Some people have asked me what I use or used during detox in place of milk.  Now some may not drink milk but for those who always "like me" believed the fluff about milk being good for me :)  I used milk all the time for cereal, baking, frostings, scrambled eggs, creamer etc.  Before mold I used to be a sucker for a bag of oreos and a tall glass of milk or my famous homemade chocolate chip cookies and that same milk.  

Those days have passed, "thank goodness" but some people still struggle with how to replace bad habits of using milk for everything.  I was on a mold diet for over 9 months so in those 9 months I didn't have much milk or dairy.  Now that I'm way past the mold detox diet phase of being strict on glucose consumption I am on a more steady Whole foods diet and basically now eat what is healthy for my body.

I wanted to recommend what I used to replace my "Milk habit" with.  I tried all of the milk sub's out there that everyone normally recommends like "Almond Milk", "Rice Milk" but I was never satisfied with the taste or some of the ingredients they used.  It wasn't until about January of this year that I recently saw a new type in my local health food store and decided to try it.  

It was "Hemp Milk": by Pacific 

They have 3 flavors. 

1. Original - No flavoring (No Carrageenan, Non GMO)
2. *Chocolate (Contains *Carrageenan, but Non GMO)
3. Vanilla - (No Carrageenan, Non GMO)

Not only did it taste good enough to drink right out of the bottle (which normally I NEVER do because things don't taste that great) but I was shocked to look at the nutritional information for Hemp Milk.

Here was what I found:

• It had a perfect balance of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids
• It was sweetened with brown rice syrup (which isn't that sugary)
• It has tons of vitamins and minerals like 190mg of potassium...almost as much a a banana.
• It had over 10 essential amino acids (crazy)
• Contains 3 grams of protein
• and I couldn't believe it has 50% of the RDA of calcium in just one serving
• It contains an excellent source of Vitamins D, B12 and riboflavin which most people argue about in saying that only Milk can provide this....well I found out that that was false information.

WHERE TO BUY IT

After recommending to a few friends I found out that it was not that readily available in most stores so I found an easy way to show others where to get it by buying it online.  What I found was that most of the sellers were offering FREE SHIPPING so it made it worth it to get it delivered to your home.  You can buy it HERE...make sure you bookmark this link so you can go back to it month after month and re-order like I now do. :)

Another alternative is a "SAFE" coconut milk option

You can make your own coconut milk by blending unsweetened organic coconut flakes with filtered water and strain it but when you are feeling sick most of the time it's just not an option.  This "ONE" coconut milk product is my coconut milk choice.  It's a safely canned BPA free option that does not contain any other harmful inredients that almost all of the other coconut milks have.  The brand is from Natural Grocers.

This producct is only coconut and water.  This means there are no thickeners or emulsifiers like guar gum, carrageenan, or gellan gum, which can cause digestive problems, alter healthy levels of intestinal bacteria, cause diarrhea, cause inflammation and bloating, lower immune function, and cause glucose intolerance/insulin sensitivity - just to name a few.  These are the last things you want to add to your detox and mold diet because your gut needs to heal. 

These thickeners/emulsifiers are in many products, including "natural" or "healthy" ones. Some of the most common ones are plant-based milks, ice cream, yogurt, and baby formulas...but they can also be found in all kinds of foods, cosmetics, body care products, toothpaste, and medications.

Including the topic of coconut milk in my blog post is simply bringing awareness to an ingredient I feel can really mess up your mold detox efforts and is most often in many of the things you consume daily, and if you have been exposed to toxic mold most likely you are going to be dealing with other symptoms of mold exposure like IBS, inflammatory bowel disorders, digestive issues, or unexplained food sensitivities, so this is definitely something you want to start looking at and eliminating.

If someone hasn't been exposed to mold, small doses probably won't hurt them...but since these things are in many products you're likely consuming - a "small dose" may not actually exist for many people.  If you have small children or babies that have been exposed to mold and they consume plant-based milks regularly these harmful ingredients can be really harmful to their guts. 

Taking the time to read food labels and learn what common ingredients are is really an important skill set to learn - especially if you have been exposed to mold or have any kind of chronic illness. Taking a little extra time to prepare your own food is beneficial for your health both physically and financially but when exposed to mold it can make someone so extremely weak and sick that they cannot physically prepare these foods.  However in saying that, you can buy a pound of organic coconut flakes for about $4 and easily make 10x (or more) the amount of coconut milk found in one can for the same price.

I have only found a few name brands that DO NOT include these dangerous fillers in them and here they are below: