Full-fat Dairy vs. Low-fat Dairy

Good news for women trying to conceive: eating ice cream may help! But low-fat dairy foods may increase the risk of infertility

I came across this article yesterday and thought you all might find it of interest. The main point:

Drinking whole fat milk and eating ice cream appears to be better for women trying to become pregnant than a diet consisting of low-fat dairy products such as skimmed milk and yoghurt, according to new research published in Europe's leading reproductive medicine journal, Human Reproduction, today (28 February).

I'm not a big fan of dairy products, especially pasteurized dairy, but this article does show that fat is not the deadly substance that it is made out to be. In fact, as we see, removing the fat from dairy products does more harm than good.

Of course, they still throw in this politically correct gem:

However, he said that it was important that women did this within the constraints of maintaining their normal calorie intake and limiting their overall consumption of saturated fats in order to maintain general good health. "Once they have become pregnant, then they should probably switch back to low-fat dairy foods as it is easier to limit intake of saturated fat by consuming low-fat dairy foods," he said.

So somehow saturated fat helps a woman become pregnant, but is bad for her after she's pregnant? I don't think anyone can logically argue that point. It seems logical that anything that reduces a woman's chances of proper ovulation is not healthful, period. First of all, they make "the calorie statement" again, which I've discussed previously. Then there's the fact that saturated fats are not unhealthful. But the nutritional world we live in says "fat is bad, saturated fat is really bad, and a truckload of carbs is good."

The bottom line is if you are going to consume dairy products, consume full-fat dairy products. Whether you are male or female, planning to become pregnant or not, it just makes sense to consume a food in as close to a natural state as possible. Removing the fat from a food necessarily changes that food, removing essential nutrients and changing the way the nutrients in the food work together.