DEBRA'S ANSWER:

Goat's milk is a good alternative to soy and cow's milk, in fact, goat milk has been chosen as one of "The World's Healthiest Foods". In many parts of the world, goat's milk is much more popular than cow's milk. Goat's milk is considered more digestible and less allergenic than cow's milk. So that's certainly an option. Goat's milk can be purchased in many natural food stores

Rice milk is another possibility, though, like soy milk, since it is make from a plant it lacks the fuller spectrum of amino acids and nutrients found and cow's and goat's milk. Though many people happily drink rice milk, to me it is not a whole food--it would be much better to eat the whole brown rice. Most rice milk also contains vitamins for fortification. It's a processed food.

Coconut milk is a wonderful substitute for cow's milk and can be used instead of cream or milk in many recipes, such as custard and ice cream. My friend Cathy loves it in her coffee every morning. Coconut milk is made by pulverizing the whole coconut meat with water, so it contains the whole coconut. Again, being a plant, it has a different nutrient profile than milk from an animal. Coconut milk is sold in cans I buy Thai Kitchen brand because it's the only one I've found that does not contain preservatives or you can make it yourself by whizzing up coconut meat in your blender with water.

I also enjoy almond milk. You'll need to make it fresh at home, but it is a very refreshing, creamy drink that foams up like milk. Start by soaking 1/2 cup almonds overnight in filtered water just enough to cover is fine. In the morning, if you want to remove the skins, place the almonds in a strainer and dip them in boiling water for 7 seconds, then in a bowl of ice cold water. The skins will slip right off. Put the almonds in a blender with two cups water and blend for several minutes until smooth. If you want, you can add the sweetener of your choice, but I like it just plain. When you make it with soaked almonds, it tastes and feels very "alive"!

With regard to protein powder, there are protein powders available made from rice protein and goat protein look for them at your natural food store and online, but just in general I'm not a big fan of protein powder.

My best recommendation is to eat fresh whole foods, rather than fractionated foods. It's better to eat the rice, drink the goat's milk, eat the eggs. There are often supportive nutrients in whole foods that aid digestion and assimilation that are missing in the processed fraction. I like to stay as close to nature as possible. Protein powders are a product of factory processing.

Debra :-)