Reader Question: "Is eating yogurt daily good for the average person?"

The short answer: Maybe... It depends... On a lot of things... like your personal biochemistry, the source of the dairy, and the ingredients in the yogurt to name a few. The longer answer: First let’s take a VERY short look at the history of dairy as a human food. Really we should not be able to digest milk beyond when we should be weaned from our mothers, by about the age of six. Waaaaaaay back during when human tribes were far flung around the globe and not in regular contact with each other, the northern European tribes, Egyptians, and other groups who were domesticating cattle began to exhibit a genetic mutation that left the gene responsible for making the lactase enzyme in the “on” position. This meant that these humans could continue to digest the lactose sugars in milk beyond childhood. The tribes who were not exposed to this mutation have maintained their “normal” adulthood lactose-intolerance. This is why many African and Asian populations are largely lactose-intolerant. Today this is changing as genetic material is rapidly mixing as we become a more global society. 



Dairy as a food has changed radically in the last 150 years with the advent of pesticides, industrial confinement dairies, growth-hormone injections, antibiotics and pasteurization. Let’s just look at pasteurization for a minute. This process was largely adopted in an effort to stop the spread of diseases such as typhoid, scarlet fever, and tuberculosis that sickened many people during the early 1900s by way of ingesting contaminated milk products. Pasteurization is now mandated in many states and dairy products must meet certain national standards to cross state lines. The two main pasteurization techniques subject raw milk to temperatures exceeding 161F for 15 seconds (high-heat-short-time; HTST) or 280F for 2 seconds (ultra-high-heat; UHT). The UHT or “ultra-pasteurized” process is becoming more popular so now you can even find milk in tetra-packs on unrefrigerated grocery shelves. 



What does this do to the milk? Consider that milk proteins, primarily whey and casein, are fragile. When they are subjected to high heat, vigorous shaking, or high-speed blending, they begin to break apart quickly into random amino-acid groups or singles in a process known as “denaturing”. The body likes to receive intact un-denatured proteins so it can break them apart into the puzzle pieces it knows how to use. Highly processed dairy products create dubious protein bioavailability for our human systems. In addition, the high heat damages the fats found in milk, including beneficial conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which helps trigger healthy body composition balance (i.e. supports lean mass and helps the body let go of extra body fat mass). 



Keep in mind that toxins tend to travel most effectively up the food chain in fats (the subject another upcoming post) and you’ll want to avoid any non-organic dairy product as well.



So back to the yogurt question: Yes, unflavored yogurt made from whole, organic milk from grass-fed, hormone-free cows can be healthy for people who are not allergic to dairy or lactose intolerant. Highly-processed, denatured, fat-free, "squeeze-pack" yogurts with loads of sugar or sugar-substitutes and carrageenan thickeners? not so much (and especially not for children). Get the good stuff. Get as close to milk from a happy, healthy Bessie as you can. Get REAL.

Reinventing Box Lunches

In case you hadn’t noticed all the back-to-school sales, getting the kids out the door in time for school is just around the corner. One of questions (and exasperations) I hear about a lot is “I want my kids to eat healthy at school, but I don’t know what to give them and it’s easier to send them off with lunch money for the cafeteria.” Part of the conundrum revolves around a child’s age. When they are younger parents have more influence over their food choices. I always suggest that parents avail themselves of the opportunity to expose their kids to lots of different flavors while they are young and get them used to eating healthy nourishing foods early. This sets the stage for good habits later in life. The tricky part is getting through the tweens and teens when peers have more influence over food choices. 

I highly recommend making time in the morning to make your children box lunches. While you’re at it, make one for yourself if you’re headed out the door too. In the long run you will save money and promote good habits for them (and for yourself). It is very important for kids to see you take care of yourself so they have a good role model. If it takes getting yourself (and your kids) up 15 minutes earlier, it’s worth it. Teens can certainly be making their own lunches after some simple training.

Make it Fun:

One really fun way to keep lunches interesting for kids (and adults!) is to use Japanese style bento boxes (check out www.laptoplunches.com or www.lunchinabox.net) or Indian style tiffin boxes (www.lunchboxes.com/indian.html or www.amazon.com/Eco-Lunch-Box-three-in-one-set/dp/B0040MH642/ref=pd_sim_k_6). This concept falls in line with another recommendation I make with regards to grocery shopping: rather than getting home with all the bags and just stuffing everything away, take a little time to “pre-process” some of the veggies and fruits into slices or chunks that can be easily added to salads, stir-fries, or used for dipping. If you have done some of this work beforehand, it makes it easy to simply fill some of the bento boxes with fresh healthy foods quickly on a busy morning.

Contents:

1. Great things for younger children and for adult mid-day snacks are bean dips and spreads with veggies and/or whole grain crackers. Try the curried hummus recipe below for a vibrant golden tasty option. You can make bean dips from any bean.
2. Leftovers are a great option too. When cooking dinner the night before, think about cooking twice as much as you need for that meal so everyone has leftovers for their lunch boxes the next day. You can even put the leftovers away in lunch box containers so all you have to do is grab and go in the morning.
3. Soups, stews and chili are good choices as well. Again, simply make more than you need for a dinner meal and store in lunch sized (spill proof) containers that you can pack in an insulated lunch box. You can even get soup style thermoses with wide mouth tops
4. Salads: keep in mind that salads don’t have to begin with lettuce! There are thousands of ways to put together a combination of ingredients that can be called “salad”. You can create a grain and legume salad such as quinoa and lentils with a bunch of other delicious veggies diced small and marinated overnight in a simple dressing of olive oil and lime juice with a little salt and pepper. There are also delicious tuna salads, egg salads and chicken salads that you can create to you children’s taste. If you make some of these things in advance, it’s easy to scoop some into a lunch container and blast out the door in the morning. 

It takes a little pre-planning, but home made lunches made from real food ingredients are guaranteed to be more nutritious than most of the offerings at the cafeteria (particularly the options your children will likely choose when left to their own devices), and it is far less expensive in the long run for both you and your children to eat a lunch brought from home.

Quick Curried Hummus

all organic ingredients if you can

by Kia Sanford MS CN

1 large can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

3 cloves garlic, peeled

3 scallions with greens, chopped

juice of 1 lemon (you can add a little grated rind as well, I use Meyer lemons when available)

a generous ¼ cup tahini

2 Tbsp tamari

1 Tbsp cider vinegar

1 Tbsp olive oil

¼ tsp ground cumin

¼ tsp ground coriander

¼ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp turmeric

½ tsp Kosher salt

Put all ingredients in food processor and let it run until the consistency is what you want. Adjust spices to your taste (may want to add a little more salt). To make it more creamy, add olive oil to your taste. Serve with veggies or whole grain crackers for dipping, or use as a sandwich spread.