When I first went low-carb, one of the things that vanished from my diet was milk. It wasn’t a big loss in that I had never been a big milk drinker anyway (now if I’d had to give up diet cokes–in the broad, inclusive sense where "coke" means any carbonated soft drink–then that would be another matter!), but over time I did miss it, and I’ve found a number of alternatives, which I thought I’d share with y’all.
The problem is that, unlike dairy products such as butter or cheese or heavy cream, normal milk contains way too many carbs. If you want a make-shift low-carb equivalent to milk then the thing to do is get heavy cream or whipping cream (which have virtually no carbs) and then dilute it with water to taste. For a long time, low-carbers had to do that, but now there are a wide variety of alternatives. Here are several, as found behind Door #2 on my fridge:
The best alternatives to high-carb milk that I’ve found are the two in the center: Hood’s Calorie Countdown products. Here I have their Fat Free and Chocolate varieties. They also have a 2% variety, though I generally don’t get that one.
Hood’s Fat Free Calorie Countdown, to me, tastes indistinguishable from normal skim milk, and there’s a good reason for that: It’s made from real milk, but with the carbs extracted. Along with most of the calories. As you can see if you squint a little, it has 70% fewer calories than whole milk (45 calories per serving), making it good for dieters of any kind–not just low-carbers. It also has 75% less carbs and sugar than regular milk (3 grams of each per serving instead of 12 grams of each).
The taste of Hood’s Chocolate Calorie Countdown is delicious. This is a 2% reduced fat product, so its calories are a little more than the Fat Free version. It’s got 90 calories per serving (compared to 230 calories in a standard chocolate milk). And it has 4 net grams of carbs per serving (5 total grams, less one gram of fiber), which compares to 31 grams of carb in a normal chocolate milk. It’s also got WAY less sugar: 3 grams as opposed to 29 grams! So even if you aren’t on a low-carb diet, this is a great chocolate milk to use.
Incidentally, both of these also come with 8 grams of protein per serving.
The Hood company is based in the northeast, and if you live in New England you can even get it delivered to your home. SEE THEIR WEB SITE FOR DETAILS. Out here in California, you can get it in the stores, but you may have to ask for it. Albertsons carries it and Vons used to but doesn’t have it now unless you ask (at least that’s the way it is in my neighborhood). You can probably get it by special request from your grocer no matter where you are.
Here in California there are sometimes kinks in the pipeline getting it from New England, and so I’ve also researched other substitutes, and I can tell you about the two that you see on the ends, both of which are forms of soy milk.
The first thing to know about soy milk is that while it can be low carb, it isn’t automatically low carb. Apparently the manufacturers of a lot of soy milk load it up with sugar, which completely ruins it for dieting purposes. If you’re wanting to use it as part of a low-carb diet, what you need to get is UNSWEETENED soy milk (NOT the same thing as "plain" soy milk; "plain" means "doesn’t have a flavor like vanilla or chocolate added").
SILK is one of the bigger soy milk producers. They’ve got a bunch of varieties and are commonly available in supermarkets. Here I have pictured their unsweetened version–recognizable by its green carton. It has 80 calories per serving, but only 3 net grams of carbs (4 total minus one gram of fiber). It’s also got 7 grams of protein. Now, if you’re used to reading nutrition labels, you’re saying, "Okay, so if it’s only got 3 grams of carb and 7 grams of protein, how can you get 80 calories per serving out of that?" The answer is that this is not a fat free product. It’s got 4 grams of fat per serving, which makes it quite rich tasting, and fat is not a problem on a low-carb diet.
If your grocer has any of the Silk soy milks on his shelves, he should be able to get the green-cartoned, unsweetened one for you.
Incidentally, since this isn’t actually made from milk (unlike Calorie Countdown), there’s a little difference in the taste. I initially perceived it as a faint soy-like aftertaste, but it isn’t unpleasant, and I got used to it very fast and don’t even notice it now.
The final product–on the far right–is Westsoy’s Unsweetened (there’s the key word) Vanilla Soymilk. From a nutritional perspective, this one is quite interesting. It’s got 100 calories per serving, 4.5 grams of fat, and 9 grams of protein, making it the highest in protein of any of these products. It’s also the lowest in carbs. According to the nutrition label, it’s got only ONE gram of carb per serving (5 total grams minus 4 grams of fiber, which means it’s also a good source of fiber).
Now, you may be wondering how this could be so different from the milks discussed above–how it can have so much more fiber and so much less carbs than they do–and yet taste like normal milk. The answer is that it doesn’t. This is the least milk-like-tasting product of the ones considered. It has a thinner consistency and has a kind of nutty flavor, like almonds (which is interesting, because it isn’t almond milk–THEY ALSO MAKE THAT). It’s not an unpleasant taste, but it’s just not as milk-like as the others.
I got the above carton of Westsoy Soymilk at Trader Joe’s, but it’s available in a lot of other places, including normal supermarkets, too.
Incidentally, the soy milks don’t have lactose in them so they are also good if you’re lactose intolerant–a condition that is surprisingly common around the world. I was floored when friends of mine from other countries told me that not only were they lactose intolerant, but basically everyone in their home countries was as well. It appears that most people around the planet are lactose intolerant and you can only tolerate lactose well if your ancestors drank a lot of milk straight–without processing it into cheese first–as is the case with northern (not southern) Europeans, certain groups in the Middle East, and certain nomadic groups in Africa and Asia. MORE HERE. AND HERE.
So, whether you’re a low-carb dieter, a low-calorie dieter, or have a personal disagreement with lactose . . . Cheers!
P.S. Just ’cause I know folks will ask: The packages you can see to the right of the milk cartons are tofu . . . mostly nigari tofu, which is really good with worchestershire sauce. Mmmmmm.
RULE 1 VIOLATION.
Hey Jimmy, keep the diet posts coming!
I’ve now lost 50 lbs so far this year and have found your low-carb advice very helpful. (Thank goodness for Dreamfields pasta and Shirataki! 🙂 My whole family in fact has lost quite a bit of weight.
From what I’ve been able to gather, here in Ontario there used to be a brand of low-carb milk but it got discontinued last year after the low-carb “crash” (boooooooo). The only thing I can find now is SoNice unsweetened soy milk, which I sweeten myself with some Splenda. That’s okay. Though even that is hard to find sometimes.
It’s a lot harder to find the low carb products here in Canada, unfortunately.
I come from one of those Asian lactose-intolerant countries.
I used to be lactose intolerant. If I eat the smallest cheeseburger at Wendy’s I better make sure I’m within 50 meters of a toilet within the next 45 minutes.
That was then. For some reason, I am no longer lactose intolerant, and I can ingest cheese, pizza, milk with Caucasian impunity. Dunno how the changed happened.
I guess what I’m saying is, there’s always hope…
A friend of mine used to receive state assistance (like WIC, only run by the state) and she remembers overhearing one of the nutritional counselors berating an Asian woman for not giving milk and cheese to her children. The woman was struggling to explain, “But it makes us sick,” and the nutritional counselor was going on and on about how all children needed x amount of dairy products, etc. etc.
I drastically reduced my milk intake when I went low-carb (except for during my pregnancies), but I’ve decided that I like real milk too much to substitute for it. Now instead of having milk with every meal I save it for when I really want a glass of milk, and more often than not it’s a 4-oz glass. I also changed my source for milk and now buy it directly from a farm: organic, grass fed cows, and all that. 🙂
Another option I’m experimenting with is homemade kefir. Like yogurt, it’s cultured, and the bacteria have eaten some of the lactose, so it’s lower-carb than the milk it’s made from; but it’s drinkable, not spoonable. (The sourness, and the carb count, varies depending on what temperature and for how long you culture it). I ordered the culture from a mail order place and have been making kefir for a few weeks now.
I drink skim. But as an alternative, I usually drink ‘skim plus’, which is skim milk with skim milk solids added to it.
Thanks Jimmy
My parents are trying to do low card and they still drink regular milk (2%). Maybe they didn’t realize it is high carb, I know I was surprised that it is higher carb then those heavy creams. I will tell them about some of these.
How do they remove the carbs from milk anyways? I’m curious.
Why not simply drink a glass of water?
Actually, all you have to do is drink whole milk. The fat in reaction to the milk sugars lowers the carb count. That’s why I don’t buy skim milk, plus that I grew up on a farm and drank real cow milk and find most milk tastes like what has been added too it; bleach.
Yes, bleach is added to your milk because puss and sores are on the teets of those hard working cows that are hooked up to ‘milkers’ twice or three times a day. So in order to sanitize the puss and blood that get into the milk they add bleach.
So, drink a little whole, organic milk. Or buy it from a farm. Also note that there are many ‘hormones’ in your milk. So if you are looking around and wondering why so many kids look like you did when you were 17 or 18 and they are 11 or 12… you have got your answer. Yet another reason to buy organic milk and hormone free meat. Of course those female hormones cannot be filtered out of waste water….. a friend of mine did his master’s dissertation on ‘female hormones and aquatic creatures’ scary, scary stuff. But few environmentalists will ever mention this because they would all rather they we limit how many children we have by artificial means than fix the problem.
And Jimmy, those soy milks are not good for you. They have a lot of estrogen in them, and they have some natural fungi that grow on the beans and can cause much inflamation (slight swelling, gastrointestinal bloating…)
Soy was never meant to be eaten in such high amounts. If you study Asian diets they only eat a small amount of soy, not nearly as much as Americans consume. Don’t we always over do it?
Realist, do you indulge in chocolate water for a treat now and then?
Raps, say it ain’t so!
I have 9 year old boy that weighs….160lbs and is not FAT looking but is big and his mom and dad are just “average”.
Oh Boy. I have no idea where on earth I would buy fresh milk, but I am going to start looking.
And we buy the whole milk, not skim which drives their peditrican bananas!!
Sorry Jimmy, just can’t do the soy to-fu diet.
We are about ready to give up all “canned” things too because we found something “interesting” in our soup last night.
That may be the ticket and the start of some real weight loss.
What are those wrapped slices of cheese cake doing in the right corner of the frig?
anonnymouse,
The food rule of thumb is this; eat things as close to their natural state. Read labels, anything with high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, partially hydroginated oils, or fractionated oils are just plain bad for you and make you retain weight, increase your risk for diabetes…. on and on.
I have some nephews that are big boys, football types and they have thinned out lately. Maybe they are just growing into their weight… but their father, a dr, started watching what they ate. Throw out the sugar cereals, the soda, the hot dogs, the starchy breads and start finding things that are closer to whole grains. But, note that when farmers are trying to faten up cows or pigs they feed them; grains and corn and add a corn syrup to that. And humans wonder why, when they eat a lot of grains (that damn fda pyramid) they don’t lose weight. Hmmmmmmmm. Of course their are metabolic differences in different races and ethnicities…….for example the native american populations that are so sugar intolerant and whose bodies are used to metabolizing very rough raw foods are getting increasingly sick from ‘processed, high sugar, fake fat’ foods.
raps, I thank you for the information.
It is sooooo easy to “pop” and “tear” and presto, dinner is done.
Not meaning to hijack or get off the subject….but just something I have noticed in our own neighborhood and parish…we are the only ones that the doctors would consider “over weight”. BUT for the most part, the other children have something sweet in their mouths almost all the times, where I won’t allow it. Of course we are not going to the dentist and do not have 8 cavities (we have had none to this day) as the 5 year old neighbor does. But I have often wondered if I traded the “homecooked” meals for candy bars and sweets if ours would loose the weight because they metabolize faster. But that is just trading one “evil” for another.
One more observation we have made;
Our children have had no broken bones where it is not uncommon to see others fall, and break something. And our children had PLENTY of opportunities, our daughter had a car door COMPLETELY shut on her arm and I just knew it had to be broken but it was not, just badly bruised.
I’ve probably said this before, but there’s a great website with meal plans (including grocery lists) that helps lots of folks to loose weight and save $$ on their grocery bills. They are all easy to prepare and delicious meals, no more pop and tear, but not too much more work. she’s got low carb versions and crock pot meals as well. it’s http://www.savingdinner.com and I’ll get off my little commercial now.
annonymouse,
It seems that homecooked meals are a great start! I would just evaluate what you are eating most. Do you eat breakfast, lunch, dinner? Are you eating a lot of pasta, pizza, breads?
I am not saying that my family is perfect but after my husband and I got married we both got fat and very sluggish and my thyroid was very slow and it was affecting my cycles…so you can imagine NFP was tough. I was very lucky to have in laws who knew a lot about health and nutrition. I did a ten day test and cut out all carbs for ten days then slowly started adding the most natural carbs in (whole grains like brown rice, fruits, not juice though) and found that I was very intolerant to many carbs and that I had a systemic yeast problem. Most people do have this (no this is not a woman thing) and they don’t know. You can lose up to ten pounds if you stop eating those really bad, fake food carbs (soda, sugar, white bread, white rice, pizza, pasta and anything with high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners) and you cleanse your system of the yeast by either getting a dr who will give a prescription, or by massive amounts of acidophilous (sp?) and cleansing of the intestinal track and colon and refraining from eating carbs/sugar until you are balanced.
There is a book by a Dr. Phil Maffetone called ‘in fitness and in health’ and he has another book about nutrition which gives the ten day test model. Look it up online. It was very helpful to my husband and me.
BTW, that is one of the neatest refrigerators I’ve ever seen.
Thank you again Raps.
Jimmy, way to go on your diet!
Try “Mootopia” if you can find it. I think it might be only at HEB, so that’s only in Texas.
God Bless,
Matt
Raps,
I forgot to answer your questions.
Yes, we do eat breakfast, lunch and dinner.
And yes, we do love our pastas!!!!
Completely off the topic, we are new to NFP (3 years in practicing) and I never dreamed that so many things could have an affect on your cycles. In the beginning, I had LOW Temps….they now have “come up” to something more regular (It wasn’t uncommon for my temp to be 97 or lower!)
annonymouse,
You might want to get your thyroid levels checked.
Why not simply drink a glass of water?
Posted by: Realist | Dec 12, 2006 6:02:27 AM
Ladies and gentlemen, the first post Realist has made that isn’t about his hobbyhorse!
Perhaps he should go back to the hobbyhorse.
Ladies and gentlemen, the first post Realist has made that isn’t about his hobbyhorse!
[And the Crowd goes wild!!!] NOT!
;^)
Kiddin’, Realist. Only kiddin’!
Now, come on, people, Realist commented on KFC’s Famous Bowls, too.
One of the problems with soy milk is the fact that the calcium (which has to be added) sinks to the bottom and actually stays at the bottom of the container even when the milk is gone. According to some sources with which my wife is more familiar, you’d require an industrial paint-mixing machine in order to dislodge and redistribute that calcium.
I’d also read (on the soy protein supplement I was considering purchasing) about the isoflavones in soy products acting as “weak estrogens.” Anyone know if that’s authoritatively documented somewhere?
Ladies and gentlemen, the first post Realist has made that isn’t about his hobbyhorse!
Perhaps he should go back to the hobbyhorse.
No taunting Realist, folks. He’s made an effort to talk about other things (including a very nice penguin video thingie that I would have loved to blog about except I had trouble getting it to work much of the time), and he shouldn’t have people providing the occasion of temptation.
Jimmy,
You are a true gentleman.
Interesting about the milk… Just wanna pop in though to say that what rsps says seemed to ring true for both my husband and me. We both lost 22 pounds since October, basically just eating more naturally (complex carbs like beans, whole grains, and vegetables replace most of the simple carbs we used to eat) and exercising. I also usually grill our meat, but I used to do that anyway.
That may seem very fast but keep in mind I exercise long enough periods to burn significant fat, too. Our elliptical trainer is just… WOW. Very gentle but effective. It says we burn about 850 calories per hour and I believe it’s telling the truth, after some time and calculation. For this reason, I mostly plan meals to make sure we eat enough, which can be a concern when you eat filling whole foods and exercise. Hubby and I try to exercise an hour a day if we can. That’s not unreasonable once you’re built up to it. (Build up to it, though–these trainers are deceptively “easy” but you’re working hard, and watch your heart monitor to make sure you don’t go too hard, too.) The way we make it fun is, we watch DVDs or music videos. Otherwise there’s no way I could look forward to doing it. But this way is very fun.
We will both cut down to 3-4 times per week once we’re happy with where we are, but continue to eat healthy, and see how it goes.
Oh, and I also make an effort to use lots of spices in my cooking and keep it interesting; I believe that is a big help. And we switched from black tea with sugar to green tea with sweetener. Green tea can raise the metabolism a little, and if I have too much, my palms sweat 😉
Monica,
I am allergic to chocolate and caffeine so there goes the chocolate water experience.
We have a new refrigerator with an ice and cold water dispenser in the door. The water is also filtered. Amazing improvement in the “taste” of both ice and water. And it is sure a lot cheaper than bottled water.
Realist: Do you have the in-line filter (which are outside of the fridge) or the filter that’s contained within the refrigerated compartment itself. The reason I ask is that the in-line filters can sometimes cause more problems than they solve, if they’re not used all of the time. They remove the chlorine (which kills bacteria) but they leave some of this de-chlorinated water at room temperature, which can, if the water isn’t flushed through for several days, allow bacteria to survive–if they make their way back into the line … somehow. This is usually only a problem if you have a long water line from the point after the water is filtered but before it reaches the refridgerated compartment and only then if, as I said, left unused for several days.
At least that was the selling point we (back when I sold appliances for a living) were supposed to use to sell the fridges with the self-contained filter systems.
Gosh, I seem to be random input nerd today.
Jared,
In Japan, when the wives don’t want their businessman husbands to “mess with them,” or anyone else for that matter, they start feeding them soy and tofu!
Also, the phytoestrogens in soy have been pushed for years by “nutritionists” to women during menopause to “even things out.” If you know what I mean. (You middle aged husbands do!)
I just can’t get too worked up over this or that food being suddenly unhealthy for everyone. I like Alar on my apples.
Seems like everything has been said to cause cancer at one time or another.
Some things I just don’t care to know… I can pretty well guess that bourbon with a beer chaser is not a health food, but I plan to keep enjoying it anyway.
Tim J.,
Finally someone talking my language!
Take care and God bless,
Inocencio
J+M+J
Leave it to ‘Realist’ to think that the substance of water is equal to the substance of milk in all things. LOL.
The phytoestrogens in soy are -not good- for men. I personally speculate that the higher-than-average prostate cancer levels among specifically midwestern farmers could be due to the life-long exposure to soybeans at all stages of growth, and the soybean dust during harvest.
Puzzled I agree! And someone should warn jimmy to lower his intake of the soy or be at risk for the development of MB. If any one asks I’ll tell you what that is; just remember the big guy, on hormone replacement in fight club?
I have to tell y’all…
I was driving cross-country a while back and tuned in to a radio talk show about organic foods. The guest was pretty much freaking out about how a lot of “organic” food isn’t really organic, etc… and somehow ended up commenting on International Delight, a hugely popular brand of non-dairy coffee creamer, which we often happen to have in our fridge.
This coffee creamer is allegedly SO BAD that he and his colleagues refer to it as “white death”.
So in our house, when talking about coffee creamer, you can hear my wife and I say things like “Please pass the ‘White Death.'”… or, “We’re out of ‘White Death’, will you pick some up at the store?”
Tim J.,
Now you’ve got me worried. I only drink coffee so that I can get my daily fix of International Delight (Irish Cream, thank you). Otherwise, I can’t stand the stuff.
I tried googling “International Delight” and “White Death”, but no luck.
I hope that the radio program you heard is just flat kooky.
Now you’ve got me worried. I only drink coffee so that I can get my daily fix of International Delight (Irish Cream, thank you). Otherwise, I can’t stand the stuff.
Cajun Nick,
You’re not the only one!
I, myself, have been a user of International Delight.
Now, after what Tim J. mentioned, I’m not so sure if it’s okay!
Well, they say that coffee, itself, is bad for you anyway and could actually cause cancer.
C’est la vie!
Esau,
International Del….er, I mean “White Death” might be for humans kinda like chocolate is for dogs – you know, a dog has to eat a whole pound of chocolate for it to be dangerous.
Maybe humans have to drink 1 gallon at a time for any health problems.
All things considered, isn’t White Death a good name for a Rock band!
Here they are, the Rock Band of the 21st Century:
W H I T E D E A T H!!!!!
“WHITE DEATH ROCKS!!!!”
Sadly, I’m one of those folks with a soy allergy — drink a glass of soy milk, and my throat tries to close up. Not fun.
MenTaLguY,
So, in your case, soy milk is really WHITE DEATH!
Well, thanks for all the information, everyone! Just reading the comments are sure to help me lose weight since pretty much all food raising, handling and preparation in the U.S. seems really disgusting!
I prefer my food silicon-based, so I don’t eat organic food. 0:)
rsps is correct. Unless soy is fermented, it can induce the production of estrogen (and induce MB). I don’t know if there is any fermented soy sold in the U.S., but it is the primary way it consumed in Asia.
Right now I’m drinking passion fruit juice… 30g carbs, 120 Calories per serving. Mmmm.
Well, thanks for the tip about the chocolate milk, Jimmy. I just can’t find my favorite chocolate milk (produced by Parmalat) anywhere, so I’ll try that Calorie Countdown one. If it tastes more like cocoa than milk and sugar. Does it?
Realist is allergic to chocolate? Poor, poor guy… )=
Diet info is prudential of course. Personally I eat all the bad foods.
WHERE IS THE JUAN DIEGO AND APPARITION OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE POST?????????????
Hood’s Calorie Countdown (the green one ) is $3.79 for a half gallon in New Hampshire. Even with a $1 off coupon, it is still DOUBLE THE PRICE of 1% milk.
Unfortunately I have no options but to feed my little boy soy milk till he gets over his milk allergy. And when I tried to go off milk for a while to “help” him (back when I was nursing), I found I couldn’t handle dairy anymore! We were buying cases of soy milk at the store and I was despairing over the expense until somebody told me about a soy milk maker. You can read about it at the Sanlinx, Inc. web site. I am happy with the machine I ordered.
Is anybody here aware of the research indicating that weight training, properly performed, stimulates such adaptation in the body as to make calories from whole foods the most important thing to count rather than carbs? I’m just curious. If you’ve read fitness books by Ellington Darden most of his praxis is based on such theory and his results are pretty spectacular. http://www.drdarden.com
I find that when I lift weights at high intensities I have a hard time eating enough calories, if I’m not careful my weight will stay the same. Eventually, I become very very lean, which isn’t good for survival in the wilderness.
How do they remove the carbs from milk anyways? I’m curious.
I can’t say for sure, but on the carton of the Calorie Countdown milks it says, that it includes “ultrafiltered Fat Free milk.” Presumably they’re using fat free (skim) milk that they’re then running through a filtering process which removes the lactose (milk sugar) and thus the carbs.
Caelids,
goat milk is far better for those with milk allergies than soy milk. Goat milk is more easily metabolized than cow milk, especially for children.
SOY MILK IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU! ESPECIALLY HOW MUCH YOU ARE PROBABLY DRINKING!
Sorry Jimmy but read my posts above for why it is so.
Realist,
I’m sorry about the chocolate allergy! I was allergic as a child, and 3 of my children were, but we all grew out of it. My boys used to pretend to eat their brown and white checkers and then pretend to throw up, but that’s another story.
We have the filtered water in our fridge which is the whole reason I bought that fridge. I drink water and coffee, and skip about everything else. A glass of chocolate milk once in a blue moon is nice though!
Are those fridge filters any good, though? Our fridge has one, but I find that the filtered water doesn’t taste much better than the water from the sink…
Very interesting! thanks for the info
Hey there Jym
Your are great thanks for the info on diet.
Your info was very helpful to me, I just started a low carb diet and did not know that diet coke had any carb, so was wondering about 7up … I guess I am covered now.
Thanks