Milk is unhealthy because it contains high amounts of saturated fat.

The argument

Saturated fat is a type of dietary fat that, for humans, is considered a “bad” type of fat. Dairy milk, especially whole milk, contains high levels of saturated fat, up to twenty per cent of the recommended daily allowance. Too much saturated fat can lead to serious health problems. Saturated fat at high levels can cause cholesterol to build up in your arteries, blocking blood flow and contributing to risk for heart disease and stroke. Saturated fats also contain a high density of calories per gram, which can lead to weight gain and possible health issues such as diabetes and heart disease.

Premises

Counter-arguments

-Saturated fat can be avoided by drinking low fat milks such as one per cent. -If one does not drink too much, the saturated fat levels in milk will not cause health problems.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] A share of a daily allowance per serving measures contribution, not excess — supplying part of an allowance is what allowances are for. The premise also generalises from whole milk to milk as such, when the same product is sold at fat levels down to skimmed, which is the counter's point and bears on the title rather than on a detail. [Rejecting P2] The chain from saturated fat to disease is stated more firmly than the evidence for dairy in particular supports: reviews of whole and fermented dairy have not consistently found the cardiovascular increase the premise assumes, and the effect depends on the total dietary pattern and on what replaces the fat. Calorie density likewise makes weight gain a matter of overall intake, so the premises establish at most that milk should be counted within a diet, not that it is unhealthy.