5 ms·

The only problem with oat and almond milk is that they're mostly a suspension of cheap vegetable oil in water. Vegetable oils like sunflower oil aren't healthy.

cropsieboss 9y ago
Is there a way to measure healthiness of a single ingredient? I didn't find anything allowing me to label stuff as healthy or unhealthy. At least not scientific. I do not even think there's a scientific definition of healthiness of one single ingredient. I guess by your definition (vegetable oils increasing risk of some cardiovascular diseases) makes all meat, animal breast milk, eggs unhealthy. I thought only diets and lifestyle can be healthy, regardless of what a single ingredient can do. Also, if it is vegetable oil, how come there's protein in it? I thought oil is just fat? There's 4 grams of protein in 100mL of soy/oat milk (about the same as cow breast milk). Almonds on the other hand are a big scam with only 0.x protein, water with some flavour.
- bagacrap 9y ago
  Industrially produced seed oils are thought to be unhealthy due to an over-abundance of Omega 6. But some regulatory authorities still cling to the decades-old wisdom that basically boils down to avoiding saturated fat at all costs, so they'll recommend vegetable oils over animal products. There are definitely healthy fats and unhealthy ones, for example everyone can agree trans fats are in the latter category. The perfect fatty acid profile is a matter for debate but it's definitely possible to isolate bad ingredients by a variety of means (populational studies, etc). It's not easy though, if it were then there wouldn't be so much debate in this space.
  - tuukkah 9y ago
    If you're afraid of consuming too much Omega 6, choose oils with more Omega 3 such as flaxseed and rapeseed. Also: "[We] have known about the harms of fatty acid imbalance, and an excess of omega-6, for a long time. So much so that sunflower oil in the US was 'upgraded' through selective breeding to produce a high-oleic-acid variety (high monounsaturated fatty acid) that now prevails, and AVOIDS the potential harms noted in this paper. The same thing is now being done to soybean oil, and the high monounsaturated fatty acid version of that will soon replace the old variety.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2016/04/13/the-animal-vs-vegetable-fat-saga-continues/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2016/04/13/the-ani...
tuukkah 9y ago
But vegetable oils are healthy (unsaturated, HDL) and animal fats are unhealthy (saturated, LDL)! You should make sure you consume enough Omega 3 though (e.g. rapeseed oil, flaxseed oil): http://www.oatly.com/healthcareprofessionals/plant-based-eating/nutritional-aspects-of-a-vegetarian-diet/#fat http://www.oatly.com/healthcareprofessionals/plant-based-eat... (EDIT: And the oil in Oatly happens to be rapeseed oil.) (EDIT2: And the oil in almond milk is almond oil...)
- hn_throwaway_99 9y ago
  > But vegetable oils are healthy (unsaturated, HDL) and animal fats are unhealthy (saturated, LDL)! There is very little evidence to support that consuming vegetable oils as a replacement for animal fats results in better health.
  - tuukkah 9y ago
    I'm not qualified to conduct a scientific literary review on this topic, but I did provide a reference that is based on the official dietary recommendations as a start.
    - rwh86 9y ago
      There is an excellent book written by a science journalist who spent 10 years doing a deep dive on the best available scientific evidence surrounding dietary fats. It explains why it is so difficult to find high-quality evidence for anything in nutrition science and, having been written by a journalist, it also does a decent job of investigating the history and politics that have coloured diet advice over the last century or so. https://thebigfatsurprise.com https://thebigfatsurprise.com She has also done a TED talk that gives a very quick summary of the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CHGiid6N9Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CHGiid6N9Q
      - tuukkah 9y ago
        I'd rather not believe the picture painted by one book author as opposed to Wikipedia and "World Health Organization,[1] the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Medicine,[2] the American Dietetic Association,[3] the Dietitians of Canada,[3] the British Dietetic Association,[4] American Heart Association,[5] the British Heart Foundation,[6] the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada,[7] the World Heart Federation,[8] the British National Health Service,[9] the United States Food and Drug Administration,[10] and the European Food Safety Authority.[11]" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturated_fat_and_cardiovascular_disease https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturated_fat_and_cardiovasc...
bagacrap 9y ago
Most almond milk I see is just almonds and water. I've seen mystery "high protein nut milk" products that match what you describe but they're in the minority.
- bagacrap 9y ago
  (addendum: most also have sugar and sometimes flavoring but it's not hard to find unsweetened)

cropsieboss 9y ago

Is there a way to measure healthiness of a single ingredient? I didn't find anything allowing me to label stuff as healthy or unhealthy. At least not scientific. I do not even think there's a scientific definition of healthiness of one single ingredient. I guess by your definition (vegetable oils increasing risk of some cardiovascular diseases) makes all meat, animal breast milk, eggs unhealthy. I thought only diets and lifestyle can be healthy, regardless of what a single ingredient can do. Also, if it is vegetable oil, how come there's protein in it? I thought oil is just fat? There's 4 grams of protein in 100mL of soy/oat milk (about the same as cow breast milk). Almonds on the other hand are a big scam with only 0.x protein, water with some flavour.

bagacrap 9y ago
Industrially produced seed oils are thought to be unhealthy due to an over-abundance of Omega 6. But some regulatory authorities still cling to the decades-old wisdom that basically boils down to avoiding saturated fat at all costs, so they'll recommend vegetable oils over animal products. There are definitely healthy fats and unhealthy ones, for example everyone can agree trans fats are in the latter category. The perfect fatty acid profile is a matter for debate but it's definitely possible to isolate bad ingredients by a variety of means (populational studies, etc). It's not easy though, if it were then there wouldn't be so much debate in this space.
- tuukkah 9y ago
  If you're afraid of consuming too much Omega 6, choose oils with more Omega 3 such as flaxseed and rapeseed. Also: "[We] have known about the harms of fatty acid imbalance, and an excess of omega-6, for a long time. So much so that sunflower oil in the US was 'upgraded' through selective breeding to produce a high-oleic-acid variety (high monounsaturated fatty acid) that now prevails, and AVOIDS the potential harms noted in this paper. The same thing is now being done to soybean oil, and the high monounsaturated fatty acid version of that will soon replace the old variety.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2016/04/13/the-animal-vs-vegetable-fat-saga-continues/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2016/04/13/the-ani...

tuukkah 9y ago

But vegetable oils are healthy (unsaturated, HDL) and animal fats are unhealthy (saturated, LDL)! You should make sure you consume enough Omega 3 though (e.g. rapeseed oil, flaxseed oil): http://www.oatly.com/healthcareprofessionals/plant-based-eating/nutritional-aspects-of-a-vegetarian-diet/#fat http://www.oatly.com/healthcareprofessionals/plant-based-eat... (EDIT: And the oil in Oatly happens to be rapeseed oil.) (EDIT2: And the oil in almond milk is almond oil...)

hn_throwaway_99 9y ago
> But vegetable oils are healthy (unsaturated, HDL) and animal fats are unhealthy (saturated, LDL)! There is very little evidence to support that consuming vegetable oils as a replacement for animal fats results in better health.
- tuukkah 9y ago
  I'm not qualified to conduct a scientific literary review on this topic, but I did provide a reference that is based on the official dietary recommendations as a start.
  - rwh86 9y ago
    There is an excellent book written by a science journalist who spent 10 years doing a deep dive on the best available scientific evidence surrounding dietary fats. It explains why it is so difficult to find high-quality evidence for anything in nutrition science and, having been written by a journalist, it also does a decent job of investigating the history and politics that have coloured diet advice over the last century or so. https://thebigfatsurprise.com https://thebigfatsurprise.com She has also done a TED talk that gives a very quick summary of the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CHGiid6N9Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CHGiid6N9Q
    - tuukkah 9y ago
      I'd rather not believe the picture painted by one book author as opposed to Wikipedia and "World Health Organization,[1] the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Medicine,[2] the American Dietetic Association,[3] the Dietitians of Canada,[3] the British Dietetic Association,[4] American Heart Association,[5] the British Heart Foundation,[6] the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada,[7] the World Heart Federation,[8] the British National Health Service,[9] the United States Food and Drug Administration,[10] and the European Food Safety Authority.[11]" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturated_fat_and_cardiovascular_disease https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturated_fat_and_cardiovasc...

bagacrap 9y ago

Most almond milk I see is just almonds and water. I've seen mystery "high protein nut milk" products that match what you describe but they're in the minority.

bagacrap 9y ago
(addendum: most also have sugar and sometimes flavoring but it's not hard to find unsweetened)