York Health Centre

Dairy free eating guide

By Lisa York

So you've decided to go dairy and soy free.  I know this seems really over-whelming and daunting right now.  But once you know what products to buy and where to find them locally, the process of cutting dairy and soy out of your life and living healthier, is pretty easy (and delicious! Who knew!)

There are many reasons for going dairy and soy free, from allergies to not wanting to eat extra hormones and antibiotics, to stomach and skins issues.  Give yourself a good six weeks off dairy and soy products to notice a difference; yes it takes this long to work out of your system!  After two to six weeks you should notice some great improvements in your health and over all well being.

So let’s start with the basics.  Milk, butter and cheese are the things that most people stress out about “losing”, but there are some great tasting alternatives.

Milk Products:  So there are some great alternatives to cow’s milk out there.  For drinking and cereal I recommend almond milk.  It is smooth and creamy and tastes great!  Also did you know that it has more calcium in it that regular cow milk!   For baking and cooking I recommend rice milk.  It has little to no taste, and works well in recipes and can be easily thickened with corn starch (organic so no GMO) if you need it thicker in scallop potatoes or mac and cheese (I have a great recipe for this that I will add to this as well).  For adding to your coffee or tea there are some great almond/cashew creams that are awesome. 

These are some of the brands that I use regularly and where to find them (all of these products are GMO free and are available at Sobeys or Superstore in the health food section.)

Silk True Almond (Dark Chocolate and Vanilla are my favs)

Blue Diamond Almond Milk

Rice Dream Rice Milk – I use plain in cooking

Natura Rice Milk

So Delicious Coconut Milk

Thai Coconut Milk (in cans) for baking or making….wait for it….WHIP CREAM!

Yu Rice Milk for baking for drinking

 Yogurt…..yes you can still get your calcium and probiotics in your favorite snack.  I highly recommend:

 So Delicious Cultured Coconut Yogurt.  It comes in a variety of flavours like vanilla (my fav), plain, blueberry, & strawberry.   

Amande cultured almond milk yogurt.  Sweetened with fruit juice and is also gluten free!  Comes in fun flavours like cherry, peach, vanilla, plain, blueberry, coconut, strawberry and raspberry.

These DO NOT taste like cardboard like some soy based yogurts.  They are delicious…but that just my opinion :)

Chocolate Pudding…..this pudding is so good.  I either buy it in containers or I make my own out of chocolate almond milk.  The brand that I buy is made by Zen.  It is in the refrigerated section of the health food section of the grocery store.

Cheese…. OK, so this is the big one…I get it….and the hardest.  There are some really gross cheese alternatives out there, and believe me, I've tried them all.  So consider me your guinea pig.  I've tried what it gross and I will tell you what are the yummier ones to buy.  Stay away from rice cheeses…they are plain gross.  There is really only one brand that we use:  Daiya Dairy Free Cheese.  Actually it is free of most of the common allergens.  It is available now in shreds (cheddar, mozzarella & pepper jack) or wedges (cheddar or jalapeño).  This cheese will melt and stretch like cow cheese.  It is great for pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, pasta…..anything you would cook with cheese with.  Coming soon in the fall of 2013, we should have available to us Daiya cream cheese, cheese slices and boxed pizza.

Butter….this one is pretty easy actually.  Becel makes a Vegan butter that is dairy and soy free and is available with all other margarine.  The other one that I really like is Earth Balance spread (in the health food section).  It has a lot less ingredients then Becel so in my humble opinion is a better choice. 

Chocolate…..So everyone loves chocolate.  There are some yummy options available.  If you are looking to bake, then Enjoy Life has some great chocolate chunks and chips in the health food section.  Presidents Choice Decadent Chocolate Chunks are also dairy free.  For chocolate bars for the occasional treat I buy Camino Organic Fair Trade Dark Chocolate (note…the milk chocolate will have dairy solids) or Just Us Chocolate.

Coffee Cream…Mimic Cream is yummy available in the health food section of the grocery store. 

There are a variety of cookies and other snacks that are dairy free by Enjoy Life and you can even have Oreos as an occasional treat.  Remember, like anything, only eat sugary treats in moderation. 

I will post some yummy dairy free recipes to add to this post.  If you are looking for a specific dairy free item that I haven’t listed, please email me lisa@yorkhealthcentre.com  and I will be glad to help you find it.

Please note that I am not a registered dietitian or nutritionist.  I am just a person living  a dairy free lifestyle that has already gone through the time to try out different things and want to share what I know with you.  Please see your doctor or Naturopath regarding allergies and diet changes before you make them.