
Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt
July 16 2011
Jen,
Skim milk happens to be awful as well for people wanting to lose weight. All milk sugar and slightly insulinogenic milk protein, skim milk is OK for bodybuilders wanting to grow their muscles, but really bad for anyone wanting to lose body fat.

If you want milk, drink real milk. If you want a good low-calorie drink, chose water.

I know this goes against conventional wisdom today, but consider what has happened to the obesity rates while we believed in that.

As for milk chocolate being "part of moderation in your diet", that's a fairy tale that candy companies want you to believe in. Eat candy if you like, but your weight and health will always be better off without it.
8
Linda
July 16 2011
I find that, more often than not, trips to my local grocery store are downright depressing. Due to budget constraints, I shop at Walmart several times a month. I see so many people, riding around in those motorized carts, and, unfortunately, they are almost always morbidly obese. I see the garbage they have put into their baskets, and I wonder, "Did they become obese first or did their medical condition cause the obesity?"
I have to keep reminding myself that this is a free country and that consumers can buy and consume whatever they want or need or desire, but in my mind, I think about grabbing all that junk and replacing it with healthy meat, berries, non-starchy veggies, high fat dairy, etc.
9
Melissa67
July 16 2011
The serving size given on the carton is 8oz. But not many people actually drink just 8oz at a time, because a typical drinking glass is 12oz (and in some households I know of it's 16oz).

That said, I used to drink chocolate almond milk, which is increasingly popular here. It's even worse--20g sugars per 8oz serving.
10
Margaretrc
July 17 2011
Unsweetened almond milk, on the other hand (same brand--Silk) has zero net carbs and zero sugar, so I use it in place of regular milk and add cream, because there is not much fat in it. My morning latte made with the unsweetened almond milk, cream and a little coconut oil lasts me pretty much until lunch with nothing else, even if I play tennis all morning!
11
Margaretrc
July 17 2011
Also, Jen, as Laurie said--it isn't just the sugar in this that's bad, although 14 g of sugar (or even 12) in one serving of anything is bad enough. It's the soy part, too. Contrary to popular belief, soy products are not good for us. The traditionally fermented ones like miso and tempeh are okay in small (condiment) amounts, but glugging an 8oz glass or more of soy milk with or without the sugar and chocolate flavoring is not. Soy has phytoestrogens, phytates, and various other anti-nutrients that we can and should do without. As the Doc says, stick to real milk with all the fat (8 g sugar) or better yet, water.
12
Dina
July 17 2011
"Americans have been horribly brain-washed to believe that fat is the enemy and to ignore the sugar/carb content of their diets."

Unfortunately it isn't only the Americans who have been brainwashed like that. I think it's most of the western world ... :-(
13
Dalila
July 17 2011
I recently found a lactose-free, extra protein, reduced fat (I know, but wait!) but also reduced sugar (!) milk at Central Market called Mootopia. I haven't even looked at the fat content but to make up for it I add some heavy cream when I drink it, and as far as carbs it has 6g, which isn't too bad every once in a while. I'm not lactose intolerant but this milk tastes great: creamy on its own and even better with some heavy cream and a bit of coffee!

Here are the ingredients: Reduced sugar, high protein, high calcium, reduced fat milk, lactase enzyme, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D3.

Reduced sugar is the first ingredient, so I'm not sure how to take that, but I only drink every now and then so I don't think it's too big a deal.
14
Jim Anderson
July 18 2011
When I first started eating low-carb, I bought a carton of soy-milk. It was OK, but then I read articles about the dangers of large amounts of dietary soy and decided not to buy any more. Reading food labels closely, I noticed how many products contain soy or soy oil. It's hard to avoid except by avoiding all processed foods, and not eating out. Soy beans are a huge cash crop now, and soy will be difficult to remove from the collective American diet. The only solution seems to be for people to get educated on the problems with soy and then read food labels.
15
PPersson
September 3 2011
Real cream (36% fat = the good stuff) is only 3% carbs. Cream is better than milk.
16
Bovid
September 3 2011
I am convinced that everything is ok in moderation. Enough carbs, enough protein, enough fibre and veggies. This diet is devoid of sources of vital vitamins... The ONLY way to lose weight is watch calories and exercise!
17
Funderaren
September 3 2011
Bovid, first of all why do you think you need carbs?

Second what vitamins do you think you gonna miss? C? D? There is plenty of vitamins in LCHF diet.

Third, there are plenty examples of people lose weight without watching calories or exercise. Eat right and your body adjust the calories for you. Its not easy to overeat on LCHF. Its easy to overeat when you add plenty of carbs.
18
FrankG
September 3 2011
You missed out fat Bovid... dietary fat is essential to health :-) Several vitamins are fat soluble so we get them by eating fat.

*Everything* in moderation :-0

Do a search at the USDA's Nutritional Database on a Porterhouse Steak.. be amazed at the extensive list of vitamins and minerals you will find there!

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

A nice juicy steak with some steamed broccoli served with butter is a complete meal that has *everything* in moderation.
19
Margaretrc
September 4 2011
"A nice juicy steak with some steamed broccoli served with butter is a complete meal that has *everything* in moderation." Now that's my kind of meal! Or you could saute the broccoli in coconut oil with some onions and garlic. Yum!
20
Frances
March 13 2013
I want to know if there is an official opinion on the difference between cow's milk and goat's milk.I personally believe it to be superior, but I would like an opinion that didn't come from a goat dairy association or farmer.

Reply: #21
21
Reply to comment #20 by Frances
Zepp
March 14 2013
Diferent proteins!

Its often that cow kasein thats making the trouble.

And its probably a breading thing.. becuse wild cows dont have it!
22
Paul Gardner
September 20 2016
I've always been a huge milk drinker. But now that I have gone LCHF, I've discovered almond milk and coconut milk blend, unsweetened and it's incredible! It has the same mouth feel as cow's milk, but tastes so much better, and SO LOW in carbs.

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