Dairy Dilema

Ice cold milk…sounds good on a hot summer’s day.  But what to do if you don’t do dairy?  With all the options out there, which one will you add to your smoothies???

• Soy Milk
  • has the high­est pro­tein con­tent of the non-dairy milks,
  • is said to help lower blood cholesterol,
  • con­tains isoflavones, which are an estro­gen like chem­i­cal gen­er­ally thought to be help­ful (in bal­anced pro­por­tions) in min­i­miz­ing the risks of can­cer and osteo­poro­sis, and ben­e­fi­cial for pro­mot­ing healthy immune function.

• Almond Milk
  • tends to be the low­est in calo­ries and sugar (pro­vided you buy it unsweetened),
  • is rich in mag­ne­sium, potas­sium, man­ganese, cop­per, the antiox­i­dants vit­a­min E and sele­nium, and calcium;
  • is a good source of monoun­sat­u­rated fats–heart healthy fats that reduce bad cho­les­terol and lower the risk of devel­op­ing heart disease.

• Coconut Milk Beverage
  • is rich in vit­a­min C (sup­ports immune sys­tem), potas­sium (low­ers blood pres­sure), mag­ne­sium (relaxes mus­cles and nerves), man­ganese (helps with blood sugar reg­u­la­tion), phos­pho­rus (essen­tial nutri­ent for strength­en­ing bones), cop­per (keeps skin and blood ves­sels flex­i­ble and elas­tic), the antiox­i­dants vit­a­min E and sele­nium, and calcium;
  • is a good source of medium chain fatty acids (MCFA)–fats which are quickly used as fuel for the body and are not likely to be stored as body fat;
  • con­tains lau­ric and capric acid, known for their anti-viral and anti-microbial properties.

• Hemp Milk
  • is a good source of Omega-3 fats, mag­ne­sium, phy­tos­terols, ascor­bic acid, beta-carotene, cal­cium, fiber, iron, potas­sium, phos­pho­rus, riboflavin, niacin and thiamin;
  • con­tains 10 essen­tial amino acids, mak­ing it a good veg­e­tar­ian source of protein;
  • is said to be more digestible than other veg­e­tar­ian pro­teins because unlike soy, it con­tains no oligosac­cha­rides, com­plex sug­ars that can cause flatulence.

• Rice Milk
  • is non-allergenic,
  • is low­est in pro­tein and tends to be higher in sugar and calories,
  • is low in fat.

• Oat Milk
  • is higher in fiber that the other milks,
  • is said to ease the ner­vous system,
  • is low in fat.