tips for going dairy/soy free while BFing?

Re: tips for going dairy/soy free while BFing?

• Hey Jellisy

  December 2011

  Pre-kids, we went vegan for Lent every year and it's amazing how much dairy and soy are in products.  I know dairy free for nursing isn't as strict as it is for veganism, so I don't believe she has to worry about sodium caseinate in foods.  What I found helpful the first time I did this was to pick up the shopping guides at TJs and WHole Foods that listed all the products that were soy free and dairy free.  It's helpful to see what many options are for packaged products.   
  

  If she is a milk drinker, I found almond milk a great substitute.  The vanilla flavor on all the milk substitutes is usually far more tolerable than the plain.  I know Hemp milk is usually highly recommended, I've never had it though.

  Truthfully if she focuses on whole foods, fruits, veggies, grains, bread, pasta, eggs, meat, fish, etc. she will have little to worry about.  It's the processed foods that make the world a complicated (and less healthy) place.     
  

    
  

  From December 29, 2011

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• mssaint

  December 2011

  I did dairy-free for 5 months. I ate a lot of pasta, vegetables and proteins. My savior snack foods were Oreos and Lays Kettle Classics Salt and Pepper chips (even though I eat dairy again, I still snack on those chips - they are awesome!).

  Coconut milk ice cream is pretty good, and I ate some sorbets. There are dairy and soy free chocolate chip cookie mixes at Giant and Whole Foods and those were good, too. 

  The upside to dairy-free is that weight melts off you.  
  

  

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• WinesNotWhines

  December 2011

  It was really tough for me, but if I can give up cheese, anyone can. A lot of foods have soy in them, so she needs to read labels. Tell her to go to Whole Foods by herself (without the baby) so she can spend a lot of time reading labels the first time. After she finds a core group of foods she can eat, it gets easier.
  
  - First of all, cheese substitutes are disgusting. Don't even try them.
  
  - Vanilla almond milk was the best milk substitute I found. You can't use it for cooking (except in baking) because it's sweet, but it tastes pretty good in coffee or with cereal. Coconut milk was also ok.
  
  - Coconut milk ice cream is tasty. Sorbets are dairy-free. Many dark chocolates are dairy-free! Check labels to be safe.
  
  These were some of my staple foods/meals: You can find most of them at Whole Foods:
  
  - Vanilla almond milk
  - Earth balance soy-free spread
  - Whole Foods brand frozen butternut squash ravioli (it's dairy and soy free!)
  - Chocoluv dark chocolate
  - So Delicious coconut milk ice creams
  - Enjoy Life chocolate chips
  - A lot of our meals were grilled meat + vegetable + rice or crusty bread. Boring, but it was easy to do dairy-free.
  - Thai curries with coconut milk
  - I made coconut cupcakes using coconut milk and they were really tasty
  - I think Van's waffles were dairy/soy free
  - Some flavors of Nature's Path granola bars
  - Regular cheerios + almond milk for breakfast
  - Dairy-free instant oatmeal + almond milk
  - Cheese-free pizza will help with a pizza craving. It's better than fake cheese, trust me on this.
  - Most packaged/sliced bread has dairy in it EXCEPT the ones at Whole Foods.
  - I found a couple of Annie's organic meals that were dairy/soy free.
  - Annie's "California burgers" are dairy and soy free, which is very hard to find in a veggie burger.
  

  

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• cecilyandgautam member

  December 2011

  Hungry Girl has some cheese-substituted recipes that are pretty good - there's an almond based product the authors like a lot.

  I like Flaxmilk actually - I think it tastes the most like real milk out of all the milk sub options. Walmart sells it. 

  I second the coconut milk ice cream option - that stuff is delicious.

  There more & more vegan, soy-free products in stores & cafes so she could try sampling a few of these items, see which ones she enjoys, and then look for a similar recipe online. Buzz Cafe in northern VA has vegan & soy-free stuff. I borrow cook books from libraries all the time to find easy ways to expand my limited cooking skills - perhaps her library has a vegan cookbook she can check out?
  

  

  
  

  
  

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• MrsPhilDunphy

  December 2011

  I found dairy free to be pretty easy, but C's dairy intolerance was pretty mild so I didn't need to be terribly strict. PP gave great advice, but there are a lot of substitutes if she shops at a WF or Mom's (rice milks, nut milks, hemp  milks, etc.).

  To be honest, I don't think I could have lasted both dairy free AND soy free though. I have friends that did that but none more than a month or two. Unless you can really commit to a diet free of all processed foods, soy is in damn near everything. 

  ETA - that sounds super pessimistic, but what I meant was that I honestly think it's harder these days to avoid soy in day-to-day eating than dairy. 
  

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