It makes chocolate chip cookies melt in your mouth and it is the key ingredient in ice cream and countless other mouth-watering desserts, which is why it’s impossible to let National Dairy Month (June) come and go without talking about milk.

Milk is a staple of the American diet and its multiple health benefits will make your doctor’s job a little easier. Consuming milk can help lower cholesterol; it also keeps bones strong and can even aid in weight loss.

According to Prevention.com, drinking fat-free (skim) milk can help lower bad cholesterol. Unfortunately, a lot of people mistakenly believe that skim milk is always watery and bland. The good news is that several companies now offer skim milk that is richer and creamier in flavor than ever.

A study conducted by researchers at Kansas State and Pennsylvania State universities showed that participants with the highest levels of cholesterol who drank a quart of skim milk a day for a month saw a 10 point drop, which means that their risk of heart attacks and strokes was reduced by nearly 14 percent.

Additionally, if you’re trying to get in shape this summer, milk can help. According to Christine Palumbo, a registered dietician at the Healthy Weight Center, milk can play a very significant role in weight loss. A study published by the journal Obesity Research found that participants who drank three 8-ounce glasses of fat-free milk a day lost more weight than the people who did not incorporate milk into their diets. What’s more, the milk-drinkers lost more fat in the stomach area, which is significant because excess fat around the waist is associated with diabetes, heart disease and certain forms of cancer.

For frequent dieters, particularly women, it is important to keep in mind that the body is more likely to lose bone mass as pounds are dropped; consuming calcium is crucial in preventing this. A National Institutes of Health study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that dieters who had adequate calcium intake did not lose bone mass.

“Milk is the top source of calcium in the American diet and three servings of milk each day provide 900 mg of calcium,” the Journal stated. The article also noted that experts recommend drinking 24 ounces of low-fat or fat-free milk every day to maintain calcium and build strong bones while also getting the benefits of vitamin D and phosphorous.

So the next time you pour yourself a glass of milk, remember that along with delicious taste, you’re giving your body a healthy nutrition boost.

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“More cheese, please!” is a request dairy producers hope to hear throughout June, which is National Dairy Month.

Whether melting a slice of cheddar on a burger, crumbling bleu on a salad or sprinkling parmesan on spaghetti, cheese plays a tasty role in the diets of many foodies. A vast variety of specialty and artisan cheeses can be found right in your local grocery store. And most large supermarket chains, including Whole Foods Market and Wegmans, now house large cheese sections.

Cathy Strange, the global cheese buyer for Whole Foods, has noticed several recent trends in cheese buying.

First, cheeses follow the seasons, similar to produce. Good choices for summer include goat cheese or feta, which taste great crumbled over a fresh green salad; sheep’s-milk ricotta; rich and creamy brie to spread on crackers or pair with juicy grapes and apples; mellow options such as Gouda and Edam that match well with seasonal melons, peaches, plums and berries; and water-packed fresh mozzarella for composing a refreshing Caprese salad.

Strange also said consumers who are well-traveled may come back from vacation and ask for cheeses they discovered abroad so that they can enjoy them at home.

Additionally, Strange said interest in artisan and farmstead cheeses is growing. To meet this demand, Whole Foods has cultivated partnerships and encourages regional autonomy, with locally made cheeses sold at every store.

Skilled cheesemakers produce artisan cheeses by hand using traditional methods. Artisan cheeses typically go through a long aging process to develop desired flavor and texture characteristics. They are renowned for more complex flavors compared to milder cheeses produced in larger batches.

Farmstead is a type of artisan cheese made from milk produced by cows on the cheesemaker’s farm. According to artisan cheesemaker Cowgirl Creamery, buying farmstead cheese allows one to “enjoy a wide range of distinctive cheeses that are full of nuance and flavor, help to ensure jobs in rural areas and contribute to protecting farmlands from development.”

People gravitate toward cheeses with stronger flavor profiles over time, similar to the way many wine drinkers progress, according to Strange.

“When people first start drinking wine maybe they start with white, then they go to light, fruity reds and then they end up at Bordeauxes,” Strange said. “It’s kind of like that with cheese. People start at fresh products that are really mild, generally mild cheddars or really fresh, lighter-tasting profile products. And then, as consumers educate their palates they lean towards more complex and aged products and eventually end up with the bleus.”