So(y) Good

It all started with a coupon.

In the continuing effort to save money, I've made it a habit of stealing the insert of my parents' Sunday Globe and basically tearing it apart for coupons I think might come in handy. One such Sunday I came across a deal for a carton of Silk Soymilk, and out of curiousity decided to cut it out.

I've never had any issues with my standard skim-milk. I'm not lactose-intolerant, and I'm not a vegan, so I never really had a reason to deviate from dairy - however, I'm always on the hunt for new healthy and delicious things to incorporate into my Weight Watchered diet, and soymilk always seemed (to me, at least) to have this reputation of being better for you than milk.

So on my next trip to the grocery store I bought a carton of the Silk French Vanilla (I admit I was wary of trying the straight up soy for my first foray into the alterna-milk), and I tried it - and I liked it. It tasted great in my cereal, and made a pretty kick-ass smoothie. I even tried a couple sips by itself, and despite the not-really-milk like flavor, it was actually pretty good. It would definitely take a while for my tastebuds to make the adjustment, but how often do I drink regular milk by itself? Not very.

I made another discovery a couple days later that only added to the success of my soy-experiment.

I was in the Harvest Co-op picking up a few things and was having a major craving for something chocolatey. I saw the all the cookies and gourmet organic chocolates that looked extremely rich, delicious and fattening, and figured that if I was going to indulge my craving, I was going to do it in a kind of responsible manner. I walked over to the freezers where there was an abundance of organic ice creams, frozen yogurts, cakes, and a startingly large assortment of soy ice creams. Remembering how not awful the Silk Soymilk was, and after looking at the nutrition labels, I grabbed a carton.

And guess what? Soy ice cream is AMAZING. Namely the Chocolate Peanut Butter by Soy Delicious. It's sweetened with fruit-concentrates, is very low-cal, and 5 of the flavors offered have less than 3 grams of fat per serving (the Chocolate Peanut Butter just misses the mark with 3.5). So I didn't feel TOO badly when I finished the entire carton later that night :/

Aside from being lactose-free, soy ice creams are also cholesterol-free and are lower in fat than traditional ice cream. They are also a good source of calcium - milk is not your only option.

And here is where I started to consider whether I should make the switch to soy: Would it help with my weight loss? Is it considered more "green"? Is it really better for you than regular milk? Does it have any other health benefits? People who drink soy always seem to be SUPER healthy and fit - do they know something I don't? So I did a little online digging.

While cow's milk is an excellent source of vitamin D and calcium, many soy products (while not containing them naturally) are fortified with these same nutrients; and like cow's milk, soy milk is a great source of protein. It also contains very little fat and cholesterol, and a diet low in fat and cholesterol is good for the heart- however, in terms of fat-content soymilk is pretty much on par with skim cow's milk.

One downside to going soy is that soymilk is generally more expensive than cow's milk, so if you're on a budget and don't need to make the switch for health or dietary reasons, you'd be fine sticking with regular skim.

If you're attempting to be more eco-conscious, both can come with asterisks that may cause you to prefer one or the other on simply a moral basis. Some soybeans are grown on raized acres of rainforests, and some soy products use genetically modified soybeans (soybeans grown with the use of a pesticide to protect the crop) - the products' containers are usually say whether they are GMO-free or not. On the other hand, some dairies use a hormone treatment so the cows will produce greater quantities of milk, and those hormones usually travel into the milk we end up drinking.

So at the end of the day, neither can claim a major nutritional advantage over the other - it really just depends on the individual, their values and their personal lifestyle. I doubt that I'll make the switch completely, but if I ever have another coupon for soymilk I'll probably use it, and I'll most DEFINITELY be purchasing that brand of ice cream again.


Oh, and Tapeo's $5 Tapas Thursdays totally didn't disappoint.