Enjoy the dairy without the dairy

MARQUETTE — June is Dairy Alternative Month and we have the scoop on the variety of products you can buy for substitution.

People who are adopting a vegan diet, have a dairy sensitivity or just want to cut caloric intake often seek an equivalent to mainstream dairy products like cheeses and milk.

The availability of these various items have grown over the years to accommodate the growing need.

“People will often come to us and say they have been experiencing issues with weight or bloating or acne, all kinds of different health issues that seem fairly minor but are very annoying or frustrating for them,” said Marquette Food Co-op Education Coordinator Sarah Monte. “When they finally got off the dairy, all of those things cleared up. I think people understanding that our genetic make-up can change the types of food we can eat is really important.”

Substitutions are made from assorted products like coconut, oat, almond, cashew, soy and rice to work around several allergies.

“Actually a large percentage of the population of the united states has some sort of lactose or dairy sensitivity and they just don’t know it,” added Monte.

For more information on alternative diets, visit here.