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The Skinny On A Few Kinds of Milk
Health | December 16, 2014
There are a dizzying amount of milks and milk substitutes out there and new varieties keep cropping up. Long gone are the days of good old-fashioned cow’s milk straight from the udder and straight into our kitchens. These days other options are available that often make a more suitable substitute – if not necessarily on nutritional level, then, at least, on one based around dietary restrictions and limitations. Here’s a brief breakdown of a few popular, trending kinds of milk currently available at grocery stores and health stores.
Soy Milk – For vegans and vegetarians, soy milk was once the gold standard of milk substitutes. Lately though, it seems to have fallen a bit out of favor. For women, eating soy-based products may be quite beneficial though the jury is still out on this. Soy products including soy milk contain isoflavones – a type of estrogen produced by plants – that may help ward off bad cholesterol, osteoporosis even hot flashes. Whether or not this type of estrogen can have a negative impact on men is still not certain. However, Dr. Walter C. Willett of Harvard School of Medicine reminds us that regular milk also contains a variety of hormones including estrogen as well.
Almond Milk – Characterized by a sometimes chalky, nutty flavor (go figure, right?), almond milk is the current, seemingly most popular milk substitute. At the very least, its use is trending upwards in cafes and grocery stores. The benefits of almond milk were recently skewered in this thoughtful, albeit sarcastic article in Mother Jones. Aside from being heavily processed – as is soy milk – almond milk is still not apparently more nutritional than regular milk.
Raw Milk – Often touted as the best way to consume regular milk, what differentiates raw milk from your garden-variety store-bought milk is pasteurization. Pasteurization kills off harmful bacteria found in milk, especially during transport from farm to store. Unfortunately, pasteurization also kills off all the good bacteria found in raw milk. Proponents of raw milk insist that this good bacteria is vital for our health. Unfortunately, while raw milk was once readily available in stores, it’s harder to find due to the somewhat legitimate concern of foodborne illnesses. A recent study done by Harvard School of Public Heath demonstrated a higher increase in foodborne illnesses in relation to raw milk than with standard pasteurized milk.
Coconut Milk – In comparison to cow’s milk, coconut milk is easier when it comes to the process of making it and also it’s easy to digest. Coconut milk is high in nutrients, and good fats such as the MCT (medium chain triglyceride) that our bodies can easily burn as a fuel. I use coconut milk in almost everything. Smoothies, sauces and even when I bake. It almost seems like the best choice, except that you have to watch for BPA (Bisphenol-A) that you can find in some canned foods including coconut milk. Some studies indicate that BPA could be harmful, and others not, however one recent study in particular seems rather concerning. If you love coconut milk as much as I do, then the safe solution is to buy coconut milk from companies that don’t use BPA in the lining of the metal cans. These brands are Native Forest, Aroy – D, and Trader Joe’s Light coconut milk, which some of you have mentioned in the comments as your favorite brand. The only problem is that their “Light” version of coconut milk is too low in fat, which doesn’t make it a great substitute for cream when baking or making sauces. You’ll have to use a thickener, but it’s going to be BPA free.
What kind of milk are you drinking? What are your reasons? Let me know!
Private Member |
I don’t use much milk anymore, I actually prefer to eat yogurt, but when I use it for smoothies or something like that it would be almond or coconut. I love coconut so it’s a really great option. I think the best way is to make it yourself, at least the almond milk, because it’s very easy. Z, you could make a recipe on it! It literally takes like 5 min most. And the coconut milk, BPA free for sure..it’s good to stay away from these things because it plays with our hormones 🙂
Private Member |
My friend and I were talking about milk the other day. She said a holistic doctor told her raw milk is the best milk if you do drink it. She said she would have to go pick up curdled milk for another doctor she knows then they would strain it through a cheese cloth. She said it taste weird but it is very healthy. I have never tried raw milk, but I would if it would benefit my health. I think a good way to solve the taste is to maybe mash a banana into it, which is how I drink my milk some times. I drink regular milk from the store. Sometimes I will get coconut milk, but the milk I consume says there are no added hormones, and it is a safe milk. Thank you for all this information, there are many misleading opinions about milk, and I think this has been the most truthful information I have read.
Private Member |
ellijay, ga, united states
We have a small, local farm that sells raw milk (though in my state, it’s only legal to sell if it’s labeled “for pets”). It’s sooooooo good! I haven’t noticed any odd taste from it — it just tastes super-thick and creamy (I haven’t had it curdled, though! I would imagine that would give it a slightly different taste. I’d love to try that!)
Though, since raw milk is expensive (around $7 a gallon where I live), we usually get it as an occasional treat and stick with milk substitutes for our regular milk, and “no hormones added” products for other dairy (like cream, sour cream, etc.)
Private Member |
I am going to have to try it one day. Why does the milk have to be labeled “for pets”? $7 for milk is insane, I guess you have to do what you have to do 😉 We use about a 1/2 gal of milk every 2 days because we cook with it too, and I use it for coffee. I’m very thankful that I do not have to pay so much for milk, but I heard milk prices will be rising in a couple years. I hope not on your behalf! have a good day, and thank you for informing me that raw milk isn’t bad! =) have a good day
Private Member |
ellijay, ga, united states
Ha ha, delayed reply, here (as I was slow to notice the response…oops)!
Apparently there’s a lot of controversy in the US about raw milk. There’s a higher risk of getting sick if it’s not pasteurized (e. coli, I think? Then again…you hear of food recalls of fresh spinach because of e. coli. From what I’ve heard, the biggest risk is if the equipment isn’t kept clean…which is why it’s important to have a trusted source). The flip side is that heating it for pasteurization (at least, as far as what I’ve read) also takes away a lot of the benefits. Because of the controversy, some states allow it to be sold, others have completely banned it…and others say “you can sell it, but for pets only”. (I’m from Georgia, and it’s “Pets only” here. Though, they don’t tell you what you can do with it after you buy it. We…er…”our pets”…love it! 😉 ) My GUESS is that the “pets only” thing is a loophole to allow people to sell it…but protect the sellers from being sued if someone gets sick, since it’s not labeled for human consumption. (That’s just a guess on my part…I have nothing to back that up!)
From what I gather, It’s so expensive because they’re not treating their cows with hormones that make them constantly produce milk. So they don’t lactate as often…so it’s more costly to the farmers. From what I’ve seen across the country, $7 looks to be on the cheaper side. Still, it’s expensive enough that I consider it a rare treat to purchase. Regular milk around here isn’t nearly that much, but we stick with the milk substitutes most of the time (as we go through milk sloooooowly and the substitutes keep for longer)!
Private Member |
I LOVE coconut milk and I love using to make my quinoa dessert yummy, and like u I add to loads esp a curry which is a great way to cool it down if I’ve went a bit mad on the chilli and cayenne 🙂 x
Private Member |
I love all the studies attached, great information. I predominantly have switched to coconut milk for the fat content ( will start looking for the brands without BPA) still use heavy cream and MCT oil in my coffee. Too bad the dietician’s aren’t reading the studies and forcing a change within their standards. Here’s the latest anti sugar campaign from Mexico where 2/3s of the country is overweight or obese. http://higherperspective.com/2014/12/mexican-ad.html
Private Member |
uk
I drink organic full fat milk. Almond milk taste like water to me and coconut milk is too high in calories, good for cooking curry dishes though. Soy milk has bitter taste and apparently not good for thyroid. Its hard to say whats good for us as there is so much contradiction out there so I just go by what tastes good to me:)
Private Member |
I love Aroy-D brand coconut milk in the carton. So thick, so rich, simply delicious. I also make my own nut milks. All you do is use 1 portion of any nut (almond, walnut, cashew) to 3 portions of water, blend until liquified, pour through a cheese cloth, mesh bag or very fine sieve and voila! It is so much better than the store bought stuff. It goes bad much faster because there are no preservatives but it tastes amazing. You can save the nut pulp for making treats too! It’s great for baking muffins or bread or anything really. Just make sure the ratio for the milk is 3 to 1 water to nuts and it’ll turn out perfect every time. You can also add flavourings to it if you want such as vanilla. Yum!
Private Member |
My maternal family is from the Philippines, which is likely the reason for my obsession with anything coconut. In the Philippines the coconut tree is known as the “tree of life” because you can use basically every part of the tree. One of my favourite coconut based desserts is Filipino rice cake. Depending on the recipe it can be quite sugary, but I find the coconut adds enough sweetness and flavour so I don’t add as much sugar. I love how much can be done with coconut, especially coconut milk, when cooking. If you’re interested, I encourage you to look up something called Latik. Basically you simmer the coconut milk until most of the liquid evaporates and you’re left with the oil and coconut curds. These “curds” are then used as a topping for desserts. If you simmer coconut milk and only remove some of the liquid then it becomes like caramel, which is also a popular dessert topping. Hope you’ll give it a try!
Private Member |
Thanks for sharing your recipies . I love coconut (milk, flakes, manna…) I’ll certainly try it your way.
Private Member |
Hey Zuzka
I drink almond milk (i make my own) or coconut milk (but not as much because if you look at the ingredients it;s usually not that great…).
Supermarket milk gives me bad stomach cramps.
It’s impossible to buy raw milk in UK – well, almost.. which is a shame..
Thanks for sharing this xx
Loads of love
Justina xx
Private Member |
bad oldesloe, schleswig holstein, germany
Besides soy-milk, almond-milk and coconut-milk you can use oat-mil and rice-milk too. All of them are very healthy but it´s the taste that makes the different. I like every of them but in different ways like oat-milk for coffee and almond-milk for smoothies. Of course al of them should be organic.
Private Member |
I also use coconut milk with everything, but buy it in a carton, not a can. I stopped drinking cow milk 2 years ago and definitely notice the difference: no more digestive issues! Eating yogurt is fine. Thank you for this post, I was hoping for a while you’d do one on milks!