In our last column we accepted the designation that cow’s milk is the perfect food--for baby calves. For human babies, however, breast milk is best. How do we get around it? What options are available?
Milk is a concentrated protein and as cheese a very high-fat food. If used at all, it should be used sparingly in nonfat form. Many types of soy or tofu milks are now commercially available. They make excellent milk substitutes.
The Optimal Diet
Research on nutrition has clearly showed a unitary dietary principle in dealing with our Western killer diseases. There isn’t one diet for treating heart disease, and another for overweight, and yet another for hypertension and diabetes.
Instead, there is one optimal diet consisting of a wide variety of plant foods, freely eaten “as grown,” prepared with sparing use of fats, oils, sugars, and salt, and almost devoid of refined or processed foods. If animal products are eaten, they are best used more like a seasoning, more for the flavor and not as the focus of the meal.
Take a look at how the Western Diet compares with the Optimal Diet. Please note, the Complex Carbohydrates on the Optimal Diet are largely starchy foods that are unrefined, such as oats, barley, brown rice, whole wheat, yams, potatoes, sprouted wheat breads. The Complex Carbohydrates on the Western Diet, however, are largely refined starch-rich “extracted” foods, such as white rice, white flour, mashed potatoes, French fries, cakes and cookies, and white fluffy breads. These kinds of extracted starchy foods are usually lacking fiber and are therefore digested and metabolized at totally different rates.
Your Challenge
Pick up some samples of milk substitutes and embark on a new habit of dairy-free living. And observe the impact on your health.
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