We all know how healthy and nutritious milk is for us. From building strong bones, to helping fight disease and recent claims even support the use of milk for weight loss efforts. But have you ever wondered what type of milk is better for you? Is skim milk the way to go? Most people assume that they should stay with the one or two percent varieties of milk because they think that skim milk has less calcium, but in fact skim milk has just as much if not more calcium.

You may be surprised to learn that although skim milk has fewer calories and no fat, it still measures up to the other varieties such as whole or one-percent when it comes to nutritional value and calcium. So if you are looking for an excellent way to get your calcium intake every day without the unwanted excess fat and calories, skim milk could be just what you are looking for.

Taking a look at how skim milk measures up to its weighty counterparts, you will see how the skinny version of milk can hold its own when compared to whole and one-percent. First, you should know how much calcium you should be consuming every day. For children ages four through eight, 3 servings, children nine to eighteen, 4 servings, adults 19-50, 3 servings and adults over fifty, 4 servings.

In a comparison of whole milk, one-percent milk and skim milk, based on an eight-ounce serving, skim milk comes in with 90 calories, .5 grams of fat and 316 mg of calcium. Whole milk has 150 calories, 7.7 grams of fat and 291 mg of calcium. One-percent milk has 104 calories, 4.4 grams of fat and 296 mg of calcium. Based on that data, skim milk is a great way for you to get the calcium you need.