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Protein Milk Comparison
Since my protein intake has become the sole focus of my diet I am now instantly drawn to any product I see in the supermarket or anywhere else that promotes itself as a ‘protein’ or protein enriched product. I was excited to see Anchor and Meadow Fresh have protein boosted milks on the market.
My milk of choice is the calci-trim variety as it has considerably more protein than normal milk but also far less fat making it my first choice so I was interested to see how the nutritional information of these two milks would compare.
After picking a ‘protein’ product up off the shelf the first thing I do is dutifully read the food label. I now have a teeny tiny post-op gastric bypass tummy and I need to make sure what I’m putting in there isn’t taking up valuable room stopping me getting enough protein in and I need to make sure it’s even worth eating in terms what I need. Post gastric bypass surgery I was given a daily protein goal of 60-80 grams of protein a day and I need to meet it every single day.
Here are the nutritional information labels of a normal blue top milk, a protein enriched milk and a calci-trim milk. I have added in a blue top milk as a control and for some context.
All of these values I refer to will be the per 100ml values as I tend to use so little milk when I need it. The protein boost has the highest amount of protein with 6.0g, the calci-trim next with 5.8g and the blue top milk with 3.2g. The next thing I’m most interested in is the fat content. Protein boost has 1.5g, calci-trim has 0.2g and blue top has 3.3g. The sugar content in normal milk like this doesn’t bother me because it’s the natural sugars in the milk, nothing has been added but the three are relatively similar in sugar content. The last part I’m interested in is the overall calorie count for the product. The protein boost has 244kJ or 58 calories, calci-trim has 193kJ or 46 calories and the blue top 296kJ or 70 calories.
The protein levels in the protein boost and calci-trim milks are almost double compared to the blue top milk but comparing protein boost to calci-trim the difference is marginal. One big difference though is the fat level between the two of them. The protein boosted milk has quite a bit more fat in it than the calci-trim varieties. The fat level is still relatively low compared to blue top milk but what it does is push up the overall kJ count and make it worth a bit more in terms of overall energy intake.
I chose to have weight loss surgery to help me significantly increase my chances of being able to maintain my weight long-term. Since I use milk every day in my protein shake I will be sticking to calci trim as with the lower fat and calorie content it will make maintenance slightly easier. What I have learnt from this exercise is that reading food labels is vitally important for post-op bariatric patients to make sure we are staying on the right track.
I will be doing a post specifically on reading food labels soon as it’s a topic I could talk about all day. Comment below and tell me if reading food labels has been or will become your priority in considering what you purchase in the future. Most of all I want to know I’m not alone in scrutinising labels in the supermarket!
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I always read food labels too! I recently spent way too long reading the ingredients of every granola in sainsburys to try find one that didn’t have sugar as an added ingredient.
It takes soooo long to do the shopping now! I really wish they would add the nutritional information to online grocery shopping too. It’s amazing that sugar is added to pretty much everything isn’t it :/
I, too, read food labels before I buy anything that has one! It’s so important post WLS to ensure you’re getting the right food in your body, with the right amount of proteins, fats and carbs. Sometimes the carb content is a bit shocking, but it makes me glad I take the time to read the labels. 🙂
It’s a must really! It’s so important for us to be aware of what’s going in so good on you Melissa 😀 At least I’m not the only one obsessed with it!
I remember grumbling as a kid when mum was reading labels at the supermarket, and looking at prices – but now, I do exactly the same thing! My brother is a student teacher, and his class learned about reading labels and went on a trip to the supermarket.
It’s scary when you realize you’re becoming more and more like your mother isn’t it! Wow that’s great the kids are being taught about reading food labels. That’s awesome kids are learning skills like that at school. Those are the real world skills kids need!
This is a key reason why I try to avoid buying things with labels as much as possible – fresh fruit and veg, meat, seafood and eggs form the basis of what I eat and I feel so much better now that I don’t eat as many things that come from the central aisles of the supermarket. Everything just seems to have so much added … junk.
That’s a very good point to make Meagan! Most of my eating is centered around high quality fresh food now and I have protein levels of these things memorised now. I certainly feel so much better eating in this way too! Thanks for checking out my blog 😀
This post is super helpful thanks! Is there any reason you don’t use soy or almond milks? I always read food labels as I’m astounded by how much sugar and salt is added to foods ? Its time consuming but definitely worth it!
Hey Ashleigh! I don’t use almond or soy milks because the tend to be lower in protein and higher in fat than cows milk. That seems to be especially true of nut milks. I’m always surprised by it too. Even in things you would not at all suspect would have sugar in them. Thanks for checking out my blog!
Have you tried the new Anchor high protein Greek style yoghurt? I haven’t done a nutritional analysis yet but wondered if a label geek like yourself might have…..
I have tried it and it’s nice. Compared to other yoghurts it is a bit higher in protein. I do find them really filling and for the price it’s not something I would eat all the time.
This has got me thinking….I am dairy intolerant as well as a coeliac so am reading labels all the time yet not specifically for comparison of protein, fat and sugar…..
Is there other recommendations other than how much protein to have daily?
The diet recommendations vary slightly between surgeons but a basic bariatric diet is high protein, low carb, and other things need to be low like sugar and fat. Protein is the only thing you will receive very strong guidance on in terms of amounts you have to have everyday.