I’m Nuts For Almond Milk

These days, there are so many options for choosing your milk. In a typical health store he choices abound, including varieties of cow’s milk, rice milk, soy milk, and nut milk.

There is also a lot of confusing health literature on the subject. Starting in the 80’s, when the fat-free craze went into full effect, skim milk was portrayed as the healthy choice. Then, for the last five years or so, soy milk has exploded onto the market (its even offered at Starbucks!), though controversial research on soy has also cropped up. So what is the best choice for us, the consumers?

I feel strongly that the nut milks - my favorite is almond - work best with our bodies and have the most beautifying benefits. Here is a breakdown of the choices out there, with some hard evidence:

Nut Milk
I prefer nut milks, my favorite being almond. I look for the unsweetened kind. If it needs to be sweetened, a squirt or two of agave does the trick.

Almonds are rich in magnesium, potassium, manganese, copper, the antioxidants vitamin E and selenium (particularly important for bringing radiance to the skin) and calcium. It is easy to digest and free of the pitfalls that the other choices suffer from. Best of all, it tastes great; even my dairy-addict partner Adam is a convert!

Dairy
Dairy products available to us at stores are almost all pasteurized- meaning that they are superheated so there are no enzymes left. Therefore, your body has to use its own precious enzymes to break dairy down, wasting precious energy. It is also very acidic. No wonder most humans find dairy difficult to digest.

We have been taught since childhood that milk is a vital source of calcium, but this is increasingly being exposed as a myth. In fact, humans can absorb calcium from plant sources more easily than from dairy. According to Dr. Campbell, head of nutritional research at Cornell and of the China Project, “Ironically, osteoporosis tends to occur in countries where calcium intake is highest and most of it comes from protein-rich dairy products.”

To top it off, many dairy products are loaded with toxins like dioxin and hormones, dairy is mucous-forming, and I find it dulls people’s complexions.

The bottom line: Dairy isn’t nearly as healthy as we have been lead to believe

Soy Milk
While I consume soy milk once in a while, I certainly wouldn’t regularly. Soy is said to beneficial because of its high amount of isoflavones (anti-cancer compounds) soy is also high in estrogens, full of sugar, and is could possibly possess trypsinogen blockers, which block some of your body’s absorption of proteins. Soy milk is generally also highly processed.

You may question why Asians are so thin and have lower incidence of cancer than we do, despite their use of soy products. In fact, an Asian’s consumption of soy is likely minuscule compared to an American’s.

Rice Milk
Rice milk is processed from brown rice and will usually say “enriched” or “fortified” with calcium or vitamin D. When you see that on a label it is an indicator that the food has been so refined that most of the important nutrients, minerals and phytochemicals were removed, and have added back. Unfortunately, only 5-10% usually make it. In other words, it is nutritionally defunct. Worse, rice milk is commonly loaded with sugar- usually in the form of rice syrup or evaporated cane juice.

I also generally prefer milk from a nut than a grain, as seeds and nuts have many more vitamins, proteins, and beautifying compounds than do grains.