What are dairy products?
Which foods can be considered dairy products?
In the common sense, the term dairy products indicates the variegated family of food products derived from milk.
In the English language we speak of Dairy Products, or dairy products, which are considered by most to be a synonym for dairy products. While waiting for the terms and regulations on the matter to be established in the institutional offices, we see a general overview of the numerous dairy products.
Butter, cheese, ricotta, cream, yogurt and fermented milks are undoubtedly the most popular dairy products to the general public.
- Cream, or milk cream, is the raw material from which butter is obtained and represents "the product obtained from milk, in the form of a "fat-in-water emulsion with a minimum content, by weight, of milk fat of 10%."It therefore represents the fat part of the milk, usually obtained by centrifugation at 6500-7000 revolutions per minute (alternatively it can be obtained by surfacing, that is, by slow decanting in steel tanks or basins).
- Butter is obtained by concentrating the cream obtained from milk or whey, and as such it can be considered a concentrate of the lipid fraction of milk.
- Fermented milks are obtained by inoculating particular microbial strains into the milk, which make profound changes in the organoleptic characteristics and chemical composition of the milk of origin. Yogurt, gioddu, kefir, koumis, leben and other traditional products of the various nations belong to this family of dairy products.
- Cheese is the product obtained from the acid or rennet coagulation of the caseins present in milk (curd).
See also: dairy allergy; intolerance to dairy products; lactose in dairy products.
Nutritional properties
The nutritional values and organoleptic characteristics of dairy products vary in relation to the milk of origin; in fact, on the market we have products not only vaccines, but also goats, sheep, buffaloes, etc.
In relation to energy power, dairy products can be divided into four categories:
- high-calorie (over 400 kcal / 100 g, such as mascarpone, sbrinz, emmenthal, pecorino and caciocavallo);
- caloric (between 300 and 400 kcal / 100 g, such as parmesan, fontina, scamorza, taleggio, and most of the cheeses not mentioned in the other categories);
- normal (between 200 and 300 kcal / 100 g, such as mozzarella and stracchino);
low-calorie (below 200 kcal / 100 g, such as cottage cheese, cottage cheese and yogurt).
The caloric power of a dairy product can vary in relation to the production process and the origins of the starting milk; the mozzarella on the market, for example, have nutritional values that are also significantly different from each other, depending - above all - on the percentages of fat. This, in fact, strongly affects the flavor of the product and it is no coincidence that it is clearly superior in buffalo mozzarella compared to cow's milk.
Dairy products in the Diet
Contextualization of dairy products in a balanced diet
It goes without saying that the preference, from a health point of view, should be given to low-calorie dairy products, which also boast a lower content of saturated fatty acids, dangerous - if consumed in large quantities - because they amplify the negative effects of excess cholesterol. It must be said, however, that even the fattest cheeses are healthily acceptable, as long as they are consumed in limited quantities and with due care. A seemingly harmless plate of pasta (100 grams), with a few tablespoons of puree (30 grams), a generous sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese (20 grams), a basil leaf and a drizzle of "olive oil" (10 grams) is a delicacy that costs dearly in terms of calories, since it abundantly exceeds 500 calories and produces a modest sense of satiety. Forty grams of parmesan flakes, served on a bed of bresaola (80 grams), rocket (or other fresh vegetables in abundance) and a drizzle of oil, allow you to save about 150 KCal compared to the previous dish, with the advantage of feeling much more satiated at the end of the meal. Again with reference to this last parameter, soft, semi-liquid or spreadable dairy products have a lower satiety index than those with hard dough. It is not uncommon, for example, to gulp down industrial quantities of mascarpone or yogurt in the throes of a hunger attack, while it is more difficult to indulge in flakes of Grana Padano.
Other prohibitive combinations, in terms of calories, are given by the combination of cheese / bread, cheese / honey or cheese / jam, further aggravated by the combination with wine or other spirits. Obviously everything is in the quantity, but also in the quality of the dairy product and in the consumption frequency; one thing is to systematically finish the evening meal by pairing mascarpone with jam and another thing is to propose the same pairing from time to time with ricotta (which has less than a third of calories). The ideal combinations with dairy products are those that eliminate or strongly reduce carbohydrates (limited, for example, to a few breadsticks or a slice of wholemeal bread), since the usual combination of hyperlipidic foods with other hyperglucides represents one of the most faithful allies of overweight.
Bread, pasta and the like can be replaced by vegetables, raw or steamed (spinach, courgettes, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, rocket, onions ...), possibly flavored with various spices, capers, sesame seeds or, why not, from some smoked salmon slice.
The nutritional importance of dairy products derives above all from their particular richness in highly bioavailable calcium. A daily ration of 1200 mg is contained, for example, in a jar of yogurt combined with 50 grams of Parmesan and 3 deciliters of milk. in calcium per unit of weight increases proportionally to the seasoning period (as it generally happens for fats). Alternative sources of calcium, even if less bioavailable, are represented by legumes, some vegetables (such as broccoli and cabbage), dried fruit and small blue fish, such as anchovies.
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