Being dairy-free is a natural and healthy choice. All the nutrients in milk are easily found in plant-based foods that will make you thrive and you won’t miss a thing! Many of us have been brought up with the idea that we need milk for calcium but it’s nothing more than a successful ploy by the dairy industry. They provide ‘educational’ materials to schools, lobby the Government, organize lectures for healthcare professionals, sponsor research and pay millions for advertising to condition people to think they ‘need’ milk. Yet no one needs milk after weaning and no one needs the milk of another species. There’s nothing in cow’s milk that you can’t find in plants, just minus all the bad fats, hormones and gluey protein.
Calcium Question

Calcium is an important mineral that we need for healthy bones, muscle function, numerous metabolic reactions and hormonal balance - about 700 mg per day (adults), children a bit less, adolescents and lactating women slightly more. And we can get more than enough from non-dairy sources as long as we eat a varied and reasonably healthy diet.

The National Osteoporosis Society agree:

“If you don’t eat dairy products, you will need to include lots of other calcium-rich foods such as green leafy vegetables, almonds, sesame seeds, dried fruit, pulses, fortified soya drinks and soya protein (tofu) in your diet. A vegetarian diet is not a risk factor for osteoporosis and vegetarians and vegans do not appear to have poorer bone health than the rest of the population.”

Get your calcium from:

Nuts and seeds: almonds, Brazil nuts, sesame seeds and tahini (sesame seed paste used in many recipes)
Pulses: peas, beans, lentils, soya and calcium-set tofu
Green leafy vegetables: broccoli, kale, spring greens, cabbage, watercress, parsley
Dried fruit: figs, apricots
Fortified products: plant milks (soya, almond, oat, hemp, rice, coconut), soya yogurts

Healthy Bones

Our bones need good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle to be strong and healthy. Milk is not just unnecessary for healthy bones - studies show that high intakes can even increase the risk of bone fracture!

Calcium is important to bones health and easy to get from the foods listed above. Another nutrient crucial to maintaining healthy bones is vitamin D. It’s produced in your skin when exposed to the sun in the summer but during the winter months (or if you always protect your skin from sunlight), you might need to take a supplement regardless of your diet (this advice applies to everyone in the UK).

However, we need much more than calcium and vitamin D to produce strong bones. Nutrients such as potassium, magnesium, selenium, zinc, copper, boron, iron, vitamin K, vitamin C, B group, beta carotene (vitamin A) are also necessary but don’t panic! Fruit and vegetables, nuts and seeds, pulses and wholegrains are the best sources.