Which milk should I choose?

If you go into the dairy section of the grocery store, you are bound to be inundated with tons of different milk options.  Dairy milk, almond milk, coconut milk, soy milk.. just to name a few!

Which one is a girl to choose?

I’m going to break down where I stand on these different options.  Let’s start off with dairy.

Dangers of Dairy

Lactose (the sugar found in dairy) is not tolerated well by most people.  In fact, after the age of 4, we lose 95% of lactase in our body (the enzyme to digest lactose).  If we don’t have the enzyme we need to digest milk, this will create an acidic environment in your body and encourage the growth of bad bacteria in our body plus most commonly cause us to be bloated and have trouble with digestion.

*Did you know*: we are the only mammals who drink milk from another animal?  Makes you think.. doesn’t it?

If you remove dairy from your diet you will find lots of benefits!

1. You will be less bloated and have better digestion.
2. Weight loss.  Dairy is packed with carbohydrates and is insulin promoting; 2 factors related to weight gain.
3. Less risk of acne, anemia, arthritis, heartburn, indigestion, IBS, Crohn’s disease, breast cancer, and much more.

Even if you are not concerned with gaining weight, dairy is still a poor choice.  Cows are usually fed a diet of corn and soy and held in a confined environment.  Farmers pump cows with growth hormones and antibiotics.  If that isn’t enough, we then skim the milk and pasteurize it.. killing the enzymes and beneficial bacteria in the milk.

Okay that is it for my dairy rant.. here are some good choices that you can keep in your kitchen!

Almond Milk

You will most commonly find almond milk in my refrigerator.  Here’s a list of reasons why it is my favorite.

1. It is non-dairy.
2. It is lower in calories and fat than cow’s milk, while high in vitamins, like vitamin D and E.
3. It tastes delicious!  It has a rich and creamy taste – and is awesome for thickening up smoothies in the morning.  It has a slightly nutty taste – my boyfriend thinks it tastes like chocolate.
4. It is packed with calcium and actually has more calcium than cow’s milk!
5. When choosing almond milk – make sure you choose one with low sugar.  Or, it is super simple to make your own!!  Here is a video my mom put up on a step-by-step way to make almond milk!  See the video here.

Soy Milk

There is a direct link between breast cancer and soy.  In fact, doctors recommend women with a history of breast cancer in their family to consume a low amount of soy in their diet.  The science behind this is soy is higher in phytoestrogens compared to most other food sources.  Therefore, we don’t want to consume any extra estrogen in our bodies that could lead to a risk of breast cancer.

Committed to your health and fitness success,

Laura

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