Dairy

I have a friend who has a daughter who is really struggling with some hormone issues right now. She is 12 and already on birth control as a means to help with her imbalance. Because of the success that I have had in balancing my hormones my friend asked me if I could help some how. I decided that I would really like to teach her about food and why she should be careful with what she eats. I am such a firm believer that if we feed our bodies right we will not need as much medical intervention in our lives. My life is proof of this, and I want to share that with people. So I have been sharing a bit of our dinner meals with her so that she can try some new foods and see what she likes and doesn't like. So far she has liked everything that I have given her (at least that is what she says) She came over last Thursday and we has a little class with just her and I. It was so fun to have another girl around! I gave her some information and then we made some things and ate them. My first focus for her was to teach her about dairy and how strongly it affects our hormones. I just wanted to post the info that I gave her here in case any body else could use it.

Dairy-

Common dairy products include milk, flavored yogurts, sour cream, cheese, Ice cream and cottage cheese.

Why should we avoid dairy?

1. Dairy (especially milk) contains powerful hormones that increase the estrogen and progesterone levels in your body. There are two reasons that this happens. First, most dairy farmers give their cows artificial growth hormones to help them to produce more milk. Second, and this one is often over looked, is that most cows are milked about 300 days a year and for much of that time the cows are pregnant. When cows are pregnant, their hormone levels are naturally raised, just like in humans, especially their estrogen. Even if you buy milk that says no added hormones, likely the hormones are still higher because the cows may be pregnant. Dairy accounts for 60-80% of estrogen consumed.
2. Dairy contains other things that are not good for our bodies.

· Dieses like Leukemia and Para Tuberculosis are found in cows often. These diseases are supposed to be killed by the pasteurization process, but studies have shown that these diseases are not killed all the way. Many believe that para tuberculosis is the cause for human diseases such as Crohn’s Disease, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

· Dairy also often contains traces of antibiotics and other drugs that are given to cows to help them combat all the diseases that they get.

How does this affect the hormones in my body?

These added hormones to our bodies affect everybody differently. Some people don’t see much affect and some see a lot. Some of the affects that can be seen are early onset of puberty, acne, irregular menstrual bleeding, PCOS and endometriosis, which are major causes for infertility today.

What about calcium?

There are many sources of calcium out there. Most are better sources of calcium then milk and actually help our body to absorb calcium easier than milk. Here is a small list of good sources of calcium:

· Sesame seeds

· Raw nuts

· Beans (white, kidney, etc)

· Flax seed

· Chia seeds

· Arugula

· Collards

· Parsley

· Kale

· Sunflower Seeds

· Spinach

· Oats

· Swiss Chard

· Lentils

How do I avoid dairy?

Obviously avoid all the products that you know are dairy (items listed above) You will also need to look at labels to be certain no dairy is in it. Law says that dairy must be labeled very clearly on all products. If it is in an ingredient that is in the product that ingredient must be labeled that it has it in parenthesis. Example: (milk)

What are some good alternatives?

Milk- Nut milks (macadamia. Almond, cashew, etc), Rice milk, Seed milk (sesame, sunflower, hemp)

Yogurt- Homemade yogurt made with goats milk, or hormone free cows milk can be ok on occasion. It has good bacteria in it that will help it to digest easier.

Sour Cream- Sauerkraut is a great alternative for the sour flavor of sour cream. We often put it on tacos and baked potatoes. Nut sour creams are also a good alternative for using in baking or on top of things.

Cheese- Nut cheeses and nut cheese sauces.

Ice cream- Homemade ice creams made with nut milks or coconut milk are great. You can also by some ice creams that are non-dairy. Just make sure to check the ingredients to make sure they are good.

After we talked a little we made these recipes:

Almond Milk

Macadamia Nut Sour Cream

Cheezy Sauce

Ranch Dressing

Then after we made them, we had some nachos with the stuff we made, (except for the almond milk, we saved that for the ice cream that we made next). They were yummy!

These are the ice cream recipes that we made. Because of time we just made them in the blender so they weren't super solid, but they sure were good.

Strawberry Coconut Ice Cream

Vegan Blueberry Ice Cream

It was a fun day. Check back with me next week so see what we learn about next!

Yogurt

You can make yogurt with goats milk or cows milk. It is best if you can get hormone free milk to make it with. You will also need a starter yogurt. Starter yogurt is yogurt that has been made with active live cultures; this is the friendly bacteria that will turn your milk into yogurt. You can buy a small container of yogurt at the grocery to use for this purpose. Make sure that the container says Made with live cultures or something of this nature. You want to buy plain yogurt, not flavored. Each time you make yogurt you will need some starter. You can use your own starter, but over time it looses its potency and your yogurt will not turn out. So I always begin with store bought yogurt.

Start with a gallon of milk. Pour it into a large sauce pan. Heat milk to 180 degrees, (you can use a candy thermometer for this) stirring now and then so bottom doesn't burn. Take off heat and let cool to 110-115 degrees. Pour into quart jars. Add 2 heaping Tbls of the starter yogurt to each quart of milk. Stir gently, but well.
Next comes the incubation period. For 12 hours the temperature of the yogurt must stay between 90 and 110 degrees during this incubation time. There are several ways you can do this. If you have a large enough food dehydrator you can use that. You can also use your oven. Just turn on your oven to any temperature for 90 seconds, then turn it off. Turn your oven light on. Place the yogurt in the oven and check periodically to make sure the temp of the yogurt is in the correct range. If not, turn the oven on again for 90 seconds. Can also use a heating pad/towel/and box to cover up the yogurt to keep warm, or put it in a cooler with warm water. After 12 hours it is done. It will store in the fridge for several weeks. To eat add agave or another sweetener, fruit or granola.

"Are you like, vegan or something?"

I get this question a lot these days. So here is my answer. We have been slowly changing our diets over the last 1 1/2 years. We have cut out meat and dairy along with many other dietary changes. We do have cheese occasionally at home and meat on Sundays when we eat at my Moms. We do have organic range feed eggs sometimes also, but mostly for baking things that don't work well with flax. We do eat yogurt and I do make it, mostly because it is cheaper than buying it, but also because I can control better what is in it. I tried to make kiefer, but it was too much babysitting for me at this point in my life.

People always want to know if it is hard on my kids, if I think it is too extreme, and if it is making a difference. My kids are 2, 5 and 7. It has made a huge difference in our lives. We dont really get sick and when we do it only lasts for a day or two unlike our friends who get the same thing and get it much worse. We also have more energy. I was on several medications for hormone problems and for other such things and I now am off every single one and I feel great! I actually have a regular period for the first time in my LIFE! My kids behavior has changed, especially my son that we thought had ADHD, but really was just because we were putting bad stuff in his body. I don't think that it is extreme at all. I think that it is smart and a healthy way to live. Starting when your kids are young will be more beneficial for them and will make it easier to allow them to make good life long choices.

So, why do I do this? People are becoming more and more aware of the hormones and antibiotics that are in meat, (check out the movie "Food Inc." for more info about this, it is fabulous!) and some are making adjustments accordingly, but it is important to remember that it is not just the hormones and antibiotics in meat and dairy that is not good for our bodies. Animal protein is hard for our bodies to digest. It effects our colon, kidneys, bones (due to loss calcium through our urine), liver and many other organs. It takes a lot of energy from us because it as to work our organs so much harder. For more information on this, The China Study is a great book.

Milk and eggs are the best source of animal proteins as they have the best match of our amino acids, more so than meat. Including these foods in our diets minimally is very good for us. I believe that yogurt (or Keifer) is one of the best ways because not only is it a good source of amino acids, but it can be digested easier because of the live active cultures in it. Our bodies only need 5-6% (relative to total calorie intake) of dietary protein to replace the amino acids that our body looses. Most of America gets well beyond that and take in about 15-16%. I believe that moderation is the key, but many people do not know what moderation means for their bodies. Many people eat animal protein at every meal (eggs for breakfast, a turkey sandwich for lunch and something with hamburger or chicken in it for dinner, not to mention the milk they drink throughout the day) and think that they are being moderate when in actuality that is way too much protein for our bodies. Protein is the most important of all the nutrients in our bodies, but this has been misinterpreted by our society that more is better. People also tend to believe that "quality" proteins, like meat and dairy, are better than "lower quality" plant proteins, when in fact that is not true at all.

The fact is that people need to educate themselves about food and their bodies, no matter what kind of diet they have. Being vegan or vegetarian in and of it self is not necessarily a healthy diet. You need to know about food and how it effects your body and incorporate all aspects of a healthy lifestyle into your way of eating.

Tangy Potato Salad

This is a recipe that I created. It was my first that I ventured out on, and it turned out pretty well. I have gotten a lot of compliments on it. The great thing about it is that it has fermented sauerkraut in it. Fermented sauerkraut is very good for the digestive system because it is full of good bacteria that helps to break down the food and also protects the immune system. I hope you enjoy!

Tangy Potato Salad

Red potatoes

Sauerkraut (Homemade or Bubbies brand)

Pickles (I use Bubbies brand)

Olive oil

Dried minced onion, or fresh green onion

Sea Salt

Pepper

There are no measurements in this salad. Just wash as many potatoes as you want to get the salad the size you need. Cut up the potatoes into bit sized pieces. Boil them until tender. Drain and put into a mixing bowl. To the potatoes add some olive oil, diced pickles, onion and sauerkraut. At this time I also add in some of the sauerkraut and pickle brine, just to give it some more moisture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Tastes great chilled or warm.