Why Dairy-Free Smoothies?

All of my smoothie recipes in this book are dairy-free. You may find dairy in some of the contributed recipes that are featured at the end of each chapter. I personally do not use any animal milk or yogurt products in my smoothies. I have lactose intolerance, plus just a personal vendetta against animal milk—sorry, milk lovers! And while I enjoy plain yogurt on rare occasions by itself—I’m from Iran, and I grew up eating plain yogurt as a mandatory part of our Persian feasts— I still do not mix any yogurt into my healthy smoothies. You have so many better options for making your smoothies nice and creamy without adding the dairy in, and that’s the smoothie journey I hope to get you excited about.

If you are worried about getting your calcium, relax. You can get plenty of calcium from leafy green vegetables and nuts without any dairy. Milk and yogurt contain excess fat, sugar, hormones, and other additives that sabotage your goals to get healthy, detox your body, or lose weight. Use dark leafy greens and fruits such as oranges, kiwi, figs, pears, and dates to get your calcium.

 Also, when you use fortified nut milks from brands such as Silk, Blue Diamond, and Rice Dreams, you enjoy the added calcium, as well as the vitamin D your body needs to absorb the calcium. Nut milks do not contain any lactose, which is the acidic stuff in cow’s milk to which many of us have a huge sensitivity or plain intolerance. And last but not least, if you have not tasted nut milks until now, your taste buds are in for a treat!

I also do not use or advocate soy milk. Soy products tend to be allergenic foods, and most soy is filled with phytoestrogens, so it could negatively affect your hormonal balance. All in all, it is not a choice of base that I recommend, but you can certainly use it if you like the taste. Recent studies about nutrition do not favor using a lot of soy in your diet. You get far better nutrition and taste by using nut milks as your base. My all-time favorites are unsweetened almond milk, unsweetened coconut milk, or a combination of the two. I’ve tried rice milk, as well as hemp milk, but rice milk is bland, and I prefer hemp seeds to the hemp milk.

 As you can see, you have lots of options with non-dairy milks and can use your favorite in all the nonwater-based recipes.
If you feel strongly about having some milk or yogurt in your smoothie, by all means, feel free to add it. Remember, you are in charge. This is your smoothie, and it has to work for your taste buds. Yogurt is popular as a smoothie base and is known to add a nice consistency to smoothies, but frankly, you can get a similar or even a better consistency with bananas, avocados, and nut butters. Just sayin’!

This book gives you suggestions and ideas. I hope that you will give the dairy-free smoothie an honest try. That’s what the smoothie journey is all about: to expand beyond your comfort zone, and to play and find combinations of fruits and vegetables and other nutrients that are devilishly delicious. You can’t find those combinations if you only stick to what you know. I’ve done the homework here so you don’t have to go figuring it all out. All you have to do is be willing to try the recipes. You might just be pleasantly surprised!

 The recipes here contain any combination of frozen or fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, fresh herbs, seeds, nut milks (almond, coconut) or rice milk or filtered water base, and nut butters, as well as dairy-free protein powders and select superfoods. Always modify according to your own needs and preferences.