Sometimes the carb counts of dairy products surprise people. Milk has a lot of lactose (milk sugar), while cream looks like it's lower than it is due to the serving size on the container. A tablespoon of cream has a little less than half a gram of carbohydrate, and is labeled as having zero carbs - BUT there are 16 tablespoons in a cup, so the whole cup has about 6½ grams of carbohydrate.
Here are the carb counts of a cup (8 fluid ounces) of the following, according to the USDA database. Note: some milks are "protein-fortified", and sometimes powdered milk is added for more "body" - this will alter the carb counts, so be sure to check the label. Also, "cream" varies depending upon the amount of butterfat and lactose.
Whole milk - 11.4 grams of carbohydrate
2 % milk - 11.7
1 % milk - 11.6
Fat-free (skim) milk - 11.9
Buttermilk - 11.7
Goat's milk - 10.9
Half and Half - 10.4
Light Cream - 7.1
Heavy Cream - 6.6
Evaporated milk (canned) - 25.3
Nonfat evaporated - 29.0
Sweetened condensed milk - 166 (not a typo)
Milk Substitutes
Unsweetened soy milk - between 2 and 5, depending upon brand. (Note: Most soy milk is sweetened.)Unsweetened almond milk - 2-3 grams, depending upon brand - again, most is sweetened
Coconut milk - 6.3
Sour Cream and Yogurt
Sour Cream - 9.8Yogurt - Plain yogurt starts out with the same carb count as the milk it's made from, but watch the label, as additives can change this number. Also, the bacteria in yogurt eats the lactose, so depending upon how long it's fermented, the actual carb count can be up to 8 grams less per cup. More about Counting Carbs n Yogurt
