Dairy-Free Diet To Lose Weight

Thursday, September 13, 2012, 15:38 [IST]

Milk is not something that always goes easy on an adult's stomach. Many adults have milk allergy or lactose intolerance that renders them incapable to digest milk. Also, milk is fattening to a certain extent. So a dairy-free diet might just help you lose weight faster and also keep your stomach out of trouble.

Now milk and milk products form a huge chunk of our daily meals. You may not like milk but can you imagine staying with butter, cheese and curd? When we call it a dairy-free diet then it must be free of all dairy products. So you need to choose the right replacements for milk in your diet.

Here is a dairy-free diet plan for those people who either have milk allergy or think that milk is too fattening for them.

Breakfast With Soy: Milk is usually a very vital part of our breakfast. We have milk with cereals or we can have cheese or butter with bread. You can replace milk with soy milk in your cereal bowl. For buttering your bread or buns, you will have to choose a low-sugar jam. There is also the provision of using soy curd and tofu instead of yogurt and paneer (cottage cheese) respectively.

Calcium Supplements: Milk and milk products are the biggest suppliers of calcium in the body. So when you go on a dairy-free diet, ensure that you are not losing out on calcium. Have larger portions of other calcium rich foods like green leafy vegetables, seafood, almonds, figs and sesame seeds. Women in particular have a tendency to have weak bones after their menopause. Thus women should pay special attention to keep their diet calcium rich even if they are trying to lose weight fast.

Baking Without Butter: Cakes and bakes require both milk and butter. So does that mean that you have to bid adieu to pastries, cakes and other baked products when you are on a diary-free diet? Certainly not. You just need to make your baking process dairy-free. If you want a creamy cake, then use margarine in your dough and if you want a diet cake, then use low-fat oils. Another tip is to make your cakes fruity to makeup for the creaminess that comes from milk.

Foods With Milk Hidden In Them: Sometimes we have milk without knowing that it is there is a product that we just consumed. For example, chocolate is something that almost always contains milk that is fattening. You must stick to unsweetened dark chocolate if you want to lose weight. Milk is also there in nutrition bars and protein bars. Dairy whiteners are also a big no-no; get used to having your tea or coffee black.

These are some of the ways to follow a dairy-free diet and maintain it.