The Quest for Calcium

SUCCESS!!! I finally found milk that I find to be quite tasty! (Truth be told, I’m not sure that it is so delicious, as I hypothesize that I very possibly have forgotten by now, after a few months of milk withdrawal, what the milk that I used to love so dearly even tastes like; I fear that I now am open to anything. I suppose that we shall have to reevaluate upon my return to the States - which, by the way, is quickly approaching!)

Anyway, on an everyday trip to Auchan the other day to restock my foodstuffs after a 10-day absence from my dorm due to travel study, I decided to continue my Quest for Calcium. Since cataloging my first efforts at said goal, I have been, of course, consuming plenty of ice cream, and I have also even branched out and bought odd-tasting Chinese yogurt and expensive imported cheese to fulfill my body’s mineral needs. However, on this particular day, I was ready to go at it again and drink some potentially foul-tasting milk. I decided to try a red carton this time, labeled “CHINESECHINESE90%CHINESECHINESEFRESHMILKSKIMMED.” I figured that, since I am used to skim or 1% milk back in the United States, maybe this English/Chinese carton was code for “the milk that you used to drink back home, Emily.”

I brought home the milk and was not game to try it that day. When I felt ready, though (only a day or so later, because milk does not stay good nearly as long here as it does back home, for some reason), I poured it over some Multi-Grain Cheerios (with Chinese characteristics) and skeptically took a bite. I waited...chewed...no gross reaction! It was pure bliss due to the fact that I simply couldn’t detect a cheesy taste! I was FINALLY drinking MILK!!!

I have since consumed two full cartons of said milk with oatmeal, various cereals, and on its own, and am planning another Auchan outing to buy more. My only disappointment is that it has taken me so long to find it. Ah, such is life.

HOORAY!

The Quest for Calcium, Episode I

I’m sure that all of you have been hanging by the seats of your pants for these past few weeks, just waiting to begin the Quest for Calcium series. Am I right? Well, either way, it’s time.

I’ve been biding my time, documenting my calcium quest for weeks now. I know that I can get my necessary calcium through cheese, ice cream, or even supplements, but really, I just miss milk a lot: cow’s milk, soy milk, whatever. I still have yet to find a winner here in China, but fear not - I have hope. Anyway, I have devised a scale of 1 to 5 points, 1 being not worth buying again unless it were the only beverage left on Earth, and 5 being...well, truthfully, nothing has ranked that high yet, so if I find it, I’ll let you know.

Mission #1
The beginning of my quest occurred way back in early September, and, at that point, I wasn’t even sure yet that I was on a quest. I bought a bag of milk - no, that’s not a typo, and yes, you read correctly: a BAG of milk - from the supermarket near my dorm. It was recommended to me by my Seattlean friend, Matisse. I poured it over some cereal and was unimpressed - actually, before I ever even used it, I had to refrigerate it myself, as it had been room temperature in the store. (Is that safe? I don’t know.) Then, when I went to pour it, I had to be ever-so-careful not to squeeze too hard or tip the bag so as to not spill the milk. And when I finally tried it, it was whole milk, which I have come to find reminds me distinctly of cheese, which I prefer to not think about when enjoying my cereal.
1/5

Mission #2
The next drink that I tried was okay. The bottle has a lot of Chinese but calls the beverage “Nutri-Express” in English. The picture is a slice of apple splattering into a bowl of milk, so I went into this mission imagining apple-flavored milk. That is more or less what I got, so, if the drink is cold (which, of course, it never is on the shelves in the store) and I can go into it thinking of not milk, but apple milk, then I can stomach it. I can’t say for sure, due to the Chinese label, but I at least hope that I am getting some calcium out of this thing. Negative points for having to refrigerate it myself again.
3/5

Mission #3
The same day that I tried Nutri-Express, I bought a small plastic container of what looked like soy milk. It was in similar packaging to the Little Hugs that are found in the U.S., but the liquid was opaque, and the bottle was much tinier, so despite the completely Chinese label, I was pretty sure that it was not a sugary, watery drink.

It turns out that my assumption was right, as near as I can tell. It was weak soy milk. It was unflavored. It was alright, but I’m not a huge fan, and I can’t say for sure whether or not it has been fortified with calcium, so that pretty much defeats the purpose, I guess.
3/5

Mission #4
The fourth attempt that I made at finding milk was purchasing a half-pint carton from Auchan. I tried this on my cereal, as well, and was met with a similar outcome to Mission #1. Fail.
1/5

The Quest for Calcium - Introduction

I like to think of myself as a nutritionally aware person. Being vegetarian, I believe that I have to be extra-concerned so as to assure that I get necessary vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients and that I am eating a variety of foods of a variety of colors from a variety of food groups. Besides, I just LIKE nutrition - I am interested in it.

So, early in my journey to China this fall (but not before I left, thus leaving myself no time to mentally prepare), I remembered from last summer that Chinese people just don’t drink milk - at least, not the kind of milk that we Americans are used to. Barring studies on how we really shouldn’t drink milk and it is bad for us and yadda yadda yadda, I consume skim milk as a main source of calcium back home. Here, however, as I quickly realized, I could not do the same. I therefore set out on a mission: THE QUEST FOR CALCIUM.


Stay tuned for Episodes I-III!