Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition's Ask a Nutritionist podcast, brought to you by Nutritional

Weight and Wellness. We're thrilled to be celebrating 20 years on air discussing the

connection between what you eat and how you feel while sharing

practical, real-life solutions for healthier living through balanced nutrition. Thank you so much

for your support and listenership over all of these years. Now let's get started with today's

show. Today I'll be answering a question we received from one of our

Dishing Up Nutrition listeners. They asked, could you address the best type and brand of

alternative milk? The gums used in almond milk are confusing, and coconut milk can have too

strong of a flavor to add to certain foods. So for more context, the person that's

writing in with this question was referring to using a dairy-free milk that they wanted to mix

with protein powder in their smoothie. I think this is a great question and one that does come up a lot

during my counseling sessions with clients. And I think that's because

there are so many people that are sensitive to dairy, that they're searching for dairy-free

alternatives to some of their favorite dairy products. And this can be pretty tricky because

so often those dairy-free substitutes can be very processed. As with any processed food,

it's a product that carries the risk of containing undesirable additives and also just

questionable quality in the ingredients that they're using. So when it comes to dairy-free or

plant-based milks, there are so many

different products out there that it can be really confusing and the best option I think is pretty

overwhelming. So I'm going to help you figure it out. And before I suggest specific brands,

I just want to walk you through what criteria I was looking for

when determining a good quality product. And by the way, here at Nutritional Weight and Wellness,

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