You may have seen an article over the weekend headlined “Hot girls now drink whole milk. And so should we apparently.” Unfortunately, this would have caught the attention of many, for all the wrong reasons.

 

Yes, we are spoilt for choice when it comes to all the milks or plant-based ‘mylks’ that are available in the market right now, but it’s important to consider your health and dietary requirements before considering advice targeting wanna-be ‘hot girls’ (what a load of shit).

 

If your local supermarket or cafe started selling human breast milk, do you think many people would be requesting it in their morning coffee? Why / Why not? Take a moment to consider that dairy milk comes from a lactating cow and is produced for baby cows to help them grow… Cows are often pumped full of antibiotics to keep them producing milk in unhealthy conditions and there are strong links to acne and other skin conditions associated with dairy intake.

 

Many adult digestive systems cannot tolerate dairy due to the lactase enzyme required to break down the lactose in milk. The symptoms of lactose intolerance include wind, bloating and diarrhoea and skin breakouts so if you don’t experience any of those after drinking milk or eating ice cream then you’re fine.

 

That being said, if you are going to choose cows milk, make sure it is organic, unhomogenised full cream milk. Another option is to consider goats milk or sheeps milk which is closer in structure to that of human breast milk.

 

There was some truth (in the article) to the fact that many plant-based milks contain vegetable oil and preservatives. BUT there are plant-based alternatives that do not contain these additives. It all starts with a little bit of education about what to look out for.

 

Reading Ingredient panels  

Don’t be fooled by the clever marketing and packaging used on these “healthy” non-dairy milks. You might be caught out when you see words like plant-based, smooth, silky - but take a moment to turn to the ingredients list. If you see a litany of ingredients that include numbers and words you can’t pronounce, put it back on the shelf.

 

“We have to start being food detectives and reading the ingredients panel thoroughly”

 

Here’s the ingredients list from a popular brand of Almond Milk.

For example:

Almond Milk (92%) [Filtered Water, Activated Almonds (5%)], Maltodextrin, Raw Sugar, Minerals (Potassium Citrate, Potassium Phosphate), Coconut Fat [Coconut Oil, Glucose Syrup, E1450, E551], Vegetable Oil (Rapeseed), Faba Bean, Sea Salt, Vegetable Gum (Gellan).

 

Sugars

If you are looking to avoid sugar intake, be wary of the many guises that sugar can take, such as:

• Types of sugar: beet sugar, brown sugar, buttered sugar, cane sugar, caster sugar, coconut sugar, date sugar, golden sugar, invert sugar, muscovado sugar, organic raw sugar, rapadura sugar, evaporated cane juice, and confectioner’s sugar.

• Types of syrup: carob syrup, golden syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, agave nectar, glucose syrup, malt syrup, maple syrup, oat syrup, rice bran syrup, and rice syrup.

• Other added sugars: barley malt, molasses, cane juice crystals, lactose, corn sweetener, crystalline fructose, dextran, malt powder, ethyl maltol, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, galactose, glucose, disaccharides, maltodextrin, and maltose.

 

Vegetable Oils / Industrial Seed Oils

These oils are highly processed, toxic and cause inflammation in the body. The general process used to create industrial seed oils is anything but natural. The oils extracted from soybeans, corn, cottonseed, safflower seeds, and rapeseeds must be refined, bleached, and deodorized before they are suitable for human consumption.

 

The eight industrial, inflammatory seed oils are Canola, Corn, Cottonseed, Soybean, Sunflower, Safflower, Grapeseed, and Rice bran oil.

 

1. First, seeds are gathered from soy, corn, cotton, safflower, and rapeseed plants.

2. Next, the seeds are heated to extremely high temperatures; this causes the unsaturated fatty acids in the seeds to oxidize, creating byproducts that are harmful to human and animal health.

3. The seeds are then processed with a petroleum-based solvent, such as hexane, to maximize the amount of oil extracted from them.

4. Next, industrial seed oil manufacturers use chemicals to deodorize the oils, which have a very off-putting smell once extracted. The deodorization process produces trans fats, which are well known to be quite harmful to human health.

5. Finally, more chemicals are added to improve the colour of the industrial seed oils.

 

Altogether, industrial seed oil processing creates an energy-dense, nutrient-poor oil that contains chemical residues, trans fats, and oxidized byproducts.

In plant-based milk, these oils are used to bind the ingredients together. Avoid (even if it’s organic sunflower oil!).

 

Additives & Emulsifiers - Xanthan Gum / Vegetable Gum / Guar Gum

Made from guar beans (legumes) and forms a gel to help stabilize, bind and thicken. They are soluble fibre that absorbs water and can slow down digestion. Gums are a low-grade additive, but still an additive. E1450 E551 are additives are modified starches.

 

 

My favourites  

- Nutty Bruce Organic Almond Milk (Unsweetened)

Filtered Water, Activated Organic Almonds, Organic Rice, Sea Salt

 

- Nutty Bruce Coconut & Almond Milk (Unsweetened)

Filtered Water, Organic Rice, Organic Coconut, Activated Organic Almonds, Sea Salt

 

- Pure Harvest Coco Quench

Filtered Water, Organic Coconut Milk, Organic Brown Rice, Sea Salt.

 

Beware of “Barista style” nut milks – they often contain all the nasty emulsifiers, additives and preservatives that make nut milks foam and froth.

 

The bottom line is - look for a product that is unsweetened, has the least amount of ingredients and doesn’t contain thickeners, oils or additives.

 

DIY - The other option is to make your own nut milk at home, by soaking nuts overnight (discard soaking water), then blitz in a high-speed blender with fresh filtered water and a pinch of salt. You could add a pitted date or some vanilla extract for sweetness. Strain through a muslin cloth or nut milk bag. Now you know exactly what’s in your nut milk and there’s nothing nasty added!