Heart&Stroke Health Check^TM Program

Tip #1: Drink skim milk, 1% or 2% milk every day

Drinking lower -fat milk each day ensures we’re getting the important nutrients these beverages provide while limiting fat and calories. Fluid milk (or fortified soy beverage) is our main dietary source of vitamin D, so it’s important that we consume 2 cups (500mL) of fluid milk daily. While yogurt and cheese are good sources of other nutrients they may or may not contain vitamin D.

Tip #2: Select lower -fat milk alternatives

Some milk alternatives can be high sources of saturated fat. By selecting lower- fat yogurt (2% milk fat or less) and cheeses with 15% to 20% milk fat we can limit the amount of saturated fat we’re consuming but still get the valuable nutrients these products provide.

To get the daily recommended number of Milk and Alternatives servings:

• Serve milk at each meal instead of soft drinks or fruit drinks.
• Use lower -fat milk instead of water or cream when preparing soups, hot cereals or puddings.
• Enjoy lower -fat yogurt as a snack or as a dip for fruit.
• Sprinkle small amounts of aged cheese to dishes for added flavour and nutrients.
• Chocolate milk and fortified soy beverages provide similar nutritional benefits to white milk. To reduce their sugar content, try mixing chocolate milk or flavored soy beverage with lower fat white milk or unsweetened soy beverage.