Caryn Zinn: nutritionist and AUT professor on the US Government pushing for more full-fat dairy products

The United States Government has been pushing for more full-fat dairy products, and one Kiwi expert confirmed there's health benefits.

Robert F. Kennedy jnr has said for months that he wants the Government to endorse whole milk, reversing its earlier claims that Americans should consume low-fat milk and cheese to reduce the health risks.

Nutritionist and AUT professor Caryn Zinn says there's a 'substantial' body of evidence that shows full-fat milk is healthier. 

"Full-fat dairy products actually outperform low-fat dairy products when it comes to a number of chronic diseases - including lowering risk of childhood obesity, cardiovascular disease and type two diabetes."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Heather Duper c l.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Five nineteen. Now, the US government is reportedly putting the
full fat milk back into the schools. Whole milk fell
out of favor in the late seventies because there were
fears about saturated fat and heart disease and stuff like that.
But RFK loves a bit of the blue top, and
according to a leaked draft, he's putting it back on
the menu in the American schools. Karen Zin is an
aut professor of nutrition and with us. Now, Hey, Karen, Hi,

(00:24):
Heather good idea.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Great ideas by time?

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Do you also love the blue top?

Speaker 1 (00:32):
I love the blue top? I do? I never used to.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
I was very loyal to the light blue and green top,
But after reading a lot of evidence.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
And some common sense, I'm back on the blue top.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
Okay, what is the evidence? And common sense told you?

Speaker 1 (00:47):
So? You know, there was actually a substantial body of
evidence to show that full fat milk and full fat
dairy products actually outperform low fat dairy products when it
comes to a number of chronic diseases, including lowering risk
of childhood obesity, cardiovascular disease, and type two diabetes. So
we think that saturated fat is the problem. But when

(01:10):
we look at the studies, the dairy with a higher
fat actually shows either a neutral or even a protective
effect against some of these chronic diseases.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
So would we all actually be best off getting rid
of the light blue and the and the green tops
and drinking the blue top.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
That is part of the conversation for sure. So saturated
fat is the or has been, the villain, as you said,
And I think saturated fat in the context of our
current ultraprocessed food diet is a real problem. So I
think if we change and we all go to blue
top and relax the idea of saturated fat being the villain,

(01:50):
we also need to make sure that we do focus
more on eating, sorry, eating whole unprocessed foods alongside it.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
Yeah, totally. Now, I have got quite angry at Health
New Zealand, Karen. I'm not gonna lie like I've probably
become slightly irrational, but I have got quite angry with
them about the rules that they want to introduce for
the hospital cafeterias, and they want the people to go
there and cut the fat off the meat. You would
eat the fat, wouldn't you?

Speaker 1 (02:16):
I would?

Speaker 3 (02:17):
And I've actually heard you ranting about this, and it
is as a very very interesting argument, But I do
believe that natural fat from whole foods that were once
recently alive is not there to kill us.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
It really isn't. It's the ultra processed foods and the
combination of the sugar, fat, salt, additives and all those
industrial things that they're packaged together and market to us
in bright colors and flavors. That's what's killing us. It's
not the bit of saturated fat from our meat or
chicken or whole milk.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
Good from you, Karen, Thank you. Karen's an aut professor
of nutrition. I've heard you ranting about that that do
you know what if you to anybody else, that's an
insult to me, such a compliment. For more from Hither
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