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Comment by bad_user | Hacker News Reader

In my mind edible substances that last a long time are free of nutrients and high in calories, most of the time anyway.

I never buy UHT milk and try buying fresh, locally produced milk whenever I can find it. I never buy low fat milk either.

The difference in taste between fresh milk and these replacements is actually huge. I also don't get people buying the low fat variety either. If you're concerned about fat or cholesterol, it's better to drink less, high-quality milk, instead of milk-like liquids enriched with powdered milk, pork fat and dyes (the exact composition of these replacements varies by country, but it's always processed to the point that you can no longer classify it as being milk).

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"In my mind edible substances that last a long time are free of nutrients and high in calories"

Salted cod, cured meats, pickels, dried beans, dried oats, pasta, rice, beef jerky, cheese... We have been using preservation methods since ancient times, which do not have any adverse effect in terms of nutrition.

In terms of taste, in many a case, the method used to preserve can enhance the taste and create a different (but not inferior) kind of food than the original.

I don't see why modern methods should have an adverse effect, when done right.

Fermentation as a method of preservation is substantially different than UHT, and you couldn't substitute one for the other without changing the product. Heavy amounts of nitrates are dubious way of preserving food. But your point is generally correct. For example, shelf stable vegetarian dishes should be nutritionally very close to fresh.

Heating (pasteurisation) doesn't make milk free of nutrients[1] -- pasteurised milk should substantially be the same as raw milk in terms of nutrients.

I agree that low-fat (skimmed) milk should be avoided: the fat in whole milk is important as it makes you feel full. Fat free and low fat products encourage over-eating [2][3].

[1]: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956713512...

[2]: https://lirias.kuleuven.be/bitstream/123456789/538238/4/revi...

[3]: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00394-012-0418-1

What's low fat milk? Is that the same as skimmed/semi skimmed?

Yup - usually it is the semi-skimmed milk instead of the fully skimmed milk.

> I also don't get people buying the low fat variety either.

Ask the people. I'm one of them. It tastes nicer.

Yeah. Whole milk makes me gag. It's like drinking grease.

Whole milk is delicious and wonderful and soothing and lovely not-quite-white comfort in a glass.

Or straight out of the bottle, I'm not fussed.

Yeah, I live alone, why do you ask?

I generally don't like milk. The taste makes me gag a little bit and it nearly always smells like it is going sour, even when it clearly isn't.

It isn't for lack of trying, and there are differences. Lactose-free milk is better than normal. Low-fat milk tastes better than whole milk, yet skim milk tastes like I put water in a glass that had milk in it without rinsing. For me, there is no real concern about the calories - I use cream occasionally in cooking, after all, and use butter.

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