Is Animal Protein from Milk Bad?

Milk contains animal protein; however, compared with the amount of protein in fish or meat, the amount of protein in milk is relatively small. A search of the USDA’s National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference reports the comparative amounts of nutrients per 100 grams of food. The amount of protein in cooked fish and beef contain over eight times the amount of protein as milk.

Value per 100.0 gram

Source: https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/list

Putting these data into perspective by serving, 1 cup of milk has about 8 grams of protein and a 3-ounce piece of meat (about the size of a deck of playing cards) has about 21 grams of protein. With the maximum recommended dietary allowance of protein being 1 gram per kilogram of body weight or for women about 56 grams per day – you can see that protein from meat and fish adds to the protein load much quicker than protein from milk. To meet daily calcium requirements by drinking three servings of milk gives you a total of 24 grams of protein, or less than half of the recommended dietary allowance of protein. That leaves room for more protein from meat and fish, but modest amounts offset by fruit and vegetables.

Milk is a good and inexpensive source of calcium and other nutrients and does not contribute significantly to protein and acid load. People should not exceed 40-60 grams of animal protein a day. Exceeding that by 2-3 times is probably not good for bone health.

To reduce potential problems, limit animal protein and increase fruit and vegetables.

How much protein is recommended?

The recommended dietary allowance of protein differs by age and by body weight, but generally, protein should only account for about a third of daily calories. Eating fruits and vegetables can help offset the acid produced from animal protein.

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/protein.html