Emphasis Added!

Georgie,

Thanks for sharing this.  I am currently very invested in the dairy vs. soy debate. 

During detox, my coach likened dairy to Satan’s spawn and scared me off the whole dairy thing.  I can say that dairy exacerbates my allergies, and when I eliminate it from my diet my post-nasal drip all but goes away (god, this is a sexy post!) 

Because of these sinus-related benefits, I have tried to minimize the amount of diary I consume but it has definitely been a challenge.  To make this sacrifice more sustainable, I decided to strike a compromise with myself

• Soy: for coffee, cereal and ice cream
• Dairy: cheese and the rare glass of milk reserved for cookie dunking

I like that Nutiritionista supports this blended approach!

georgiegirlnyc:

Nutritionista is one of my two favorite blogs to read.  I wrote to her last week to tell her she is awesome. Then I wrote to her 5 seconds later asking for her opinion on dairy v soy.  I thought I would pay huge compliments to her first in the hope that she would answer my question :-)  Nutritionista’s thoughts on the topic below.

nutritionista:

Dairy vs. soy…

Georgina says:

I would love to hear your thoughts on dairy v soy. I was anti-dairy for a long time but maybe a year ago started reading about the different arguments about soy may not be as great as we first thought. It’s the one nutrition area that I don’t have a firm opinion on. I’m currently back on low fat dairy milk.

There’s an easy bottom line on this one: from a weight loss perspective, it doesn’t make a whole lot of difference. Soy milk and one percent regular milk are comparable in terms of calories, fat, and protein. Light soy milk and skim milk are also comparable. Flavored soy milk can contain added sugar, but the unflavored stuff usually doesn’t. Soy milk is also usually fortified with vitamin D and calcium to compete with the amount in regular milk.

There are good things and bad things about both soy and dairy. Dairy has been connected to certain cancers, but has also been shown to aid weight loss for people who don’t get enough calcium from other food. Soy is associated with promoting healthy bones and heart health but has also been associated with cancer. It’s all pretty confusing and I don’t think science has come to a solid conclusion yet.

Personally? I like the taste of soy better for most things. I also find it a little bit weird that humans are the the only animal to drink milk past infancy. Even so, many people don’t have the enzyme required to digest lactose, rendering them lactose intolerant. I have friends who try to avoid eating lots of dairy because it doesn’t do good things for their… digestion. Then again, some people have no problem digesting dairy at all.

Here’s my advice: as long as you’re not lactose intolerant, there’s no good reason to pick one or the other, so drink both to get the benefits of both. I usually have both soy and regular milk in my fridge. I use soy for my protein shakes, cereal, and to drink plain. I use regular milk for recipes that call for milk (baked goods, eggs, etc.). I also eat other dairy products like cheese and yogurt, but occasionally, I eat soy cheese and yogurt also. Since there are pros and cons to both soy and dairy, why not mix it up?