My family loves smoothies. My son takes a big plant protein and fruit smoothie to school almost every day for lunch (which leaves more time to get outside and kick the soccer ball around!)
My husband enjoys an occasional tropical fruit smoothie as a mid-morning snack or quick weekend breakfast.
Berry smoothies are my personal fave (with raw cacao, yum!)
They’re fast, delicious and a great way to get some powerful phytonutrients into your diet.
For a while now I have been making my smoothies with coconut milk or almond milk. But I used to make them with dairy.
I had NO IDEA I was RUINING my smoothie!
Those strawberries and blueberries tasted great, but it turns out that dairy BLOCKS absorption of phytonutrients from berries.
I guess this shouldn’t surprise me, as dairy also blocks the absorption of phytonutrients in tea and chocolate.
Disappointing, I know.
Fortunately, there are a growing number of plant milks available to substitute for dairy.
One that has been around for a while is soy milk. But soy milk may also be a problem. A study in 2008 demonstrated that soy milk also blocks the absorption of phytonutrients in tea, neutralizing any vascular benefits.
This does not mean it would also block phytonutrients in berries, but it may. One reason suggested is that the protein content (ratio) in soy milk is very similar to the protein content in dairy milk. However, we do not know yet exactly what it is about dairy or soy milk that blocks phytonutrient absorption in some foods.
Until more is known, I’ll be making my smoothies with carageenan-free nut milks, like Unsweetened Coconut Milk and Unsweetened Almondmilk.
Have you ditched dairy? Please share your reasons in the comments below.
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