Food Allergy Fridays: Milk Substitutes

I talk a lot about gluten-free substitutions on my FAF posts. Speaking of, I discovered Udi's plain bagels this week which have changed my life. Go get them if you are GF. They are light. They are fluffy. They are not crumbly in the slightest.

But I digress.

Today, a blog/Twitter friend asked me about milk substitutes for toddlers, and made a special request for a FAF post about it.

So today, my FAF post is about just that. (Thanks for the suggestion, Suz!)

When I realized that G had a definite milk intolerance, and what I suspect is a milk allergy, I went with my gut and took him off of dairy. The spitting up stopped. The ear infections disappeared. Plus, I started reading about the fact that perhaps cow's milk isn't as healthy as I originally thought. So I kept him dairy-free.

I've done a lot of research on milk substitutes and I've found that, basically, everyone disagrees on which milk substitute is best. Most valid sites/experts will tell you that cow's milk isn't necessary, as long as you are getting the nutrients in other forms, particularly fat, calcium, and vitamins. Our pediatrician agrees wholeheartedly.

So I attempt to include vitamin/fat/calcium-rich foods in G's diet, but I also use milk substitutes to help.

For many reasons, I'm not comfortable giving my boys soy milk. L is intolerant, and so am I. Furthermore, much of what I read about it has brought me to the decision that it's just not right for our family. I know lots of mommas who give it to their dairy-free littles and if it works for you, more power to you. But for me, I steer clear.

Rice milk is okay, but it's typically low in fat and protein, and very high in carbs. I personally don't think it's the best option (for us anyway) but I also don't think it is necessarily unhealthy.

Coconut milk is G's favorite. I like it for him too, since it has lots of fat and calories. Trader Joe's brand is an excellent source of calcium, vitamin D, and B12, and a good source of vitamin A. However, it has no protein.

L and I love us some almond milk. The kind we get is low in protein but fortified with calcium, vitamins A, D, and E. I've read that almond milk can potentially be harmful to babies' thyroids, but friends of mine who see nutritionists say that isn't the case, unless they are drinking gallons and gallons of the stuff.

The last option is hemp milk. Nope, no joke. (Did you doubt my hippie-ness?) It's actually a great option, if you can find it. They've discontinued it at our Trader Joe's, which makes us very sad. It has omega-6 and omega-3 essential fatty acids as well as magnesium, phytosterols, ascorbic acid, beta-carotene, calcium, fiber, iron, potassium, phosphorus, riboflavin, niacin and thiamin. The taste is...different, but not bad.

The problem we've found with milk substitutes is the presence of carrageenan. It's a food additive from seaweed, and it's in lots of things besides milk. The jury is still out on it, but it's possible that it's linked to intestinal issues, and possibly even cancer. So we try to avoid it when possible.

So what do we do? A combination of rice, coconut, and almond in addition to a healthy diet and vitamins and supplements. If we can find hemp, we add that into the mix as well.

I fear that today's FAF post may be more confusing than enlightening, so as always, feel free to e-mail me specific questions to namastebyday@gmail.com.

Namaste!