March 2nd, 2010
For many people who are trying to lose weight, cutting out dairy completely seems like a simple solution to taking calories out of their diet.
However, because dairy foods are most people's prime source of calcium, by doing this we are missing out on a nutritional necessity.
Calcium is an essential nutrient for our bodies. Besides the fact that it makes up 98% of our bones and teeth, it is also vital for many of the body's systems - including regulation of heartbeat, muscle contractions and nerve impulse transmission. Depleted levels of calcium increase our risk for osteoporosis, a condition that results in loss of bone density (often associated with older women, but it is a condition that affects men and women of varying ages) which can lead to bone breakage and can cause us to lose height.
However, drinking whole milk and chowing down on cheese isn't the only way that you can get calcium into your diet; this essential mineral can be found in various other foods such as:
- Dark leafy greens, such as kale and spinach
- Tofu
- Broccoli
- Whitebait, anchovies and sardines
- Almonds (and consequently almond milk, which many vegans used as a good source of calcium)
- Enriched fruit juices and soy milk products.
If you are cutting the majority of dairy products from your diet in an effort to lose weight, be sure to try and compensate by adding in other calcium rich foods.
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Taste
Does the almond milk taste a lot different than soy milk?
Soy milk vs milk
I could not figure out for a while why the regular skim milk tasted strange and then realized that the soy milk had changed my expectation. I drink less skim milk than soy milk now but wonder if that gives too much protein.
Interesting article
Interesting article, thanks for posting.
Re: Almond Milk
It's funny, just yesterday my husband and I were grocery shopping and he was expressing an interest in almond milk as a healthy tasty thing to have in our fridge.
We weren't sure about the taste though, we normally drink skim milk and were worried we would find it off putting. Perhaps like you say Brenda1, the chocolate might be a good solution for a craving.
Almond Milk
I've used soy milk on my cereal for about 4 yrs. Just last week I decided to try almond milk. There was a variety to choose from. I chose unsweetened vanilla and chocolate.( I figured if I have a chocolate craving I'll be prepared.)I found it pleasing on the cereal.