The Dairy Diet

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

27 Apr 2006 05:00 PM

A great source of calcium, vitamins and minerals is dairy foods. While some of us are lactose intolerant, many of us are not. Dairy is a fundamental food source, not to mention a good one. We can still enjoy dairy products in our life. The important key to enjoying what we love is to seek out lower fat versions of it.

For example, powdered milk has a ton of calcium, yet there is no fat. You will also find that powdered milks has a lot less in the way of germs that pasteurized milk does.

In Asia and many other parts of the world, dairy products are very low in their dietary schemes. They are still capable of being healthy if they have enough to eat. In fact, many Asians lack the enzymes needed to digest dairy foods. They are lactose intolerant. Often, they use soy products to replace their cheese, milk or other dairy supplements.

Consider having a soy latte instead of a regular one - it's lower in fat than even skim milk and you are less likely to pack on the dairy pounds. However, if you are going to use soy, be sure that you are taking a daily calcium supplement - women especially need high amounts of calcium to help avoid osteoporosis and other degenerative bone conditions that can affect them later in life. Also make sure that the soy you use is not artificially sweetened - that pretty much undoes whatever effect you were going for.

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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