Antibiotics for breakfast ?
Another cause for concern are the antibiotics found in eggs and dairy products, another by-product of factory farming. Over half of the antibiotics produced in the United States go to treat livestock. Certainly, these drugs keep the animals healthy – but are they something you want to be consuming in your food?
The biggest problem with antibiotics is that they’re all-purpose bacteria killers. Yes, they kill the viruses and bacteria that can cause disease, but they also kill the good bacteria that we need to keep our body’s delicate systems in balance. Good bacteria, like acidophilis and bifidophilis, live in your intestinal tract and on your skin, and they do battle with bad bacteria that can cause you harm.
Taking antibiotics on a regular basis, whether by prescription or inadvertently through processed foods, lowers your resistance to bacterial illnesses like salmonella, which is found in small amounts in eggs, poultry and meat. Normally, your body should be able to fight off the lesser bugs that it ingests but, if you build up a tolerance to antibiotics through constant exposure, your natural immune system is weakened, leaving you more susceptible to illnesses like food poisoning.
On top of that, you may be taking antibiotics prescribed by your doctor, in a carefully measured dose. If you then eat eggs that contain salmonella, when it hits your small intestine it suddenly finds no good bacteria waiting to kill it – they’ve all been done in by the prescription antibiotic. So the salmonella has a nice, warm, moist, antibody-free environment in which to incubate, and you find yourself sick as a dog for a week. Then your doctor prescribes more antibiotics, and the merry-go-round continues.
Dumping the dairy
Dairy products are so much a part of so many recipes, it may seem like a huge challenge to replace them. Not so! The variety and quality of dairy substitutes has improved greatly in the mast decade, and you have a lot of options. If you don’t like the taste of one style of non-dairy product, just try another – you’re bound to find one that works for you.
Cow’s milk can be replaced in recipes by soy milk, rice milk, potato milk, almond milk or even oat milk. The quantities are the same (1 cup cow’s milk = 1 cup rice milk, etc.) the only difference is the taste. Oat milk is very mild, and lacks the sweetness of both cow’s milk and other replacements – you may find you prefer it, or you may choose to add more sweetener to compensate. Either way, you have all the control! The nut milks, like almond milk, are quite sweet, and both soy and rice milk are available with flavors already added. You may find that vanilla soy or rice milk tastes better to you than cow’s milk ever did, especially for lightening your coffee or on cereal.
Soy milk is manufactured by cooking soybeans and then compressing them to remove the liquid. In one of his television specials, comedian Lewis Black riffed on the term "soy milk," saying, "There’s no such thing as soy milk. It’s soy juice. But they couldn’t sell soy juice, because every time you say ‘soy juice’ you actually start to gag." Nut milks – or, nut juices, if you prefer – are made in a similar manner to soy milk.
Remember that soy milk is actually far better for you than cow’s milk (and other alternatives, like rice and almond milks) for a lot of reasons – fortified soy milk has extra calcium, plus Vitamins A, D and B12.
All the milk substitutes can be found in shelf-stable, aseptic boxes at natural foods stores and, increasingly, in supermarkets. This is another advantage over cow’s milk – you can save money by purchasing it by the case, if you like, and stock your milk right on the pantry shelf without worrying about it expiring in the fridge (you will want to refrigerate them once opened, however). Soy milk can also be found in powdered form, too, although you’ll probably find that the liquid product tastes better.
Vanilla soy milk works great in desserts – use it to make puddings and custards, on your cereal, in baked goods and processed in the blender with fresh fruit for smoothies. Plain soy milk works well in savory dishes like casseroles, soups and sauces. And if need buttermilk – say, to make buttermilk pancakes – you can create a substitute by adding 2 teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of soy milk.
