My fingernails felt stronger and even appear shiner and healthier looking over the last few days. Maybe its been this way for a month or so prior but for the first time I am noticing this change. I know for some of you healthier nails is not really that big of a deal. It is a big deal for me. I have always seen my external bodily changes as a strong indicator of my internal ones and a great indicator of my overall health. I grew up with oddly flexible fingernails that lacked luster. Recently, things have changed. I found a way to get stronger healthier nails with a milk-less diet.
I had not fully given up on milk as a child but I have limited my intake greatly due to my sinus reaction to whole milk. Every time I consume whole milk I get a mild to horrible sinus congestion that lasts about three days per milk sitting. I know this because I timed it! One of my favorite Bahamian drinks has milk in it! Sigh….
Anyway, about three months ago I bought my last bottle of Vanilla flavored Almond Milk. It was extremely difficult to even find the raw almonds and avoid prepackaged Almond Milk. Lately, I have been purchasing zero milk and eating milk-less breakfasts.
I could almost swear that I was depriving myself of Calcium as a result of this, but yesterday my nails told me otherwise. After sliding my finger tips over my stronger, firmer, healthier nails yesterday I knew something was so right! Maybe even better than before.
The only question I had in my mind was, ‘where was the calcium coming from?’ The only thing that has changed was the addition of beans in my diet. I bought and cooked dried black beans, kidney beans and chickpeas.
Growing up in a family that rarely ever cooked any kind of beans, really made this change a big deal for me. I had no idea how to actually cook beans at first…Well, I had an idea but, an idea was all I had.
Cooking beans was a great idea. I have made previously mentioned veggie burgers and other satisfying meals.
I was always aware that beans had lots of protein in it. The recently realized fact is that lots of beans actually contain just as much calcium as milk. I don’t really know why I assumed that soybeans were so special. Perhaps it could be due to the huge amount of promotion for Soy Milk and soy products in general – I don’t know.
I am not going to make this article a “anti-Monsanto blog post,” I am just writing this as a reminder that although soy milk is common, there should be a way to make milk from other beans. Last year sometime I’ve researched milk alternatives and found soy milk, coconut milk, and almond milk. At this moment in time, I am pretty sure other milk forms can be made.
I am very interested in trying to make my own Kidney Beans milk because I enjoy the semi-sweet after taste of those beans. In fact, I’ll Google around to see if I am the only weird person who’s interested in trying this.
If you have tried other milk alternatives feel free to share them in a comment below. Thanks, I appreciate your support!