Eating For Health

So many food fads come and go.   In the nutrition class I teach, it is interesting to hear about the latest food fad trends.   A current trend is alternative milk.   For some reason people are shunning real milk for fake milk.   Another faux milk is coming to a store or coffee shop near you.   Some food fads are really unhealthy fads like coconut oil.   Almost every week I hear someone talking about adding coconut oil to their diet.   Thankfully, this unhealthy fad seems to be coming to an end.    1.  Oat milk – yes, you read this correctly, the newest alternative to real milk is made from oats.   Time magazine’s article, The dairy aisle’s next new thing , describes this faux milk and why it is being used as yet another replacement for real milk.   Apparently, almond milk was the number one faux milk but has fallen from grace recently.   Why?   According to Time, almond milk was linked to the drought in Cali...

Many parents today fail to give their kids milk at meals.   Some even serve water thinking water is actually healthier than milk.   Odd since milk has water in it and one doesn’t need to serve a kid water when milk is served at the meal.    It is great that the new MyPlate shows a glass of milk with meals.   But many people choose milk alternatives.   Some because they are lactose intolerant.   Lactose is the naturally present sugar in milk that some people have trouble digesting so regular milk can lead to stomach upsets for them.   Others, have heard “coconut milk” is healthy so they forgo regular milk and have jumped on the coconut milk bandwagon.   So what are the pros, cons and nutritionally differences in milks versus milk alternatives?   Consumer Reports in their September issue did a great review of the various milk alternatives and their nutrition strengths and weaknesses.   Consumer Reports noted that up to 21% of America...