Ah, soy milk. How I used to love it…until I found out that it could conceivably do more harm to our bodies than its growers and sellers (“Big Soy”) want us to know about. (See yesterday’s article and definitely do your own Google search, as well, to learn more.)
One of the things about the dangers of soy that upsets me the most is that it also poses dangers to young children. I’d been giving vanilla soy milk to my young daughter (now four-years-old) for quite some time, not because she needed it but because she just loved how it tasted (she called it “noy milt” — never did quite get down the pronunciation of it). Needless to say, I no longer buy it and, thankfully, she seems to have mostly forgotten about it.
If you’re a drinker of soy milk, I highly encourage you to try something else. There are several alternatives available, so if you don’t like one, do try another until you find one that’s a good fit for you and your family.
Probably the most obvious alternative to soy milk would be cow’s milk. Look for an organic brand to (hopefully) avoid the hormones and antibiotics often fed to dairy cows. It’s likely, however, that you chose soy to get away from having to drink cow’s milk for one reason or another, so let’s move on.
(Note: Each item below contains a link to purchase it online, or you may simply check your local health food store. Many large grocery stores also carry these types of “milk.”)
Raw Coconut
1. Coconut Milk I’ve been hearing some great things about coconut milk (and coconut oil). If you’re not watching your weight and plan to drink a lot of it, then bottoms up! Thick coconut milk — not to be confused with “thin” coconut milk, also known as coconut water — has a whopping 552 calories per 240 gram serving (about 8 ounces), and 479 of those calories are from fat. On the other hand, it’s a good source of vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids (Omega 6, to be exact). Coconut milk contains lauric acid, which aids in brain development and helps to preserve bone health. The lauric acid in coconut milk has also been used to heal skin infections when the milk is applied directly to the affected area.
Rice
2. Rice Milk is typically made from cooked brown or other short-grain rice, water, and flavorings. I actually used to drink rice milk fairly regularly (almond, too), until I found soy. Now that I’m wise to soy, I’ll probably go back to rice or almond milk (see below), which is very good, too. So what’s so great about rice milk? Well, nothing spectacular really, except that it’s a good substitute for skim cow’s milk, to which it’s similar in texture. Rice milk has higher carbs than skim milk, if that’s important to you, and is often fortified with vitamins A and D to make it comparable to skim milk.
Raw Almonds
3. Almond Milk is another good alternative to dairy and soy. It has a nice texture, and the vanilla variety is especially good (I haven’t really noticed a difference between brands). Almond milk is high in Vitamin E, which is good for the skin, along with Vitamins D and A, which benefit your bone and eye health. It’s also low in calories at just 60 calories or so per 8 ounce serving, so you can drink it a little more often than the coconut milk mentioned above. Make your own almond milk using Dr. Ben Kim’s recipe found here.
Hemp Seeds
4. Hemp Milk Yes…that hemp. I really hemmed and hawed about adding this one, but the fact is that it’s a viable and genuine milk — and soy milk — substitute. A major concern people have when it comes to hemp milk is that is that it might contain THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the chemical found in marijuana (cannabis). I understand from my research that it does not contain THC, and even comes in different flavors, like plain, vanilla, and chocolate. Hemp has no cholesterol, no trans fats, is low in sodium and carbs, and has only around 60-ish calories per serving, based on 240 grams (compare that to the same amount of coconut milk, above — yowza). And as one web site said, it’s legal (that made me laugh). BUT…I still don’t know if I want to try it. You first.
©2010 Sally Dinius
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Sally Dinius is writer-in-chief here at CrazyBusyMama.com, a blog created to inspire and motivate busy mamas everywhere to feel healthy, fit, and in control of their lives. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sdinius, and come join the CrazyBusy Mama Facebook page by clicking here.
Toss in stress, and we’re done for. Yesterday, for example, I was a mess. I’m usually a fairly mellow, strong-on-the-inside kind of girl. But I had monster stress, wacky hormones, and too much left-over Easter chocolate body-slamming each other inside my body all day. I was irritable, weepy, and finding dumb things a little too funny…not all at once, but it sure felt like it. Talk about scary…it was my own private version of “Pollyanna Has a Meltdown.”