Living Dairy-Free For Dummies E-Book

Suzanne Havala Hobbs

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 518

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

Whatever the reason for not eating dairy, Living Dairy-Free For Dummies provides readers with the most up-to-date information on a dairy-free diet and lifestyle and will empower them to thrive without dairy while still getting the calcium, vitamin D and nutritional benefits commonly associated with dairy products. Living Dairy-Free For Dummies: * Is a lifestyle manual, going beyond just recipes to present a full nutritional evaluation of what dairy-free life is like * Contains more than 50 dairy-free recipes, along with how to set up a dairy-free kitchen and tips for eating out and remaining dairy-free * Presents alternatives to dairy so readers can continue getting the nutritional value and tastes of dairy, without the side effects

Leseprobe

Living Dairy-Free For Dummies®

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

What You’re Not to Read

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organized

Part I: Going Dairy-Free: A Quick Overview

Part II: Setting Up Your Dairy-Free Kitchen

Part III: Meals Made Easy: Recipes for Everyone

Part IV: Living — and Loving — the Dairy-Free Lifestyle

Part V: The Part of Tens

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I: Going Dairy-Free: A Quick Overview

Chapter 1: Living Dairy-Free: Beginning with the Basics

Dairy-Free for You and Me: What It’s All About

Moo juice: Getting the skinny on why milk matters

Understanding when a “good thing” is the wrong thing

Being a dairy detective

Doing without Dairy: Who Is Affected and Why

Getting a snapshot of who’s going dairy-free

Why do you do it? Looking at the many reasons for living dairy-free

Getting the Nutrients You Need

Digging In to Dairy-Free Meal Planning and Preparation

Preparing to de-dairy your kitchen

Selecting dairy-free supplies

Cooking dairy-free

Moving toward a Dairy-Free Lifestyle

Dealing with food in your relationships

Managing your diet outside the home

Experiencing a dairy-free lifestyle during all of life’s stages

Chapter 2: Understanding Why Living Dairy-Free Makes Sense

For the Health of It: Avoiding Negative Health Effects of Dairy Products

Health effect #1: Many adults are lactose intolerant

Health effect #2: Some people suffer from milk allergies

Health effect #3: A dairy-heavy diet may hurt your heart health

Health effect #4: Dairy products can exacerbate certain health issues

Health effect #5: Eating dairy can promote weight gain

Saving the Planet with Your Knife and Fork

Contemplating climate change

Conserving and protecting the soil, water, and air

Taking a Closer Look at Ethical Considerations

Eyeing Economic and Political Forces that Keep Dairy in the American Diet

Going Dairy-Free with Some Restrictions

When soy isn’t an option

When almonds aren’t an option

Chapter 3: Dairy-Free by Degree: Taking a Look at Lactose Intolerance

Getting the Lowdown on Lactose Intolerance

Knowing why lactose intolerance occurs

Identifying the symptoms

Determining Your Degree of Intolerance

Understanding the variations: Who is lactose intolerant and who isn’t

Testing for lactose intolerance

Experimenting with your dairy limits

Putting the Dairy-Free Issue in Perspective

Considering dairy alternatives

Assessing the risks and rewards

Chapter 4: Getting Calcium, Vitamin D, and Other Essential Nutrients

Understanding Why People Consume Dairy Products

The Big Kahuna: Calcium

Determining how much calcium you need

Identifying (dairy-free) food sources of calcium

Vitamin D: The Add-On

Getting the 4-1-1 on vitamin D and your body

Seeing how vitamin D got into your milk

Naming alternative sources of vitamin D

Obtaining what your body needs

Pinpointing Other Essential Nutrients in Milk

Comprehending what your body needs

Knowing where to get what you need

Making Sense of Supplements

Taking a look at what the science says

Assessing your needs

Locating individualized advice

Chapter 5: Making the Transition to Dairy-Free: Getting Started

Spotting the Dairy in Your Diet

Identifying the usual suspects

Finding hidden sources of dairy

Taking a Systematic Approach to Going Dairy-Free

Outlining simple steps to de-dairy your diet

Using a food diary

Monitoring your progress

Getting help if you need it

Making Sure Foods Are Dairy-Free

Reading ingredient labels

Communicating with food companies

Focusing on Some Detailed Dairy-Free Advice

Surveying supermarkets for alternatives

Explaining your diet to family and friends

Anticipating meals outside your home

Setting realistic expectations

Part II: Setting Up Your Dairy-Free Kitchen

Chapter 6: Removing Dairy from Your Kitchen

Uncovering Dairy Items in Your Kitchen and Tossing Them

The big three: Milk, cheese, and yogurt

Spreads: Butter and margarine

Toppers: Sour cream and whipped cream

The sweets: Ice cream and dairy desserts

Other minor sources

Replacing Dairy with Nondairy Alternatives

Introducing nondairy milk, cheese, and yogurt

Bringing in nondairy spreads and toppings

Adding nondairy ice cream and frozen desserts

Rating the best for taste and function

Putting nondairy products to use

Pointing Out Some Special Features of Nondairy Alternatives

Packaging is unique

Looking at shelf life

Chapter 7: Shopping for and Stocking Your Dairy-Free Home

Determining What You Need by Planning Ahead

Mapping out meal plans

Keeping a grocery list

Knowing Where to Get What You Need

Your local supermarket

Natural foods stores

Other options

Watching Your Budget While Taking Care of Your Health

Making sure you have low-cost staples on hand

Comparing prices

Considering versatile products

Shopping for value

Natural or Organic? Determining What’s Best

Natural foods

Organic foods

Chapter 8: Cooking Tips and Techniques

Noting Special Considerations for Cooking Dairy-Free

Working with nondairy milks

Cooking with dairy-free cheese

Incorporating dairy-free yogurt and sour cream

Naming the Appliances You Can Use

High-speed blenders

Food processors: Large and small

Mixers

Ice cream machines

Recipe Magic: Adapting Your Favorites

Adjusting traditional recipes

Keeping notes as you cook

Creating your own recipes

Part III: Meals Made Easy: Recipes for Everyone

Chapter 9: Waking Up to Breakfast Basics

Starting with Cold and Hot Beverages

Leaving the Dairy Out of Classic Breakfast Dishes

Working with Waffles, Pancakes, and Other Grains

Chapter 10: Spectacular Soups, Salads, and Sides

Beginning with Soup

Serving Up Some Salad

Complementing Your Meal with Savory Sides

Chapter 11: Delectable Main Dishes

Creating Some Hearty Family Favorites

Sinking Your Teeth into Sandwiches

Enticing Your Palate with Ethnic Entrees

Chapter 12: Dairy-Free Dips, Spreads, Sauces, and Dressings

Drumming Up Some Divine Dips

Spreading Some Cheer

Sauces for All Seasons

Making Dairy-Free Dressings

Chapter 13: Breads, Pizza, and Munchies

Falling in Love with Dairy-Free Breads

Kneading Some Pizza

Satisfying Cravings at Snack Time

Chapter 14: Dishing Up Dairy-Free Desserts

Sipping on Smoothies

Putting Together Perfect Puddings

Baking Cakes and Pies

Screaming for Ice Cream!

Part IV: Living — and Loving — the Dairy-Free Lifestyle

Chapter 15: Managing Social Situations

Explaining Your Dairy-Free Diet

Responding to inquiring minds

Handling questions about your health

Sharing your views gently

Managing Family Meals

Dealing with dairy-free meals in a mixed household

Negotiating which products to buy

Getting the whole family involved

Keeping meals simple

Enjoying popular nondairy meals

Hosting Dairy Eaters in Your Dairy-Free Home

Providing options

Serving foods where dairy isn’t the star

Being a Gracious Guest

Telling your host about your needs

Making do if your host’s meal doesn’t fit your needs

Chapter 16: Dodging Dairy on the Mooove: Eating Out

Maintaining a Positive Attitude

Preplanning: Why it’s so important

Staying flexible

Picking the Restaurant

Fine-dining and locally-run restaurants versus chain and fast-food establishments

Vegetarian, vegan, and natural foods options

Eateries that serve ethnic cuisine

Studying the Menu

Doing some investigative work

Making simple substitutions

Working with the Wait Staff

Being assertive (but kind)

Flashing a smile and remaining friendly

Traveling Dairy-Free

Eating on the road

Flying dairy-free

Dairy-free at sea

Planning for problems

Chapter 17: Dairy-Free During Pregnancy and the Early Years

Preparing for a Healthy, Dairy-Free Pregnancy

Getting into nutritional shape before you get pregnant

Checking with a professional for tailored advice

Obtaining the Nutrients Both of You Need

Choosing a prenatal supplement

Taking a look at your nutrient needs

Hello Baby! Welcoming Your Newest Dairy-Free Family Member

Breast or bottle: Looking at your feeding choices

Identifying infant milk allergies

Supplementing your baby’s diet with dairy-free solids

Introducing dairy-free food during the first year

As Your Child Ages: Feeding during the Twos and Threes

Planning meals without dairy

Making sensible dairy-free snacks

Relying on dairy-free vegetarian options

Chapter 18: Raising Happy, Healthy Dairy-Free Kids and Teens

Making Sure Dairy-Free Kids Grow Up Healthy and Happy

Understanding their nutritional needs

Building healthy bones and teeth

Thinking through the decision to raise dairy-free kids

Preparing for doubters

Making Sure Your Kids Are On Board with Their Meals

Getting them involved

Modeling healthy choices

Giving them a voice

Working through the Challenges

Handling picky eaters

Limiting the junk

Sidestepping dairy at school

Avoiding dairy at parties, play dates, and other events

Teaching kids to spot the dairy

Chapter 19: Aging Healthfully: Dairy-Free Diets for Older Adults

Going Dairy-Free Later in Life

Knowing how nutrient needs change over time

Eyeing nutrients that need your attention

Taking in whole foods to meet your vitamin and mineral needs

Eating for Bone Health

Ensuring you get what you need

Preventing calcium loss

Implementing strategies to maintain bone health

Part V: The Part of Tens

Chapter 20: Ten Good Reasons to Dump Dairy

Cow’s Milk Isn’t Meant for Humans

Saturated Fat Hardens Arteries

Lactose Is Difficult to Digest

Milk Contains No Fiber

Milk Is Linked with Health Problems

Cows Heat Up the Earth

Dairy Farming Wastes Water

Dairy Farming Pollutes the Air

Dairy Farming Spoils the Soil and Eliminates Trees

Dairy Farming Is Unkind to Animals

Chapter 21: Ten Useful and Great-Tasting Dairy-Free Products

Vanilla Soymilk

Almond Milk

Rice Milk

Soy Coffee Creamer

Soy Yogurt

Nondairy Ice Cream

Nondairy Cheese

Dairy-Free Margarine

Nondairy Cream Cheese

Nondairy Sour Cream

Chapter 22: Ten Hidden Sources of Dairy

Baby Formula

Baked Goods and Baking Mixes

Breakfast Cereals

Candy

Coffee Creamers

Creamy Liqueurs

High-Protein Drink Powders

Instant Mashed Potatoes

Nutrition Bars

Sherbet

Chapter 23: Ten Ways to Make Dairy-Free Eating Easier on Your Wallet

Buy in Volume

Shop Around

Share with a Friend or Family Member

Buy Generic

Clip Coupons

Make It Yourself

Eat at Home

Go Easy on the Cheese

Throw Away Less

Use Fewer Specialty Products

Chapter 24: Ten Ways to Make Dairy-Free Fun for Kids

Get Their Input

Take Them Shopping

Teach Them to Cook

Play the Taste Test Game

Whip Up Some Smoothies

Make Dairy-Free Ice Cream

Play with Tofu

Focus on Favorites

Bake Cookies

Have Fun Yourself

Living Dairy-Free For Dummies®

by Suzanne Havala Hobbs, DrPH

Registered and licensed dietitian

Foreword by John J.B. Anderson, PhD

Emeritus Professor of Nutrition at Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Living Dairy-Free For Dummies®

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774

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Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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About the Author

Suzanne Havala Hobbs is a registered, licensed dietitian and nationally recognized writer on food, nutrition, and dietary guidance policy. She holds a doctorate in health policy and administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she is a clinical associate professor in the Gillings School of Global Public Health — the nation’s top public school of public health. There she directs the doctoral program in health leadership and serves on the faculty of the Department of Health Policy and Management and the Department of Nutrition.

An expert on dairy-free living, Sue was the primary author of the American Dietetic Association’s 1988 and 1993 position papers on vegetarian diets. She also was the founding chair of the Association’s Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group. She serves on the editorial board of Vegetarian Times magazine and the advisory boards of the nonprofit Vegetarian Resource Group and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. She has been living (mostly) dairy-free for 35 years.

Through her popular newspaper column, On the Table, Sue explores topics related to food, nutrition, and related policy issues. The column reaches readers weekly through The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina, and the discussion continues on her blog at www.onthetable.net.

She has written 12 books, including Living Vegetarian For Dummies (Wiley), Get the Trans Fat Out: 601 Simple Ways to Cut the Trans Fat Out of Any Diet (Three Rivers Press), Vegetarian Cooking For Dummies (Wiley), The Natural Kitchen: The Complete Guide to Buying and Using Natural Foods and Products (Berkley), Good Foods, Bad Foods: What’s Left to Eat? (Wiley), and Shopping for Health: A Nutritionist’s Aisle-by-Aisle Guide to Smart, Low-fat Choices at the Supermarket (HarperPerennial). She is a contributing writer for Bottom Line/Personal, and she also has been a regular writer for Vegetarian Times, SELF, and other national publications.

Suzanne is a member of the American Public Health Association, American Dietetic Association, Association of Health Care Journalists, Association of Food Journalists, and the American Society of Journalists and Authors. She served on the board of directors of the Association of Health Care Journalists and the Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She also serves on the board of trustees of the North Carolina Writers’ Network.

She lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Her family includes her husband, Michael R. Hobbs, their children, Barbara and Henry, dogs, Kailani and Sperry, and a cat named Kodak.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to people everywhere who strive to eat well to support their health and to protect the well-being of our environment and the other living things with which we share our beautiful planet.

Author’s Acknowledgments

Heartfelt thanks to the kind, competent, and hardworking team at Wiley Publishing who made this book possible and expertly guided it from concept to completion: Michael Lewis, Acquisitions Editor; Chad Sievers, Project Editor; Jessica Smith, Copy Editor; and Patrick Redmond, Production Coordinator. I am grateful to Patty Santelli for her assistance with the nutritional analyses of the recipes, and to expert recipe tester Emily Nolan for her good work. I’m especially indebted to my longtime friend and colleague, Reed Mangels, for her help with the technical review. Many thanks go as well to my agents, Mary Ann Naples, formerly of The Creative Culture, as well as to Laura Nolan of DeFiori and Company. It is such a privilege and joy to be part of a team of so many outstanding professionals.

Many of my colleagues in the U.S. and around the world have dedicated their lives and careers to advancing knowledge in nutrition science, the links between diet and health, and the practice of diet and health policymaking. My work builds on theirs, and I salute the collective efforts of this community of scholars and practitioners. I especially thank my colleagues in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for their continuing support.

I am grateful for my family and friends and their continued support and good humor. Special thanks to Bob and Laura Bridges and Karen Bush for their hands in helping me juggle writing and skiing in Park City, Utah. My husband, Mike, and my family helped me day-to-day with their encouraging words.

I am indebted, too, to readers of my newspaper column, On the Table. Their feedback and encouragement help me stay in touch with issues of primary concern to people trying to do their best to make wise food choices.

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Foreword

Whenever a major food group is omitted from an individual’s diet, it’s natural to worry about the potential for nutritional deficiencies. Those concerns may be even greater when the food being removed is such a staple as dairy products. That’s especially true for growing children on their way to achieving peak bone mass.

It may surprise you to know, though, that growth records of children raised with no dairy products at all show that they can experience normal and healthy rates of growth. There is, of course, no human requirement for dairy products at all after infancy. And as babies, it’s our mother’s milk we need, not milk from a cow. Still, to ensure healthy rates of growth and development, the diets of all children — whether or not they drink cow’s milk or eat other dairy products — require careful shepherding by their parents.

Good nutrition doesn’t just happen. Healthful diets require knowledge and skills. That’s where this book comes in. In Living Dairy-Free For Dummies, Suzanne Havala Hobbs covers everything you need to know about getting adequate intakes of calcium, vitamin D, and other important nutrients — without eating dairy foods. In addition to adults who want to avoid dairy products, she helps parents plan dairy-free meals that meet the nutritional needs of growing children. Readers will find that the guidelines are laid out clearly in this book, so they are easy to follow.

As a nutrition scientist who has spent decades studying the roles of calcium and vitamin D in human health, I know that nutrition science is complicated, and eating healthfully is not always an easy thing to do in our society. One potential downside of avoiding dairy foods, for example, is evidence that a few nutrients provided in good quantities by milk and other dairy foods may be lower in the diets of people who eat dairy-free diets. This means that alternative food sources of these nutrients need to be eaten.

Calcium and vitamin D are two of the nutrients that need particular attention because of the vital roles they play in bone health. Getting enough calcium and vitamin D to meet recommended levels is no easy feat, whether you eat dairy products or not. With this book as a guide, though, Suzanne Havala Hobbs helps you get what you need.

You don’t need dairy products in your diet to be healthy. You do need a quality diet, though, to support your health. For whatever reason you choose to go dairy-free, the practical information in this book will help you get started.

John J. B. Anderson, PhD

Emeritus Professor of Nutrition at the Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Introduction

Why would anyone think that humans need milk from a cow to be healthy? After all, milk is tailor-made for the species it came from. Dogs drink milk from dog mothers, and giraffes drink milk from giraffe mothers. And cow’s milk, for example, is formulated to help calves grow and develop an enormous skeleton in a matter of several months. Human skeletons are small in comparison to cow skeletons, so why would a human need milk that’s formulated for fast, enormous bone growth?

Humans are designed to get nourishment from human mothers when they’re infants. Human milk contains the nutrients they need in the amounts they need for the growth and development of the human body (not the cow body). The milk-drinking phase doesn’t last long either — a year to a few years, at most.

In fact, no mammals continue to drink milk after infancy — except humans. And to top it off, the milk that humans drink is from a species other than their own. It’s an odd state of affairs, when you think about it. The truth is that humans don’t need milk from cows. In fact, they don’t need any milk at all once they’re grown.

But folks have a strong cultural tradition — perpetuated by powerful political and economic interests, not to mention a love of ice cream — to continue their dairy-filled ways. This tradition causes health problems for some people, because most human adults have at least some level of intolerance to dairy products. This dairy habit also causes unintended environmental and ethical consequences, too. These issues are motivating an increasing number of people to rethink their dairy habits and to live dairy-free. I invite you to use this book to do the same.

About This Book

Living Dairy-Free For Dummies is for anyone with an interest in going dairy-free. It’s for folks who may simply want to learn a little more or for those who would like to take the first few steps toward a new, dairy-free lifestyle. Whether you’re ready to go part of the way or all the way, this book can help. And no matter the reason you’re interested in the dairy-free lifestyle (perhaps your child is allergic to milk, or you’re lactose intolerant), you can find the guidance you need here.

Don’t feel you need to read the chapters in this book in order from cover to cover. This book is designed to make sense and be helpful whether you surf it casually as you need it or read it in its entirety. Throughout the text, you’ll find cross-references to guide you to other parts of the book where you can find related information.

Conventions Used in This Book

To make this book easier to read, the following conventions or rules are followed throughout:

When introducing a new term that you may not be familiar with, I use italics to set it apart. I then follow up with an easy-to-understand definition.

I bold text to highlight keywords in bulleted lists.

Web addresses are printed in monofont. And keep in mind that when this book was printed, some Web addresses may have needed to break across two lines of text. If that happened, rest assured that I haven’t put in any extra characters (such as hyphens) to indicate the break. So when using one of these Web addresses, just type in exactly what you see in this book, pretending as though the line break doesn’t exist.

Recipe ingredients aren’t specified as being organic, conventional, low-sodium, or any of the other possible variations. When you shop for ingredients, feel free to make these choices as you see fit.

All temperatures are listed in Fahrenheit.

What You’re Not to Read

It’s great if you read this entire book from cover to cover. You won’t miss any helpful hints and information that way. However, some information I include isn’t as critical for you to know. If you need to pare down your reading, here’s what you can save for later:

Material flagged with the Technical Stuff icon: These paragraphs contain information that, while interesting, isn’t vital to your understanding of the topic.

Sidebars: These shaded boxes are scattered throughout the book. The information contained in them is similar to the Technical Stuff: It’s great if you have the time, but it isn’t critical for you to read.

Foolish Assumptions

If you’re holding this book, you or someone who loves you bought or borrowed it to gain a better understanding of how to live a dairy-free lifestyle. This book is appropriate for a variety of purposes, including the following:

Dipping your toe into the topic: If you just want a little more information to help you decide whether living dairy-free may be something you’d like to consider doing, this book is appropriate for you.

Digging deeper: You already have a general sense of what’s involved in living dairy-free, but you want more in-depth advice about how to do it. If this sounds like your situation, this book is for you.

Sharing the knowledge: If you know someone with an interest in going dairy-free — or someone who may simply be curious and interested in learning more — this book is a reliable resource.

Refreshing your own knowledge: People who have been living dairy-free for a long time can benefit from the up-to-date information in this book.

Having a reference on hand: Health professionals often encounter people with special dietary needs in their work and have to give them medical or dietary advice. If you’re a health professional with no personal experience with a dairy-free lifestyle, this book may be helpful as an accurate and quick reference.

You can make some assumptions about me, too:

I know what I’m talking about. I’m a licensed, registered dietitian with a master’s degree in human nutrition and a doctorate in public health. I’m a leading expert on vegetarian diets, which includes variations that exclude all dairy products. Personally, I’m also a vegetarian and have limited my use of dairy products for 35 years.

My advice is practical. It’s informed by my own experience of limiting my intake of dairy products for more than three decades. I also have many years of experience counseling individuals on special diets, including vegetarians, nonvegetarians, and people who avoid dairy products.

I’m not giving individualized advice. As much as I wish it were possible, books aren’t an appropriate means of dispensing medical or dietary advice tailored to individual needs. I can give you general information that provides a good foundation of knowledge about the topic. However, if you have specific issues you need help with — particularly medical conditions that require you to follow a special diet — you need to get additional, individualized guidance from a registered dietitian. I include information about how to locate a dietitian with expertise in living dairy-free.

How This Book Is Organized

Living Dairy-Free For Dummies is divided into five parts. It’s organized to take you through a logical progression of information, moving from basic to more in-depth, depending on your level of interest.

Parts I and II provide fundamental information that you should know if you’re contemplating eliminating dairy products from your diet. Parts III and IV are important for anyone ready to dig a little deeper. Part V — the Part of Tens — is downright fun for anyone.

Each part focuses on a different aspect of living dairy-free, including the basic who, what, and why, the ways to get ready to make the transition, the recipes you can try, and the maintenance of the lifestyle over time. Together, the five parts of this book lay the foundation for understanding the dairy-free lifestyle and building the skills necessary to successfully adapt.

Part I: Going Dairy-Free: A Quick Overview

This part gives a quick summary of the primary areas you need to know as you take steps to go dairy-free. I discuss the basics about what the dairy-free lifestyle is all about: Who may want to go dairy-free and why, nutritional issues, considerations for meal planning, and getting started with the transition.

I dig a little deeper then, and get into more detail about the reasons some people decide to eliminate dairy from their diets. I zero in on lactose intolerance, one of the most common reasons people go dairy-free. I also get into more detail about specific vitamins and minerals you may have questions about and where to get them if you’re on a diet without milk. I provide practical pointers about how to steer clear of dairy, including hidden sources and how to find them when you read food labels.

Part II: Setting Up Your Dairy-Free Kitchen

This part explains how to set up a dairy-free kitchen so you can make more meals at home. It covers what you need to know about common and versatile ingredients (and which ones to avoid), where to shop, and strategies for getting the best values. This part also focuses on practical equipment and basic cooking techniques you should know to help you get started.

Part III: Meals Made Easy: Recipes for Everyone

In this part, you can find a good set of starter recipes. The chapters I include address breakfast foods; salads, soups, and sides; main dishes; dips, spreads, sauces, and dressings; breads and munchies; and desserts. The recipes are easy, versatile, and practical. Ingredient lists are short, and basic cooking skills are all that are necessary to follow the simple instructions.

Part IV: Living — and Loving — the Dairy-Free Lifestyle

This part provides in-depth advice for anyone who’s ready to take the full plunge into living dairy-free. It includes strategies for preparing meals at home that everyone will love (even those who still eat dairy products) as well as tips for getting along in social situations outside your home, including how to maintain a dairy-free diet when eating at restaurants and when traveling. This part also includes information about going dairy-free at different stages of life, including during pregnancy and infancy, during childhood and as a teen, and throughout your adult years.

Part V: The Part of Tens

Most For Dummies books end with The Part of Tens, a collection of handy tips, lists, and fun facts that are easy to read at a glance. This book is no different. The chapters I include in this part provide you with a quick list of reasons to go dairy-free as well as practical advice about how to make it happen, including useful products to try, hidden dairy ingredients to avoid, ways to save money, and ideas for making dairy-free foods fun for kids.

Icons Used in This Book

A fun feature of For Dummies books is the inclusion of the clever icons that flag helpful nuggets of information. Each icon denotes a particular type of information. Here’s what each type means:

This icon highlights insights or other helpful clues that may make it more convenient or hassle-free for you to follow a dairy-free diet.

When you see this icon, the information that follows is a rule of thumb or another truism you should keep in mind.

If you see this icon, the information is meant to help you avoid a common pitfall or to keep you from getting into trouble.

You’ll see this icon attached to information that, while interesting, isn’t vital to your understanding of the topic. In other words, some of you may skip it, but it’s available if you care to find out more.

Where to Go from Here

The science of nutrition is complicated, but being well nourished is a relatively simple matter. It’s even easier to do if you follow good-sense advice about the foods that make up a health-supporting diet. That’s where this book comes in.

If you’re not sure where to start, peruse the table of contents or index and find a topic that interests you. Otherwise feel free to start at the beginning and read cover to cover.

Whether you go completely dairy-free or just part of the way, using this book as a guide is one of the smartest moves you can make. I hope this book helps. Best wishes to you as you take the first step!

Part I

Going Dairy-Free: A Quick Overview

In this part . . .

Lifestyle change isn’t easy, especially when food is involved. Changing the way you eat requires you to change your mind-set about food. That’s the challenge of it, but that’s the fun of it, too.

In this part, I introduce you to the basics of living dairy-free. I start with a summary of what dairy-free is all about. I also discuss the health, environmental, and ethical reasons that compel some people to cut dairy products out of their diets. I include a chapter on lactose intolerance — the most common reason people skip bovine beverages and products.

Some of you may be anxious to get answers about the nutrients in dairy products and how to get them on a dairy-free diet. I explain what you need to know in this part.

Finally, I finish up with some practical guidance for avoiding dairy products, including how to stay away from hidden sources of dairy and dairy byproducts and how to spot dairy products on ingredient labels.

Chapter 1

Living Dairy-Free: Beginning with the Basics

In This Chapter

Understanding what it means to be dairy-free

Seeing who’s avoiding dairy and why

Being well-nourished without milk and dairy products

Planning and preparing satisfying nondairy meals

Making a dairy-free lifestyle work for you

If you’ve picked up this book, you or someone you know may be thinking about making a major lifestyle change: going dairy-free. It’s a big step that may take some getting used to. After all, milk — that bovine beverage that many folks drink with cookies and pour over cereal — is about as all-American as apple pie and corn on the cob. In fact, for most people in North America (and much of Europe, too), milk and foods made from it have been an integral part of everyday life for generations. And tradition is tough to change.

Still, you may be considering doing just that. Why? And how can you make do without a food that was deemed an entire food group in the government’s dietary guidelines? I cover these questions and more in this chapter.

In this chapter, I also review what going dairy-free is all about. I explain who may be interested in cutting out dairy and why, discuss how going dairy-free affects your nutritional needs, provide tips for planning and preparing dairy-free meals, and show you how to get started after you’ve decided to make the switch.

Dairy-Free for You and Me: What It’s All About

After infancy, you don’t need milk. It’s a simple fact. Milk is a substance produced by mammals to nourish their newborn babies. Baby mammals — including humans — depend on milk until their digestive systems have had enough time to mature and allow them to eat solid food. (You can read more about nature’s first food and its link to lactose intolerance in Chapter 3.)

After they begin eating solid food, the animals don’t go back to drinking milk. That is, of course, unless they’re human. Some human adults — a minority of the world’s population — drink milk from cows, goats, and other large mammals. Although this practice of milk drinking isn’t natural, it goes back to ancient times. Many people like the taste of milk, and it has nutritional value. However, it also has drawbacks — a greater number for some people than for others. The following sections take a closer look the dairy dilemma — why people place importance on milk and why it’s a problem for some folks.

Moo juice: Getting the skinny on why milk matters

Milk is a concentrated source of certain nutrients, such as protein, calcium, and the B vitamin riboflavin. Its nutritional value isn’t surprising, given that cow’s milk is created to help calves grow and develop in a short time into large animals with massive skeletons and musculature. Milk from goats, water buffaloes, and other herd animals is nutritionally similar to cow’s milk.

When humans drink milk from one of these large creatures, they get a big dose of protein, vitamins, and minerals in a few gulps. In fact, milk is much more nutritious than many other beverages, including the following:

Fruit juice: This beverage contains no protein or riboflavin. It also contains no calcium, unless it’s fortified with the mineral. Depending on the type of juice, it may contain vitamin C, potassium, and other nutrients, though.

Soft drinks: These drinks contain no essential nutrients. They’re empty calorie drinks, meaning they contain calories but have no nutritional value in exchange for those calories. In other words, soft drinks are junk.

Coffee, tea, and water: These beverages are in a different category. They contain no calories or essential nutrients (unless you add sugar and creamer, of course). They’re simply fluids, and generally they’re beneficial because they hydrate you. Caffeinated drinks, such as coffee and tea, contain substances that cause you to lose some fluid, but you gain far more fluid than you lose.

As compared with other beverages, milk is nutritious. That doesn’t mean you need it, though. And along with the benefits, drinking cow’s milk has some significant drawbacks. Depending on the type of milk or dairy products you eat, some dairy foods may be better or worse for you than others. As a matter of fact, some people can’t drink milk at all. Why? Keep reading.

Understanding when a “good thing” is the wrong thing

Sure, drinking milk has its benefits (see the preceding section), but as soon as you were eating apples and oatmeal as a child, you didn’t need your mother’s milk any more. You certainly didn’t need milk from a cow when you were a baby, and that hasn’t changed in adulthood.

In fact, most people lose their ability to digest milk. If they drink milk or eat dairy products, these folks experience a variety of unpleasant symptoms. Those symptoms, which may range from bloating and abdominal pain to cramps and diarrhea, are signs that their bodies are no longer equipped to handle milk. I cover this issue of lactose intolerance in detail in Chapter 3. In the long term, including milk in your diet may affect you in other ways, too, regardless of whether you can digest milk. (See the later section “Why do you do it? Looking at the many reasons for living dairy-free.”)

Being a dairy detective

Dairy products are widespread, so if you’re considering going dairy-free, you need to be aware of where dairy rears its ugly head in everyday foods. Doing without dairy requires being conscious of the varied places milk and milk products are used.

You easily can find the obvious sources of milk, including a glass of milk served with a slice of chocolate cake or the milk used to make pudding, ice cream, or cream of broccoli soup. Milk also is used to make yogurt, whipped cream, cream cheese, and other cheeses.

But even if you don’t see them, dairy products are used in many other foods as well. Byproducts of milk, such as skim milk solids and casein, sometimes are used as ingredients in processed foods, including commercial piecrust, cookies, and crackers.

Small bits of dairy may be used in foods when you eat out, too. For example, Parmesan cheese often is added to Caesar salads, and buttermilk may be used to make a stack of pancakes. I include more examples of places you’ll find dairy — including hidden sources of dairy ingredients — in Chapters 5 and 22.

Doing without Dairy: Who Is Affected and Why

Like me, you may have been raised in a family or community where drinking milk and eating dairy products was the norm. You enjoyed drinking milkshakes and eating ice cream with your friends, and you ate grilled cheese sandwiches with your cream of tomato soup. You likely dunked your cookies into a glass of cold milk as well. And, of course, you kept a gallon of milk in your refrigerator at all times.

But you also may have known someone who didn’t drink milk. That person may have said that she didn’t like the taste of milk. Another common explanation is, “I like milk, but it doesn’t like me.” Today, it’s much more common to meet people who don’t eat dairy products, and that number is increasing rapidly. The following sections take a closer look at the people who live dairy-free and why they do so.

Getting a snapshot of who’s going dairy-free

In some countries, dairy foods aren’t a major component of the culture’s diet. In fact, they may not be eaten at all. In parts of Asia, for example, soymilk is much more common than cow’s milk. In India, milk is used to make cheese, pudding, and yogurt, but these foods are eaten in small quantities as condiments or occasional treats. In Africa, some people don’t drink any form of milk at all.

As more people from other countries move to the United States, they bring with them their food traditions. They open restaurants and ethnic grocery stores and sell foods from their native countries. These newcomers also are a growing market for products such as the soymilk, almond milk, and nondairy cheeses you may have noticed showing up more frequently in your neighborhood supermarket.

All this mobility around the world is creating a shift in eating habits and driving more people to go dairy-free. Newcomers to dairy-centric parts of the world, such as the United States and Canada, may already be used to a diet that’s largely dairy-free. And they’re exposing everybody else to the alternatives to the preferred dairy products. When given the choice, you may opt to go dairy-free. If that’s the case, it’s easier than ever to do.

Why do you do it? Looking at the many reasons for living dairy-free

Going dairy-free makes a lot of sense for your health and for the environment. And, of course, different people do it for different reasons. Among those reasons are the following:

They can’t digest cow’s milk. Most of the world’s adults can’t completely digest cow’s milk. Some have so much difficulty digesting milk that they develop unpleasant symptoms, such as gas, bloating, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea, when they drink milk or eat other dairy products.

They want to support the health of the planet. Animal agriculture, including the production and distribution of milk and other dairy products, takes a toll on the earth. It contributes to air and water pollution and global warming. It also requires large amounts of fossil fuels and fresh water supplies, and it plays a part in the overuse of antibiotics.

They have compassion for animals and people. Modern methods of dairy farming raise ethical concerns about the manner in which animals are treated on factory farms. The dairy industry is associated with the meat industry, where retired dairy cows join animals raised for their meat. The animals are processed in slaughterhouses where animals are treated inhumanely and conditions are dangerous for workers.

They just don’t like the taste of milk. They may not find the taste or texture appealing, or they may be turned off by the thought of drinking mammary secretions from cows.

They want to take better care of their health. Although dairy products do have some benefits, you can like dairy too much. It can be detrimental to your health in the amounts that Americans typically consume it. See the nearby sidebar “Contemplating the enormous amounts of dairy products in the standard American diet” to consider how much dairy the average person consumes.

Milk is devoid of dietary fiber, and it’s high in artery-clogging saturated fat. When you drink milk or eat dairy products regularly, you risk pushing out of your diet foods you need in greater quantities, such as vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. You also raise your blood cholesterol levels and increase your risk for coronary artery disease, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke.

Generally, all these dairy-free folks like the convenience of alternatives such as soymilk, rice milk, and almond milk that are on the market now. I discuss the health, environmental, and ethical rationales for going dairy-free in greater detail in Chapters 2 and 20.

Contemplating the enormous amounts of dairy products in the standard American diet

In countries like the United States and Canada, milk and other milk products play a prominent role in meals. If you’re like a lot of people, you may melt cheese over your broccoli and tortilla chips. You also may add it to sandwiches, pizza, and casseroles. And you may eat chunks of cheese on crackers. You may even bread your favorite cheese and deep-fry it as an appetizer.

And if that’s not enough, think about milk sold in gallon jugs. You pour it on your cereal in the morning and drink it as a beverage with meals. You may eat yogurt and ice cream and cream cheese on bagels and in cheesecake, and you may top potatoes, burritos, and ice cream sundaes and other desserts with sour cream and whipped cream. You may eat huge quantities of dairy products. It’s too much for your body to handle.

Getting the Nutrients You Need

If you were raised in a milk-centric culture, you probably equate drinking cow’s milk with having strong bones and teeth. It’s natural then to wonder — or even worry — about how you’ll get what your body needs if you don’t drink milk or eat other dairy products. The good news is that you don’t need dairy products to get the nutrients you need.

Any health-supporting diet takes care and planning, whether or not it includes dairy products. Still, it’s reassuring to know that there’s no requirement for you to drink milk to be healthy. This section may put your milk concerns at ease.

If you don’t drink milk or consume other dairy products, where do you get your calcium, vitamin D, riboflavin, and other nutrients typically associated with these products? It’s one of the first questions your friends and family will ask you if you tell them you’re going dairy-free. Rest assured that these nutrients are widely available in many other health-supporting foods. You probably already enjoy some of them.

You can find calcium in navy bean soup, almonds, fortified orange juice, and cooked kale. Sunshine is nature’s natural source of vitamin D, though you also can get it in eggs and certain kinds of fish. Riboflavin and other vitamins, as well as all the minerals and other substances you need for good health, are widespread in other foods, too, including a range of fruits, vegetables, beans and peas, seeds, nuts, and whole grains. These are the healthiest foods you can possibly eat. (I delve deeper into these nutrients in Chapter 4.)

You can find plenty of nutrients in foods that may be new to you, too. If you don’t mind experimenting a bit, some of these products may become new favorites. Examples include soymilk, almond milk, rice milk, nondairy cheese, soy yogurt, and other nondairy products. Most of them taste great and work in recipes in much the same way that cow’s milk and traditional dairy products do. I discuss your nondairy food choices, including where to find the products and how to select them, in Chapters 6 and 7.

Digging In to Dairy-Free Meal Planning and Preparation

Before you can go dairy-free, you need to soak up some knowledge and master a few new skills. Among the most important things you need to get a handle on are planning and preparing nutritious, good-tasting meals.

The more foods you fix for yourself at home, the more control you have over your diet. By preparing foods from scratch, you can more easily monitor the ingredients used and ensure that your meals are dairy-free.

The following sections give you the lowdown on removing the dairy from your kitchen, shopping for the products you need, and beginning to whip up some tasty dairy-free recipes at home.

Preparing to de-dairy your kitchen

To fix your own dairy-free meals, you need to have the right ingredients on hand. But before you stock up on staples, you must purge your refrigerator and pantry of milk, milk products, and any packaged or processed foods made with dairy ingredients.

Look for and get rid of milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. Remove margarine, sour cream, whipped cream, and cream cheese, too. Read food labels to check for hidden sources of dairy. Give away these unwanted dairy products to friends and family members outside your home. Or throw away amounts that are too small to keep.

The point is to remove these foods from sight so they don’t distract you or create a psychological barrier to change. Leaving dairy products in your kitchen may make it too easy to fall back into old patterns of cooking and eating. Be thorough. I share more advice about ways to rid your home and your diet of dairy products in Chapters 5 and 6. After the dairy products are banished, you’re ready to bring in the replacements, which I discuss in the next section.

Selecting dairy-free supplies

Before you head to the store for your dairy-free supplies, sit down and think about what you need. Doing so increases your likelihood of having all the necessary staples to make a variety of appealing meals at home. Planning ahead also makes it more likely that you won’t forget to pick up a key ingredient, saving you the time and hassle of a return trip to the store.

In between shopping trips, keep a running list of foods you need. A slip of paper attached to the refrigerator or cupboard door or on a notepad at the kitchen desk is a great way to keep a grocery list. Just don’t forget to take it with you when you leave for the store. Or you can create a working list in your cellphone or PDA, which you probably carry with you at all times. Then, when you’re at the store, you can pull out your phone and voilà, you have your list.

Where you shop is up to you, but many good, dairy-free products are available in more stores than ever before. Natural foods stores carry the widest range of nondairy products, such as soymilk, rice milk, almond milk, soy yogurt, nondairy cheese, and others. Because dairy-free foods are gaining in popularity, your regular neighborhood supermarket also is likely to carry some of these products. If you don’t see what you want, ask the store manager about placing a special order.

As you think about the foods you want to buy, keep these pointers in mind:

Comparison shop. Private-label and store brands of popular, nondairy staples, such as soymilk, rice milk, and nondairy coffee creamer, may be high in quality but significantly cheaper than name brands. These products often are a good value. Prices of the same products can vary among stores, too, so shop around.

Buy for versatility. If you buy plain soymilk or plain nondairy yogurt instead of sweetened, flavored varieties, you can use them in recipes that are sweet or savory.

For example, plain soymilk or rice milk can be poured over your cereal at breakfast, but it also can be used to make mashed potatoes for dinner. Vanilla-flavored milk, on the other hand, may taste great on cereal, but it wouldn’t be a good choice in mashed potatoes or a quiche.

Read food labels carefully. Scour ingredient labels to be sure the products you’re buying are dairy-free. Small amounts of added dairy ingredients may be hidden in products you wouldn’t suspect. I include lists of hidden dairy ingredients in Chapters 5 and 22.

To read more strategies for shopping and filling your home with nondairy staples, check out Chapter 7.

Cooking dairy-free

Adapting your cooking style to accommodate dairy-free meals is relatively easy. That’s because most nondairy substitutes for common dairy products behave similarly in recipes. For example, you can use nondairy milks — soy, almond, rice, and others — cup for cup in place of cow’s milk in any recipe. You also can use dairy-free cheeses in many of the same ways that you always used dairy-based cheeses.

A few caveats are in order, but they aren’t difficult to accommodate. For instance, some nondairy forms of cheese don’t melt as well as dairy-based varieties. The fix? Mix the nondairy cheese into a hot, moist dish, such as a bowl of pasta or a casserole. The heat and moisture help the cheese to melt more completely.

I cover the ins and outs of cooking using nondairy ingredients in more detail in Chapter 8. For the most part, though, nondairy counterparts to traditional, dairy-based ingredients are easy to work with and taste great. They make it possible to continue to enjoy macaroni and cheese, cheesy nachos, or a glass of milk with your cookies — all dairy-free.

In addition to using these nondairy products, the other aspect of cooking dairy-free is simply exploring and adopting a greater range of foods in your diet that happen to be dairy-free. Consider the following examples:

Many people find that pizza made with a variety of tasty toppings — minus the cheese — is a delicious and more healthful alternative to the gooey, greasy, cheesy varieties you may have eaten in the past.

Whole-wheat pasta tossed with olive oil, basil, freshly steamed vegetables, toasted pine nuts, and chopped, fresh tomatoes — minus the cheese — is a sophisticated and satisfying alternative to dishes that are coated with salty commercial tomato sauce and gobs of melted cheese.

I provide plenty more examples of the foods you can experiment with in Part III. In this part, you can find dozens of quick and easy recipes to help you get started.

Moving toward a Dairy-Free Lifestyle

Making diet changes is challenging for most people. You not only need to educate yourself about the lifestyle change and master new skills, but you also have to change your mindset about the way you eat. These tasks take time, patience, and work.

It also helps to have support from the people around you, including your family, friends, and co-workers. Throughout this book, I help you think about ways to recruit that support from those around you and how to minimize distractions that may otherwise threaten to derail your best efforts. Part IV is a great place to start. In that part, I cover how to respond in social settings and when away from home as you’re incorporating a dairy-free lifestyle. I also discuss dairy-free living throughout the many stages of life. I get you started in the following sections.

Dealing with food in your relationships

Whether it’s the people closest to you — your immediate family and best friends — or those you work with at the office or in the community, food usually plays an important role in your relationships. Food traditions help people bond with one another. They bring people together and provide a common experience that most people value in their lives. Consider, for example, the happy memories you have of holiday meals or potluck dinners with your family and friends.

However, when you have a diet restriction that distinguishes you from others in your life, you may experience some tension in those relationships. So, it’s a good idea to do what you can to bridge the differences and minimize the extent to which your dairy-free diet may prevent you from fully sharing or participating in meals with others.

You can minimize the extent to which your dairy-free diet affects your relationships in a number of ways. Maintaining a positive attitude and staying as flexible as possible are two good ways to help. Good examples of this advice in action include the following:

Asking for input: Among your family members, discuss dairy-free meal options and ask for opinions about what everybody would like to eat. Make a list of nondairy dishes that everyone likes and make those dishes often.

Giving family members a voice and a vote on what you serve at meals is important. People who participate in meal planning are more likely to feel a sense of buy-in and be more satisfied with the outcome as a result.

Compromising with solutions: Discuss compromises to make meal planning less work. For example, instead of making two different entrees — one with cheese and one without — brainstorm options that keep you from having double the work.

For example, you may opt to make a dairy-free pasta tossed with garlic, olive oil, and vegetables one night for everyone at the table — dairy eaters and those who avoid dairy alike. At the next meal, you may opt to serve a dairy-loaded entree and a salad. You can allow the salad to pull double duty as a side dish for dairy eaters and an entree salad for others. Add garbanzo beans and sunflower seeds for protein and crunch.

I provide some more detailed examples of how to make meal planning in a mixed household (some dairy eaters and some avoiders) easier in Chapter 15. Going dairy-free with your children can be particularly challenging, but it is doable. Check out Chapter 18 for loads of child-friendly tips and strategies.

Managing your diet outside the home

Just as developing skills for dealing with diet differences inside your home is important, understanding how to manage relationships when you’re away is essential. You can anticipate situations in which you’ll be a guest at somebody’s home for dinner and think about the most comfortable way to broach the topic of your food preferences with your host.

For example, should you tell your host at the time of the invitation? Should you offer to bring a dish? Or would you rather keep your diet difference to yourself, take your chances, and dodge the dairy as necessary? The choice is yours, but it’s one you should give some thought to before being faced with the dilemma. Thinking about the possibility ahead of time makes the decision clearer to you the next time you’re faced with the situation.

Of course, you’ll eat out at places other than people’s homes, too — at restaurants, for example. So you’ll need a set of skills for sticking to your dairy-free diet at the many different types of eating establishments. Some restaurants are more likely than others to provide you with a range of appropriate dairy-free menu choices. Many ethnic restaurants, including those that serve Chinese, Ethiopian, and Middle Eastern foods, traditionally include a good number of menu items made without milk or cheese.

If you’re unsure about the menu, be assertive and ask your server questions about how foods are prepared. Better restaurants will make your food to order, giving you the option to omit the dairy. I cover these issues related to eating away from home in more detail in Chapters 15 and 16.

Experiencing a dairy-free lifestyle during all of life’s stages