For all of those mentioning that they avoid dairy (cow’s milk) because of lactose intolerance, try organic, grass-fed, RAW milk if you’re lucky enough to legally buy it in your area. And please note: raw milk intended to be consumed in its raw state by humans is not the same thing as “raw” milk that was intended to be pasteurized before it is consumed. Pre-pasteurized “raw” milk is usually produced by confined, grain-fed cows. Such “milk” MUST be pasteurized. Milk from pastured, grass-fed cows is naturally safe and delicious.
So about two months ago I interviewed my good friend and holistic nutritionist Isabel De Los Rios for a guest coaching session, and within that call we gots to talkin’ about dairy quite a bit.
After the call, I started to think twice about my consumption of dairy (you can probably guess what Isabel’s position was), and from there made a couple adjustments to my diet that have made a profound impact on my fat loss over the last 6 weeks:
1. I’ve cut back considerably on my dairy intake altogether
2. Whatever dairy I do eat, it’s organic (sorry, I’m not giving up cheese)
Now, I generally have a couple protein shakes each day, and I generally mix the protein with milk. Then, a couple months back, I swapped out the regular milk for Almond Milk. No lactose, no dairy, no indigestion, no bloat…and frankly, I think it tastes better.
And oh yeah, it has one THIRD the calories of regular milk while scoring far lower on the Insulin Index.
There’s pretty much no downside. So, next time you’re in the store, I highly recommend you pick up a carton of Almond Milk and try it out. You can find Almond Breeze (by Blue Diamond) in just about every grocery store in the refrigerated section or there’s even a shelf-stable version available. Personally, I like the vanilla (unsweetened) flavor best.
Give it a few weeks, and I guarantee your waist-line will thank you for it.
Want to learn some AWESOME nutrition strategies to help you burn up to 10% of your body fat in the next 30 days?
Isabel just put up a video on her site where she teaches just that:
==> How to Burn up to 10% of Your Body Fat in the Next 30 Days <——- Watch here
Enjoy!
Joel
Related Posts
110 comments - add yours
So basically cut out dairy milk and continue taking supplements like Whey and Casein. Does no one else see the irony in this!!
Or Am I missing something. If I am NOT lactose intolerant, can you provide a explanation why we should avoid dairy milk.
What’s wrong with drinking skim milk???
I have tried the almond milk – seems like a good plan to me. But my question is when you say ‘protein shakes’ what do you make them with? If dairy is out (baby cow food) and soy is out (estrogen like=man boobs), what do you us for protein?
Thanks
Charley
hi i use soya milk unsweetened with my protien drink twice a day thats good only 2 carbs for a full glass.
I tried Almond milk, and I didn’t like the taste at all. I suppose I’ll just have to wait for the next dairy substitute to appear.
almond milk is great for smothies and what not. but one thing i cant find is a healthy alternative to the cream in my coffee.
i tried almond milk and it was an epic fail!
i guess i’ll stick to organic cream. which cost more than organic meat :(
Joel, almonds and almond milk can be good in moderation, but they are PUFAs and might throw you omega 3 out of balance. think about it. I ditched the almond milk for WHOLE milk and stopped feeling so tired. something about almonds and other PUFAs that bring on the tireds in me. I’m now working my way back down to lower fat milk. next thing I know you’ll be saying soy milk is good for you.
I have to agree with the Vanilla unsweetened. It’s really good.
Hi Joel, I love almond milk but I do believe that the Almond Breeze brand contains soy. That is a downside. Isabel would agree ;) I bought some at Whole Foods, though, its their organic 365 brand and it doesn’t contain any soy :)
I use almond milk all the time with one exception i.e. post workout. Aren’t the carbs/sugars available in skim milk better at that one time than almond milk? See Jayson/Prograde latest post.
Hey Joel,
We started using Almond Breeze and coconut milk in our house just over a year ago. My wife discovered she was allergic to dairy after suffering with symptoms for years…including bloat, restricted airway, and a few others.
Also, my youngest daughter…she just turned 3…would get horrible eczema on her arms, legs and back that caused her to scratch until she would bleed. Then she had these large ugly scabs. I felt so bad for her and we coudn’t figure out what was wrong.
So we started cutting various foods to see what happened…turned out it was milk and other dairy products causing her skin condition.
So we cut it from her diet, replaced it with Almond Breeze and coconut milk products and she improved almost immediatley.
I agree with you…the unsweetened vanilla flavor is the best to use. You have to be careful with the regular varieties because they can contain too much added sugar.
Best wishes,
Pete
Just curious, I see a lot milk hate out there and if we are talking pasteurized, then I can agree. Have you tried raw milk? I have a great supplier of it here in NH and it is amazing. It tastes so much better, it adds beneficial bacteria to the digestive tract and has in it the enzymes needed to process the lactose in it already. That’s what pasteurizing kills. So no bloat from that. It will give you a slight tummy ache the first few times, but that just the body dealing with new microns in the system. They are purely beneficial. Aside from all that, my belly got flatter. I kid you not, I started drinking whole raw milk with about 4% milk fat and my belly flattened out. Crazy stuff. Just a thought.
For those of you interested– it is very simple to make almond milk, also :-)
There is this non-dairy cheese from Daiya available at organic grocery stores. You should check it out.
I love almond milk, but usually make it myself in the blender with dates to sweeten. I like this almond milk, the unsweetened kind, but why would they put tapioca starch in there?!!! starch is fattening!
Hi Joel,
I swaped out soy milk for almond milk about a year ago. I found regular milk would give me terrible headaches and sinus problems if I prolonged it’s use and I love my cup of tea. I use the original one in my tea and cereal(oats) and I use the vanilla one for shakes and night beverages with ahem.. an occassional chocolate chip cookie (sue me) also my daughter loves it too as she refused formula and only breast feeds (she’s 10 months old)..
Joel,
Almond milk is great but do some research on the benefits of raw milk. Sure it has more calories but it is another one of those SUPERFOODs! Giving up by pasteurized milk would definitely be a blessing.
What a great coincidence, I just heard about this in an audio book yesterday, and today I get this email. Probably the Universe telling me I gotta do this.
Rob, about your cheat days – try either once every 9 days as a cheat day, or make sure it’s just a cheat day, not a binge day.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Hey, it’s Joel! So you want to know a little more about me, huh? Well, I’d be happy to oblige :-)
I guess it all started back in 2001 (my freshman year of college) when I was just a “skinny fat” 19-year old kid. At the time, I was spending close to 2 hours a day in the gym (now my workouts last about 30 minutes), and despite my efforts, you’d probably never guess I worked out a day in my life by looking at me...