A Vegan Cheese Alternative!! I think I say this with so many of my posts but can you believe these ingredients? This is from the health food store, which many people go to to trust the foods they buy there. You still need to be careful of the foods that are in the store. Just because they are there doesn’t always mean they are healthy. Keep your investigative hat on and make sure to read the ingredients. You may find some not so pleasant ingredients. For example, this cheese alternative is non-GMO (genetically modified organisms), which is amazing. I believe all of the ingredients are of the highest quality (which you don’t always get in a conventional grocery store), but look at the ingredients. Let’s dig a little deeper into this product!
1. Canola Oil: Canola got the label of being a health food quite a few years ago, but canola is nothing of the sort. Canola oil is a vegetable oil, which sounds great to our minds. Why not extract healthy fats out of some of our vegetables? The problem is that it is an industrial oil, made in a factory and when you take it out of its natural environment you get an unhealthy oil. It is extracted by high heat and chemical solvents (yuck!) which immediately takes it out of it’s pure and natural state. It is also a PUFA, which I’ve talked about before… a polyunsaturated fatty acid. They are very inflammatory, inflaming the cell membrane, and ultimately increasing the inflammation cycles in your body. Canola oil is also very cheap to make so it increases profits and stays “fresh” longer. It has a very long shelf life. Here is a great article written by the Weston A Price Foundation on Con-ola Oil if you want to know more.
2. Tofu/ Soy Protein: Soy in it’s ancient and fermented state is a food that can be consumed and can be healthy. But our processed soy and tofu are nothing of the matter! They are usually GMO soybeans (this product is not). When soy is not fermented it acts as an estrogen mimic, or a Xenoestrogen. High estrogen is bad in everyone, especially women and young boys. So even though this is an alternative to dairy, which some people need to avoid, this is going to create a whole new host of problems because of the high soy content!
I only had 2 ingredients to highlight on today’s food. That is because there aren’t that many ingredients in this food. It passes the test of not eating something you can’t read. But it still contains ingredients that are known to be unhealthy in our bodies and for our cells. I want to give you some alternatives to this soy-filled dairy-free cheese.
Alternatives:
1. Raw Cow’s Cheese: The more sensitive dairy allergy might not be able to tolerate a raw cow’s milk cheese, but many people who just get digestive upsets or have a lactose intolerance can probably do this option with ease! Many grocery stores are carrying raw cheese now, so it’s available. Remember too that some of the more commercial raw cheeses come from a large vat of milk from different cows and some of them might not be grass fed or that healthy. You can still have an “organic” cow that isn’t grass fed. The best raw cow’s cheeses are going to be labeled 100% grass fed, or you can get some directly from some farms where you know the people, the cow’s and the quality. You can also purchase some of the healthiest cheeses through Beyond Organic by ordering online. Become a preferred customer and save 20%.
2. Goat’s Cheese: Many and most people with dairy allergies can do Goat’s cheese. Goat has a different protein in it than most of our dairy in the US, which is a dairy A2 protein. Try a hard goats cheese like cheddar and gouda. You might not even know the difference. It grates, it melts, it’s amazing! Oh, and you can try sheep’s cheese too. Don’t you see that these options are endless?
3. Homemade Nut Cheeses: “Cheese” made from nuts are amazing for a dairy free alternative, but still having a nutty, cheese like taste. I am no expert in this method, so I am going to link you to one of my FAVORITE dairy free blogs: The Spunky Coconut. She is amazing at creative techniques. I linked two of her recipes here and here to help you out!
Does anybody have any Dairy-Free or Raw-Cheese favorites?
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