Read on to discover why you should be more discerning about your yogurt choices and learn how to make your very own vegan yogurt in the comfort of your home.
Yogurt is widely considered a health food and a tool in facilitating weight loss. However, if we are being thoughtful about the yogurt we nab off grocery store shelves, we’d learn that yogurt, Greek-style yogurt included, is often over processed and full of preservatives, colorants, and other chemicals that do more harm than good.
Conventional milk used to make yogurt is hurting your health. First there’s the calcium myth, an invention of the food industry, that has led you to believe that strong bones are a direct result of milk consumption. Sure, in the short-term bones do get stronger; however, long term effects aren’t so peachy. Read: osteoporosis. In a Harvard-conducted study over 12 years, participants who drank milk three-times per day broke more bones than those who rarely drank milk. Dairy milk increases bone density, but it increases the risk of osteoporosis by eroding bone-making cells.
Meanwhile, there is all this talk about probiotics. Now, healthy bacteria is a natural byproduct of raw milk. Raw yogurt, however, is not something you can find in your regular grocery store, so the yogurt you are most likely eating has been pasteurized and processed to the point where any natural probiotics have been eradicated. So yogurt’s nutritional profile is lost through pasteurization.
And then there are reports of GMOs in yogurt, and GMOs, as we know, are detrimental to your health in more ways than one.
So, instead of eating yogurt that, after being homogenized, pasteurized and processed is virtually devoid of natural nutrition, make your own vegan yogurt instead.
Homemade Vegan Yogurt
Makes about 2 cups
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups raw almonds
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
- 3 cups spring or distilled water
- Dash of salt
- 1 probiotic capsule
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon chia seeds
Directions
Soak almonds and seeds in water overnight. The next day, drain and rinse the almonds and seeds and place them into a blender along with the water and salt. Blend until broken down and smooth. Use a cheese cloth to separate the fibers from the liquid, reserving the liquid in a bowl. Open the probiotic capsule and stir the powder into the nut “milk” with a wooden or plastic spoon (not metal).
Cover the bowl with a cloth and place in a dark, warm area in the house. Let it sit for at least 24 hours. When you remove the cloth, give the mixture a stir and taste it. You want it to be sour. If it isn’t sour yet, let it sit longer. Once ready, stir in chia seeds and continue to stir until they grow in size. Let them assimilate for 30 minutes, stir, and then transfer to the fridge to cool and thicken more.
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