With food allergies on the rise, dairy substitutes abound as well. Food allergies, however, might be just one reason to avoid the milk mustache.Conventional dairy products are loaded with hormones and antibiotics. If you consume dairy spend a little more on hormone and antibiotic free, opt for organic. If possible, find a grass fed source; grass-fed cattle have less inflammation than grain fed cattle, making them the much healthier choice for meat and dairy.
Dairy is a complex food that we can react to multiple ways. Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest the sugar found in most dairy products, leading to bloating, diarrhea or other digestive upset. Intolerance, sensitivity or allergy to either of the proteins (casein and whey) in milk and most dairy products can also show up as digestive upset and can cause congestion, frequent sinus or ear infections, headaches, fatigue after ingesting, acne and even difficulty losing weight.
How might dairy impede weight loss, you wonder? When we ingest a food that causes us inflammation, hormones that control fat burning and fat storing are disrupted and we often hold on to several pounds of excess water, leading to what I call “the puff”. Try eliminating common allergens such as gluten, dairy and soy if you hit a weight loss plateau or are prone to water retention. (Click here to learn more about your hormones and fat loss.)
Luckily, if you decide to go dairy-free, there are lots of options. One is goat’s milk as an alternative to cow’s milk dairy products. However, many people with allergies to cow’s milk also are sensitive to goat’s milk—but not all, so it is an option for some. The same goes for sheep’s milk. But you don’t have to look far to see we’ve now mastered making milk from grains, nuts, seeds and my favorite, the coconut.
Most substitutes can’t rival dairy when it comes to protein (soy is the exception with 6g of protein, compared to 8g per serving in milk), so taste and carb content are good variables to watch (however, soy is another common food sensitivity).
Grain based substitutions, like rice and oat, tend to be highest in sugar. Rice Dream original has 23g carbs and only 1g protein (2.5 g fat). To avoid this high carb load, unsweetened nut milks like almond and hazelnut are a good option (unsweetened almond milk has 2g carbs, 1g protein and 4g fat). Nut allergies are not uncommon either, so up next is hemp milk (hemp is a seed). Unsweetened hemp milk also has just 1g carbs and a gram of protein (6g fat).
Hemp has recently been touted as a great milk substitute because it contains essential fatty acids. But while it does have some omega 3 fatty acids, they are not the highly sought after EPA and DHA omega 3 forms that we get from fish, for example.
The final, and my favorite option, is coconut milk. No longer only available in the cumbersome can container, this high energy yielding, non-body-fat-making source medium chain triglycerides (a special type of saturated fat that is not readily stored as fat but is easily burned as energy) makes a creamy, slightly sweet milk with just 2g carbs, 1 gram sugar and 5grams fat.
Dr Brooke Kalanick, ND, MS, LAc is a naturopathic doctor and graduate of Bastyr University – the leader in natural medicine education, research and the training of holistically minded primary care providers. Dr Brooke specializes in fat loss, PCOS, hypothyroidism, fertility and women’s health. Her knowledge of both conventional and alternative medicine helps her give patients back the control of their body and their hormones. Dr Brooke’s down to earth approach reminds us it’s not always about being perfect, but at least being better.
Dr Brooke is the co-author of Ultimate You: 4 Phase Total Body Makeover. She’s been featured in the NY Times as well as being a consulted expert for various print and online publications including FITNESS, Women’s Health, Allure and iVillage. She is also a regular contributor for Martha Stewart’s Whole Living Radio and WholeLiving.com.
To contact Dr Brooke or to learn more visit www.betterbydrbrooke.com.
