Nutritional Values for Milk

Milk is an important part of every diet and is the base for the dairy products that we need to consume every day. Milk itself has nutritional benefits and drawbacks that should be considered while looking at your diet.

Serving

• While there are multiple types of milk available, this guide focuses on whole milk with 3.25 percent milkfat. The USDA defines one serving of whole milk as 1 cup.

Calories

• It can be easy to ignore the calories you consume when drinking liquids. Milk has 146 calories per serving.

Fat

• Milk is somewhat high in fat and may be a poor choice for those avoiding saturated fat. One serving has 8 g of fat, with 5 g coming from saturated fat. This is 23 percent of your daily allowance of saturated fat.

Protein

• Milk is a good source of protein. One cup of whole milk has 16 percent of your daily recommended amount of protein with 8 g.

Calcium and Vitamin D

• Milk is an excellent source of calcium and vitamin D. One serving has 28 percent of your daily recommended value of calcium and 24 percent of your daily recommended value of vitamin D.