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Are you having a Fat Full Fall? If not, let’s consider switching something to full fats. Maybe your milk? Your sour cream? Your cottage cheese? Are you ready to get the flavor of real cheese back after living with 2% or (eeek) fat free cheese?
Your mission, if you choose to accept, is to consider full fat dairy.
Level of Commitment: Baby Steps
If this sounds crazy to you, please give research a chance and read the Food for Thought on powdered milk and oxidized cholesterol. Also know that I’m really along for this ride with you. My family was drinking skim milk exclusively at this time last year. I bought fat free sour cream, cottage cheese and yogurt, and I was always happy when Kraft cheese went on sale because I could get the 2% milk version. (The fat free cheese really didn’t work for us. I can’t even wax poetic about it – it’s just gross!)
I’ve since been convinced that there are too many dangerous things added when the fat is taken out. That alone would have been enough to make the change, but in the meantime I’ve come to believe that saturated fats aren’t as bad for us as I previously was made to think.
When I turn on my conscious thought processes about reduced fat dairy, there really are some ridiculous things going on. For example: fat free sour cream. Sour cream, people. This is a product that is supposed to be made from the fat that rises to the top of your milk. What is IN fat free sour cream, anyway? It can’t be cream. I understand that it’s milk, but then how to get it so thick? [Answer: Add a whole bunch of synthetic things.] Fat free sour cream is closer to a product than a food, and it doesn’t belong in my refrigerator anymore.
Pump Up the Flavor
Switching (or switching back) to full fat dairy has one big added bonus for most people: the taste. I’m no culinary elitist, so I can’t say I notice the difference in flavor with sour cream or cottage cheese. Then again, I don’t eat either of those plain, but only in other things. The fat free cheese is a no-brainer. I’m so happy to be back with the real thing! My homemade yogurt is also so much thicker. It’s just wonderful with whole milk!
Our Family’s Story
I bet you’re wondering how our family’s weight is doing since this switch. It’s okay, you can ask if we’re fatter. We consume a fair amount of dairy products, so this is a very good question. In fact, I hope you’re curious, because I’m about to tell you!
No one’s gained a pound.
I was still losing baby weight when we made the switch, and I still have that last nagging 5 pounds to go. Many people say that never leaves until baby is finished nursing, and Lovey Girl has no interest in quitting. But all my pants fit and I feel good.
My husband is slimmer and weighs less now than any time in our marriage. He started working out more seriously in June, but he didn’t gain any weight in the six months of full fat dairy prior to that, either. Other than adding fat to our diets, we haven’t made any other changes that would change our total caloric intake, and he still drinks his pop like he always has.
My kids are so skinny they’re going to disappear. I have a certain amount of guilt about the two years I subjected Buddy Boy’s little body to skim milk and dry-milk-enhanced skim yogurt. 
I just have to offer that one up and rest in the fact that I did the best I knew then, and I’m doing the best I know now.
How about you? Are you a fat-free/low-fat household? Have you made the switch already (and how did it go)? Does drinking whole milk sound like it’s just something for the 2-and-under crowd?
Full Fat Dairy works for me. Find more Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family.
Hungry for more? Related posts:
Hi, I’m Sonja and I run a full fat house. We drink raw milk straight from the bulk tank, we eat butter, our yogurt isn’t homemade (yet) but it is the real deal. We don’t eat sour cream, only because I use plain yogurt for the cultures, and my kids love keifer. I am also looking at a tub of cream cheese that makes me smile.
Sonja´s last blog ..Last day of the carnival…
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Katie Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Hi, Sonja! Welcome! I’m thrilled to see your “yet” after homemade yogurt; you know how passionate I am about that! Thank you so much for sharing your love of dairy fat!
Katie
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I have made the switch, just about two months ago. I started with milk. Switching to full fat dairy products has seriously enhanced the flavor of the food I prepare. Everything is so much more delicious. I have never enjoyed food as much as I do now. I, too, am losing weight while eating a full fat diet – 4 pounds in the last 5 weeks. I do exercise and watch my calories, though.
I’ve talked some to my sister about my diet changes, and I think she might be on board, too. She thinks it makes sense.
Liz´s last blog ..Caffeinated Randomness
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Katie Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Liz,
It’s so good to hear positive stories to corroborate the research and other anecdotal evidence. Way to go!
Katie
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Before I started learning about the importance of saturated fats, I was convinced that whole milk and full fat dairy were important for my children. I didn’t have them all on full fat their whole lives (except the youngest two), but we switched quite a long time ago. I could never use skim milk, no matter how hard I tried. Maybe my body was trying to tell me something, no?
Anyway, we used reduced fat milk for awhile for us, and bought whole milk for the kids. That quickly became tedious, and we started using all whole milk, all the time. As I said, this was long before I began learning about these things. I just knew that full fat was important for kids’ brain function.
Suzanne´s last blog ..My Fowl Broth Story
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We used to be low fat…a couple years ago. Due to allergies we don’t do milk/dairy at all, but we do lots of coconut oil and milk, grass fed beef, etc. Should we ever go back to dairy, it’ll be only raw, whole dairy. I’m constantly looking for more ways to get fat into my family! And yes, we all continue to lose/maintain our weight.
Kate´s last blog ..Rebekah’s Story
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Katie Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Kate, A hearty fat-filled welcome to KS!
Glad to hear another happy fat story!
Katie
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I do full-fat on dairy as well
Love the last thoughts of this post about doing the best you could then and the best now as you learn new things. I have been in that boat too lately and I know it’s taking little steps and we are doing better. We still have the exceptions too, but I do think it important to keep learning and then change our actions as we learn more. This last year has been quite the learning adventure for me and I am enjoying hearing your thoughts on the similar journey as well!
Jen´s last blog ..Chicken Soup
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It has been a little rough switching to full fat milk. My kids are ultra picky – can taste organic or healthy from a mile away. Sigh, I so thought I was feeding them ok. Anyhow, they will now drink regular Vit D (full fat milk) but still balk at organic. the cheese they tell however. I don’t have a source for raw milk, I can’t imagine the complaining I would get if I tried. (babysteps – I cook with the best I can buy and have reg. for them to drink. I am slowly changing!
Christy´s last blog ..Keeping Tortilla’s Warm for a crowd
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Katie Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Sounds like you’re doing great to me! Baby steps is right…and most people say that organic milk isn’t really a step up because of the ultra-high-temp pasteurization. I should probably touch on that in a post this week, come to think of it…
Thanks so much for sharing!
Katie
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i can definitely detect the difference between full fat dairy & non or low fat dairy. bleck on the non & lowfat stuff. full fat, full flavor. Been eating & drinking it my whole life (including all those raw milk years) & I’m 5′8″, 144 lbs & healthy.
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I haven’t been tolerating dairy very well but I think it might be lactose intolerance. I was thinking that if I am, I could get lactose free products but worry about this very issue. Why is full fat better? I would think I would gain lots of weight!
Ari-Food Intolerances Cook´s last blog ..Easy Beansy Black Bean Soup
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Katie Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Ari,
The simple answer is that our bodies tend to prefer storing carbs as fat over fat as fat. Read this post and the links within for more: http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/09/29/food-for-thought-fat-and-your-body/
Hope that helps!
Katie
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Well, you’ll proud of me to know that today I bought full-fat milk, yogurt, and creme fraiche and WOW are they yummy! I have come full circle now. Started out in the 40’s eating and drinking full-fat everything. Then somewhere down the line all that fat stuff became synonymous with DEATH, so I quite and started the non-fat era of my life. I even wrote a small cookbook with ALL fat-free recipes.
But now Katie, you’ve shown me the light and once again I’m into full-fat and loving it. I have even been making my own butter—YUMMMMMM! I love all this fat BUT if I start gaining pounds what then? LOL.
Thanks for your wonderful blog and all that research you do. And thanks tons for sharing with us. Keep up the fabulous work.
Love,
Marly
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Katie Reply:
October 15th, 2009 at 12:13 am
Marly,
I am SO proud of you! Woo hoo! You have really come full circle. It’s fun to hear readers like you chime in, and it gives me the motivation to keep on writing. Thank you!!
And, um…if you gain a bunch of weight…Katie doesn’t know anything!
As long as you’re wise about your portions, all should be well.
In Him,
Katie
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I can’t do full-fat milk, but I do buy it for my kiddos. I’m just not a milk drinker. They also get full-fat cheese and yogurt. I’ve never considered giving them reduced fat dairy products since I like them eat as little processed food as possible, but I didn’t realize this was a “lifestyle.” Thanks for teaching me something new!
Kelly´s last blog ..WFMW: Removing ink stains
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I do full fat also. I don’t get the fat-free, low-fat mentality. A few years ago I realized that I am allergic to dairy and so is my youngest so I can’t do dairy anymore. But we use coconut oil and milk which is high in fat, but it’s good fat and one of the few fats that takes more calories for your body to burn than it supplies. If anyone wants to learn more the book Eat Fat Lose Fat is a great place to start!
Cheryl@Somewhat Crunchy´s last blog ..WFMW – Get Your Toddler To Take Vitamins
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Scary how much crud they add to our foods, isn’t it?
niki´s last blog ..WFMW…I Spy—A Manager’s Special!
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I’m nervous about going full fat. Especially now that I am told I have to go low fat and my Husband is over weight and has been trying WW.
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Katie Reply:
October 16th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Monaly, Pray on it!
Katie
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Thankfully, we’ve never eaten low-fat anything except what we can’t readily find in other forms. (Why is it that the only full-fat yogurt commercially available is plain? We can’t have our fat AND some flavor?) We are all extremely thin, so fat was never an issue for us – and guess what, we’re still thin! lol
And I’m with you on fat-free sour cream. That’s like organic cookies. The whole idea of organic cookies just leaves me scratching my head.
Rachel R.´s last blog ..Quotable – housework
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We’ve been on a candida, whole foods, full fat diet for over 6 months. My husband has lost 45 pounds and is feeling wonderful. I just made my own yogurt for the first time this weekend. It’s yummy! I’ve been reading Elaine Gottschall’s book “Breaking the Vicious Cycle” so I cultured the yogurt (and I did half and half, too) for 24 hours to break down the lactose. My husband and I have trouble digesting some dairy. This has been a great adventure and I still have so much to learn.
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Katie Reply:
November 17th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Laura,
Wow, what an awesome success story! I love it. Welcome aboard – looking forward to hearing more!
Katie
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We also eat only raw whole milk products. I make homeade yogurt, cream fraiche, coffee creamer, yogurt cheese and whey. I would love to experiment with hard cheeses next. My husband and teenagers were resistant to raw milk at first, so i poured the 1st 3 gallons in the old milk jugs. Nobody noticed a difference, so i broke the news….Sometimes you have to be a sneaky chef
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Katie Reply:
November 24th, 2009 at 1:57 am
Heather,
You made me smile! I have trouble getting raw milk to make creamy yogurt, so I’m still doing store milk for that, but refining it all the time. Here’s a great mozz cheese tutorial: http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/blog/how-to-make-mozzarella-cheese
Welcome!
Katie
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hi =) ive been consuming low-fat milk n yogurt n cheese for quite some time but now after reading your posts on fats, i want to try switching to full fat dairy. can u give me some ideas on how i can gradually incorporate full fat dairy into my daily diet?
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Katie Reply:
January 10th, 2010 at 7:10 am
Tracy,
Katie
I want to say “just switch”, but if you want something gradual, you could try going with cheese first (the low-fat stuff is totally missing something; you’ll LOVE going back to the full thing!). If you’re on skim milk and whole seems too thick, I would just work my way up to 1/2%, then 1/% and 2% and whole. Mostly it’s easy, because everything has more flavor in its whole form, so it’s actually a fun dietary change to make!
Enjoy!
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Okay so I haven’t read the other articles about a full fat diet, but I am weary of it. Mainly, because my husband has been given poor genetics in regards to high cholesterol. At age 20 when having his physical his doctor said that it was good he wasn’t a smoker, because he would have already lived half his life. They are that bad. I’ll look into it, but I am skeptical about purposefully doing full fat.
However, I am totally an anti-fat free sour cream, half & half, and other dairy stuff where they use fillers. But, skim milk is taking the fat out and not replacing it. You obviously know more about this than I do.
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Katie Reply:
January 28th, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Kamille,
I only know what I have read. I do believe that it makes sense to eat food the way God created them, in whole form. That being said – I am seeing less and less wrong with skim milk. (I’m doing an update on this soon – it’s 1/28/10 right now.) I have tested the system w/my husband, who has genetic high triglycerides. They didn’t go up at all after a year of full fat – but trigs aren’t really based on fat, so I can understand you not wanting to experiment with your hubby’s health!
Katie
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Kamille Reply:
January 28th, 2010 at 7:09 pm
Thanks Katie for your response and I’ll have to check in for what you found out. I also need to wander around your blog a bit more–there’s a ton of information making it necessary for a couple sit down reads.
Kamille´s last blog ..Palace Temple & Hospitality
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Katie Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Kamille,
Katie
You’re very welcome! Happy wandering!
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I am completely new to this “real food” idea, but I’m all for it and my hubby and I are making baby steps towards a more natural lifestyle. My question is this: I’m having trouble finding raw milk, so what do you think would be the next best thing? Is organic worth the price difference? I’ve been drinking skim milk my whole life b/c my mom was made to go on a low-fat diet for her cholesterol when I was a kid (which is laughable now, but hey, it was the 90’s!).
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Katie Reply:
February 3rd, 2010 at 3:14 pm
Kelli,
Awesome that you’re looking! Next best thing = organic, grass-fed, low-temp pasteurized, unhomogenized milk. As you might guess, that’s tricky to find, too! You can read about what I’m doing for yogurt here and get some ideas: http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2010/01/11/monday-mission-level-up-your-yogurt-game/
Hope that helps! Good to have you visit,
Katie
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Kelli M Reply:
February 3rd, 2010 at 5:10 pm
OK, and say it takes me awhile to find THAT…what then? Just 2% or whole of “regular” milk? So far the only organic milk I’ve seen is ultra-pasteurized, which I knew is even worse.
Thanks, for you help by the way. I’m such a newbie I need all the help I can get
! I started a blog to document my progress, and I linked your blog as a great resource! I just figured that the blog may help others like me who feel intimidated by everything. I definitely struggle with information overload 
!
Kelli M´s last blog ..No Diet Dr. Pepper update
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Kelli M Reply:
February 3rd, 2010 at 5:17 pm
Silly me. If I would have just read the link you provided me first I wouldn’t have had to ask this
Kelli M´s last blog ..No Diet Dr. Pepper update
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Katie Reply:
February 3rd, 2010 at 5:31 pm
Kelli,
Katie
I hear you on the info overload, to be sure. For store milk, I used whole milk for the past year. I don’t know, though – if homogenization is the beast it’s made out to be, skim milk and just making sure you’re eating lots of butter and other healthy fats in the same meal might be even safer. I can find unhomogenized whole milk for $4/gallon at a local meat store and some other places around here – that’s another good alternative, especially b/c organic is, as you said, so often brutalized by UHT processing. Best of luck!! Love yr blog name, by the way.
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I would consider switching my partner’s milk to full fat, but he really can’t stand the taste of it. He says it tastes like drinking buttermilk. He does 2% organic milk (UP) or local milk (not UP just P). He is allergic to goat milk or else we’d drink raw goat milk from his dad’s homestead.
With other dairy products I am buying full fat. I used to fall for all of the hype of low fat or fat free too. I looked at the ingredients on low fat sour cream once and that was scary (even the organic!).
I was dairy free for 10 years so it’s weird for me to switch to cow milk. I do ice cream and cheese from dairy now, but I still haven’t switched myself to cow. So, I’m doing the SO Delicious coconut beverage, but that has lots of ingredients too. I may just have to make the switch to cow dairy.
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When I made the move to whole foods, there was an adjustment period. For me I ate everything and buttered everything, because, hey, it’s good for me! But then you realize calories are still calories. And Katie is right about flavor… you don’t need as much real sourcream or cheese as you may have consumed with the pseudo-food.
I used to hate any store milk over 1% because it felt like it coated the back of my tongue. Now I know better. We’ve been drinking raw milk for a few months now. In a pinch, or if I’m baking, I’ll buy a local grass-fed/pastured, organic, homogenized pasteurized milk, which I also sometimes get for yogurt [the un-homo raw doesn't set as well for room-temp cultures, and the long incubation can breed bad bacteria so I'd have to cook it anyway, which defeats the purpose of drinking raw].
As for the taste and coated feeling of conventional milks… I don’t get that at all with the raw. Maybe it’s because the fat globules are much larger or the fact it was milked that morning or day before… it’s the best stuff ever.
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I have some friends that buy raw milk, and they skim the cream off to make all the other products. So, they are drinking a non-fat, or low-fat, milk and eating full fat butter, cream, etc.
So, if I’m buying my dairy from the store, wouldn’t it make sense to purchase skim milk and full fat milk products.
If I purchase full fat milk as well as full fat products, doesn’t that theoretically throw off the ratio of fat to non-fat dairy products that people have traditionally eaten?
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Katie Reply:
July 10th, 2010 at 8:52 am
Jason,
Katie
My thought is that traditionally, folks would have skimmed the cream for butter, then fed the skim milk to the pigs and other animals. Does that help?
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