Almond Breeze Taste and Make a Difference Program

Hi friends! Happy Monday!!!

I’m wrapping up my business trip in KC this week, so I’ll be back to my regular posting schedule towards the middle of this week… apparently I’m not much of a multi-tasker when it comes to traveling + blogging! There are just too many things to do and people to see! I’ve been up to my ears in illustrating Valentine cards the past two weeks (yes, we do holiday cards VERY early for the following year!), and when I’m not working, I’ve been trying to catch up with as many friends and family as possible! It’s been crazy, but wonderful!!

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This is going to be a quick post (since I’m still flooded with greeting cards!), but I wanted to briefly tell you guys about a program that I’m excited to be involved with– the Almond Breeze Taste and Make a Difference Program. As you all know, almond milk has been my #1 milk of choice for the past few years. I use it almost every day in my green smoothies, as well as in my banana soft serve, and anywhere else you might use traditional cow’s milk.

What you may not know, however, is that I used to drink cow’s milk by the gallon! I was raised drinking skim milk like it was water– I would cover my breakfast cereal with it in the morning, drink a huge glass as an afternoon snack, and enjoy another glass with my dinner! I was definitely convinced by all the milk ads that milk was a “perfect food” and truly couldn’t imagine my life without it! That is, until I started dating my husband.

When I met my husband, he followed a primarily vegan diet, and so did my (now) in-laws. I was not very familiar with what a vegan diet entailed, and wasn’t too interested in converting any time soon– but I was curious why my husband so disgusted by my milk-guzzling habit. So I started doing my homework!

I checked out the PETA website.

I read the book, Skinny Bitch.

I did lots of online research.

…and before I knew it, I was convinced that cow’s milk isn’t healthy for human consumption, either. Almost overnight, I stopped drinking cow’s milk.

If you’re curious, here are 6 Reasons why I choose to avoid dairy:

The Truth about Dairy

According to Dr. Willett, who has done many studies and reviewed the research on this topic, there are many reasons to pass up milk, including:

1. Milk doesn’t reduce fractures. Contrary to popular belief, eating dairy products has never been shown to reduce fracture risk. In fact, according to the Nurses’ Health Study dairy may increase risk of fractures by 50 percent!

2. Less dairy, better bones. Countries with lowest rates of dairy and calcium consumption (like those in Africa and Asia) have the lowest rates of osteoporosis.

3. Calcium isn’t as bone-protective as we thought. Studies of calcium supplementation have shown no benefit in reducing fracture risk. vitamin D appears to be much more important than calcium in preventing fractures.

4. Calcium may raise cancer risk. Research shows that higher intakes of both calcium and dairy products may increase a man’s risk of prostate cancer by 30 to 50 percent. Plus, dairy consumption increases the body’s level of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) — a known cancer promoter.

5. Calcium has benefits that dairy doesn’t. Calcium supplements, but not dairy products, may reduce the risk of colon cancer.

6. Not everyone can stomach dairy. About 75 percent of the world’s population is genetically unable to properly digest milk and other dairy products — a problem called lactose intolerance.

[source]

(Just to clarify, I have stopped DRINKING milk, but I do still eat cheese and yogurt on occasion, although it’s mostly the goat variety– I am not a vegan, and have no intention of becoming one anytime soon. For more on that, read about my brief venture into veganism)

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The problem with quitting milk was…  I MISSED IT!!!

Hence, my quest to find a suitable milk substitute began. I started off with the most popular milk-replacement at the time: soy milk. At the time, I was working at a coffee shop, and started ordering soy lattes instead of the traditional version I was used to. I’ll be honest– I did NOT like the taste of soy milk at first! It was definitely an acquired taste for me. However, I quickly grew used to it, and soy milk became my milk of choice.

During this time, I was eating a predominantly vegetarian diet, and suddenly found myself eating quite a bit of processed-soy products. I had a feeling that it was TOO MUCH soy, and started looking into alternatives. That’s when I discovered the book that changed my life, The Raw Food Detox Diet. The author, Natalia Rose, explains that soy is a highly mucus-forming plant, and is best avoided for optimal health. She recommended almond milk as a neutral, healthy milk-substitute– so, I gave it a shot!

Like soy milk, I didn’t love the taste of almond milk at first sip. It tasted light and nutty– not like the soy milk that I had grown accustomed to. But like most things, after tasting almond milk a couple of times, I was sold! And I’ve been using it regularly ever since. In fact, you’ve been seeing it everyday in my smoothies!

(Don’t you love the Mickey Mouse to-go cup I use to take my smoothies to work?)

If you’d like to learn more about why I made the switch from soy, you can check out these 10 Benefits of Almond Milk.

Okay, okay…  I know I said this was going to be a BRIEF post! I guess I lied.

I just wanted you to know where I was coming from– and why I love almond milk so much! Which is why I was obviously THRILLED to hear I was selected as one of 5 bloggers to participate in the Almond Breeze Taste and Make a Difference Program. Almond Breeze has pledged to donate $25,000 between 5 charities, and the charity I am representing is Blog Away Hunger–which is dedicated to spreading the word about this solvable problem of hunger while raising money for the World Food Program.

If you could, please take a moment to VOTE FOR MY CHARITY (*edited to say: You should see a voting widget to the right of this post sometime today or tomorrow). I truly appreciate your votes! More votes = more money that Almond Breeze will donate to my charity, Blog Away Hunger. Your vote could help end world hunger!

Thanks so much for your support, and thanks to Foodbuzz and Almond Breeze for raising money for such a deserving charity!

Hope you are all having a great start to your week!

Related posts:

1. My Brush with Veganism
2. Healthy Hot Chocolate
3. “Real” food