Skim off the top - goodnews - skim milk - Brief Article

myth: Skim milk is fat free.

fact: Although legally permitted to be marketed as "fat free," one cup of skim milk actually contains about 0.3 grams of saturated fat and 85 calories. That means skim milk furnishes about 3 percent of its total calories from saturated fat. That's low-but not fat free. And that excludes the much higher content of cholesterol, which is a form of fat.

If "fat free" skim milk has 3 percent saturated fat by calories, how much fat is in "2%" milk? Actually, the term "2%" refers to the amount of fat by weight. That makes it sound low in fat because most of the weight of milk is water, which supplies no calories. However, there are 2.9 grams of saturated fat and 120 calories in one cup of 2% milk, which translates into a whopping 22 percent of total calories from saturated fat.

Interestingly enough, despite its high-fat image, buttermilk provides only 12 percent of its calories from saturated fat.

Regardless, skim milk is your best choice, and it's a rich source of low-fat protein, calcium, magnesium, vitamin D and riboflavin.

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