Vegan day 9: Blueberry yogurt parfait
I feel like I’m on a bit of a sugar high at the moment— but I’ll get thru it thanks! Just finished a taste test of non-dairy yogurts AND I just ate half of the parfait I made for today!
Obviously, regular milk yogurts are not vegan regardless of their fat or lactose contents. Guess what?? Today I score a food towards “healthatarian” not vegan. Sorry my vegan peeps! (Real) Yogurt (made from milk) has health qualities. I would suggest you eat the ones with less fat, no fruit and ORGANIC! ok– so I’m on my way to 365 days of being VEGAN– so I have to look at the non-dairy alternatives! My desire to eat yogurt, although high, is not high enough for me to support the dairy industry or it’s practices so here we go:
I chose 3 non-dairy yogurts:
Greek style So Delicious Cultured coconut milk (strawberry)
130 calories, 11g sugar, 2g protein
Whole Soy & Co. Mixed berry, made from non GMO organic soybeans
180 calories, 22g sugar, 6g protein
Amande, Cultured almond milk (blueberry)
150 calories, 15g sugar, 3g protein
… and the winner is…. for me… the SOY YOGURT!
That is based on taste, texture, consistency, protein, the non-gmo factor and it’s shorter list of ingredients. Two things that are not in it’s favor are the high sugar content and the fact that it’s processed soy.
Vegans and vegetarians need to watch how much processed soy they intake. Soy is a mega- food ingredient: it’s in much more than anyone realizes. On top of that, Monsanto and the GMO people own 90% of the USA SOY MARKET– that means that MOSTLY ALL SOY IS GENETICALLY ALTERED UNLESS YOU SEE THE ORGANIC SEAL OR THE NON-GMO PROJECT SEAL. Americans will learn about GMOs eventually, let’s just hope it’s not too late. Vegans and vegetarians ALSO are most likely already eating soy when they dine out as it’s in many meat and dairy alternatives. So balance is necessary. SOY is a phytoestrogen! It’s good for most people but certainly not everyone. Phytoestrogens are estrogen-like compounds that attach to “estrogen receptor” sites thereby lessening the effects of real estrogen in the body. The soy that is beneficial though is more fermented soy like some fresh tofu, tempeh, natto, miso and shoyu. Other phytoestrogens include fennel, celery, parsley, nuts, whole grains and apples.
