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Avoiding dairy? Read this!

 

If you are avoiding dairy products because of dietary requirements or through choice be aware that other less obvious milk-derived ingredients are concealed in pre-prepared foods with names such as:

Acidophilus milk

Ammonium caseinate

Buttermilk powder

Calcium caseinate

Casein

Delactosed whey

Demineralised whey

Hydrolysed casein

Iron caseinate

Lactalbumin

Lactoferrin

Lactoglobulin

Lactose

Lactulose

Magnesium caseinate

Potassium caseinate

Recaldent

Rennet casein

Sodium caseinate

Sweet Whey

Whey powder

Whey protein concentrate

Whey protein hydrolysate

Zinc caseinate

You’ll need to steadfastly read labels on prepackaged foods and drinks or, better still, avoid them altogether.

If you are avoiding cows’ milk, you can buy other ‘milks’ made from various nuts. Choose the ones with the least sugar which will be shown on the label by the amount of carbohydrates contained in 100 ml.  The most commonly available nut milks are almond, cashew, and hazelnut milk. Almond milk is particularly high in protein, vitamin E and magnesium, which is a boon for bone strength.

If you are happy to consume dairy products and can do so without digestive problems or allergic responses then yoghurt can be a good source of nutrition, but there are so many brands of yoghurt available these days it is difficult to know what is beneficial. Although most are flavoured,  low-fat or fat-free,. Your goal is to find unflavoured, full-fat (at least 10%), preferably live or pro-biotic varieties as these will provide far more nutrients and be much better for you and your digestive system. You are looking for brands with the least ingredients, no sweeteners, sugars (including ‘skimmed-milk powder’) or thickening agents. Avoid buying low-fat yoghurts as they will most likely have all of those ingredients included in an attempt to make them more palatable.

Calcium is essential for healthy bones and teeth. It is only full-fat raw organic milk and yoghurt that are a useful source of calcium. If milk has been pasteurised the calcium is no longer ‘bio-available’ to our digestive system. Greater levels of bio-available calcium can be found in green vegetables, the darker the better.

This is an extract from ‘How to Feel Differently About Food’ written by Sally Baker & Liz Hogon (Hammersmith Books) Click here to buy from Amazon UK