First, I want to remind you my philosophy on food. My life with food is focused on eating the way our grandparents and great grandparents did, that is simply food and not all the extra junk that is mixed with food these days. I am trying to focus on whole foods as often as possible, avoiding processed and unnecessary ingredients - sticking to the basics, if you will. Making things from scratch as often as I can, helps me do that. Back when our grandparents and their grandparents were raised there was butter, not margarine. You didn’t see products like low carb, low sugar, low fat, gluten free, etc. I will say with dairy I am not 100% there. I was raised on skim milk and while I rarely drink milk from the glass, if I do, I can’t bring myself to drink whole, but I do eat whole fat sour cream and yogurt. When you make a product low fat, according to Michael Pollan, “you have to go to great lengths to preserve the body or creamy texture by working in all kinds of food additives.”
I found this infographic on a fellow blogger’s facebook page which I found to be funny!
So, lets move on to the down and dirty and what you need to know regarding dairy. To be completely frank, I have one recommendation and it is to choose organic dairy and I will tell you why.
I have heard a different fellow blogger mentioned something Dr. Oz once said. While I don’t follow him or his practices’ much, what he is saying here does make sense to me: you can’t wash off or peel dairy, so choose organic when you can. The good news is organic dairy is actually pretty easily accessible in most grocery stores.
So what are some other important reasons to choose organic dairy? To be considered an organic dairy product, it cannot contain rBGH, also known as recombinant bovine growth hormone. Sadly, this is another product that is banned from use in all products in other countries such as Europe and Canada, but in the United States conventional milk can still contain this grown hormone. This genetically engineered hormone is another one of those items added to our food supply in the 1990s, so hasn’t always been around. It is used, just like growth hormones for meat production, to spike production. So why should you avoid rBGH? rBGH has been linked to increased cancer rates in the human population and health problems in the cows (which means more antibiotics and medicine are given to the cows and likely transferred to you).
Okay I said I have one recommendation, but I really have two - reading labels is the second one. While organic is usually always the best choice, it is still important to read labels. Not all organic food is good for you and one organic product may be better for you then its counterpart. One natural additive that is still allowed in organic food is carrageenan. Carrageenan is made from red seaweed and used as a thickening agent. Unfortunately, carrageenan is also a known link to gastrointestinal inflammation and colon cancer. I don’t think anyone willingly wants to consume ingredients with those job duties.
A word on milk alternative choices. I did fall into the soy milk and almond milk trap at one point when I was trying to figure out the best choices to make. While some people need to use these alternatives, I don’t feel drinking the alternatives is the best choice if you don't have an intolerance. The alternatives often will lack calcium and vitamins. Also, soy is one of the top genetically modified ingredients today. More on those later....
There are other choices you can consider, but I didn’t focus on any of them today - raw, unpasteurized, non homogenized (less processing), milk from grass fed cows, goat’s milk, and local milk. Convenience and price are still priorities for me, so I haven’t ventured down these paths yet.
A couple of other things on dairy products:
- Pre-shredded cheese: it contains powdered cellulose (pieces of wood pulp) to help the cheese from clumping. Buy block cheese and shred yourself, if this is important to you.
- White vs. yellow/orange: even organic cheese can be yellow/orange, because it contains a natural additive that is approved by the USDA. If you want less processed, get the white version.
- Yogurt: get plain to avoid extra sugars, additives, etc. There are tons of great ways to flavor yourself.
One final thing I have to share. Currently, the dairy industry is petition with the FDA to allow aspartame, an artificial sweetener that breaks down into several toxic ingredients, including most notably, formaldehyde, to be added to dairy products (milk, yogurt, sour cream, etc) without a label. Organic dairy products do not allow the use of aspartame, so this might be one other reason you might consider organic in this food category. If you want to learn more, read this and this.
So I hope you feel you have some knowledge to help you make better dairy choices. How about starting with your coffee creamer? When I first looked at the ingredients on my favorite coffee creamer, I almost fell over - more than I can count, a lot that I can’t pronounce and guess what - carrageenan.
I started looking for some homemade creamers and landed on another blog I follow regularly. She has a whole slew of ideas and they all contain 5 or less ingredients and use the same base: milk, cream and maple syrup as the sweetener. They are not as sweet as the store bought creamers, but I have actually grown to really enjoy them and don’t see myself buying creamer again. As a nation we are all addicted to sugar and sweet and you would be surprised to see how quickly your body can wean from it. Of course you could try adding a bit more maple syrup, or try other liquid sweeteners like honey to see if you prefer it better. After trying all of her varieties, I took her basic concept and made my favorite store bought flavor: coconut cream.
Homemade Coconut Cream Coffee Creamer
Slightly Adapted from Deliciously Organic
Makes 2 cups (easily doubled)
Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons maple syrup
1 - 1 ½ teaspoon coconut extract
Whisk together milk, cream and maple syrup in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
When mixture begins to steam, remove from the heat and stir in coconut extract. Use a funnel to pour mixture into a glass jar and let cool.
Label the jar if you choose. Store in a glass jar in your fridge and shake before each use to make sure the extract is evenly distributed. I usually make a new batch every week and half to two weeks. Super easy right?
Better Bonus Tip: If you decide to play around with other ideas, just know you will want to strain any powders, such as chocolate before putting in the fridge.
I will be back the next couple of weeks with some other dairy inspiration. In the meantime, I want to leave you once again, with one of my favorite inspirational quotes and what I remind myself often. Do what you can and more importantly what you feel is right!
"The bottom line is that while none of us can do everything, all of us can do something."
-Robyn O’Brien
~Ashley
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