Our week 13 challenge is for you to substitute regular dairy with healthier plant based options. We suggest looking for non sweetened varieties as a bonus to your health! Eliminating dairy is an easy way to reduce cholesterol and saturated fat intake, eliminate constipation, clear up acne, reduce inflammation, clear sinus allergies and even reduce osteoporosis risk! With most places having soy and almond milk on hand this should be an easy switch….Use this as an opportunity to give healthier alternatives a try!
IDEAS
Common words used instead of milk or dairy are:
yogurt, casein, whey, milk protein, lactose, lactulose, ghee
For a full list click here.
Breakfast:
* In your cereal, oatmeal or shakes use any variety of plant milk you like: Almond, coconut (warming: this does have saturated fat), hemp, rice etc.
* In coffee give soy or almond milk a try…remember, it takes a little while (28 days) for you taste buds to change
* Forgo the yogurt for breakfast and replace with a vega shake! You get probiotics, more protein and less sugar too!
* Make you own almond milk! Check out our video here.
Snacks:
* Check you energy bars and trail mix for hidden ingredients.
* Visit our recipe page here and click on snacks or baked for great dairy free options! Give our new Cheesy Chickpea poppers a try!
Lunch:
* Replace cheese with a hummus spread on sandwiches
* Leave cheese off altogether: sandwiches, pizza, salad etc…you might be surprised that you do not miss it at all!
* Replace heavy cream dressing on salads (ranch, blue cheese etc.) for avocado, whole olives and balsamic &/or lemon juice.
* Check out our cheese replacement options here and click on “Cheeses”
Dinner:
* Replace cream dishes like alfredo with a tomato based sauces or give our mac and un-cheese a try!
* Replace cream soups with broth soups (you will save big on calories here too!)
* Replace heavy cream dressing on salads (ranch, blue cheese etc.) for avocado, whole olives and balsamic &/or lemon juice.
Dessert:
* It is best to ditch ice cream all together but if you really need a treat we like almond milk ice cream in a variety of flavors by So Delicious or the naked coconut flavor by Coconut Bliss (this does contain saturated fat so only indulge on occasion!).
* If custard is your thing try making it with chia seeds, plant milk and fresh or frozen berries to sweeten it up!
* Check out our desserts for healthy options here and click on desserts!
Butter:
This deserves a highlight on its own. Get rid of it! Plane and simple. There are vegan varieties, while we do not advocate these, they are better than the alternative as a short term transition food.
To gain a greater understanding of dairy and why we do not advocate it for a healthy diet, check out our “science behind it page” and click on “animal protein”.
Here are a few very short Videos on the topic as well:
Saving Lives by Treating Acne with Diet
If you would like to see more video’s visit nutritionfacts.org and search for milk or dairy…pages of videos will be provided for your viewing!
Image provided by: artur84