5 ms·
Which type of plant-based milk is best?
- esja 5y agoI enjoy oat milk but wonder about the production process and how healthy it is long-term. For example the one I drink contains canola oil.
- waterglassFull 5y agoWhere are you based? You should be able to find some oil free alternatives
- esja 5y agoTrue. I'm in Switzerland. I did find one with sunflower oil but haven't looked into it further.
- igetspam 5y agoYou can make you own: soak, mix water and oats in blender, strain
- esja 5y agoGood tip, thanks!
- drawqrtz 5y agoAs an avid cow milk drinker (consume it daily with oats/muesli) switching to plant milk was easy. Cow milk tastes richer and more flavourful though. But I enjoy the wheat(?) and spelt(?) based milk also rice,coconut and soy. For some reason the almond and cashew ones taste a bit weird to me. It's been great to learn that cow milk can be substituted so easily, still get it sometimes for the taste though.
- waterglassFull 5y agoHave you substituted butter out too? For cooking in most things the taste is generally better (unless you're trying to make a buttery croissant) and there's no impact on quality. I do find it hard to substitute out eggs though.
- igetspam 5y agoI think aquafaba can be used in baking (I don't cook but that sounds right) and JUST Egg, if you want to eat eggs. I have pet chickens, they scatter eggs about. Sometimes we eat them and sometimes we feed them to them (they lose a lot of nutrients making eggs and we don't want chicks). It's a pretty harmless way to get eggs and they get to live a full life (we don't eat them).
- saila 5y agoHave you tried oat milk? The Oatly full fat version is very rich, almost too rich for my taste, but it works well as a creamer substitute.
- girvo 5y agoOne should check their local regulations too: here in Australia, Soy milk is fortified with B12 which is nice. I prefer soy milk to everything else personally.
- vinni2 5y agoThe problem is where I live soy is not grown and it’s imported has a huge carbon footprint and it’s usually grown in monoculture which is bad for the environment
- girvo 5y agoWhile that’s a shame, and means other alternatives are a better choice in that instance, both those apply to dairy production with even worse impacts
- peter-m80 5y agoDoesn't soy milk affect hormone levels?
- Scandiravian 5y agoThe science in support of the hypothesis that soy affects hormone levels is thin to say the least
- 0xdeadb00f 5y agoyeah that's been debunked AFAIK. The "soy boy" meme is still funny to me though.
- mrslave 5y agoI believe it's dose dependent. I've substituted soy milk fortified with calcium for full cream milk in cereal and protein shakes and I love it. My only remaining milk consumption is a small milky coffee most days. Anecdotally I did ask the doctor to include testosterone on my last general blood test and it came back healthy. My belief is that plastics are a bigger disruptor of hormones.
- 5y ago
- yuppiepuppie 5y agohttps://web.archive.org/web/20211106084421/https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2021/11/05/which-type-of-plant-based-milk-is-best https://web.archive.org/web/20211106084421/https://www.econo...
- yuppiepuppie 5y agoI thought we weren't allowed to call plant based "milk", milk anymore? Its a soy beverage.
- vinni2 5y agoOnly in Europe
- bartvk 5y agoI hadn't even noticed so I walked to the fridge and indeed: here in The Netherlands, it's called "Alpro Soya naturel" or "Alpro Soya Barista" or something. My grocery app calls it a "soy drink". Cans of coconut milk are still called coconut milk, but the 1-liter-sizes are called "coconut drink".
- hairofadog 5y agoThis sorta reminds me of the note they add to some compostable products which says the item is compostable, but not in California. I actually appreciate CA’s tighter regulatory standards but the note itself feels absurd. This is milk, but not in Europe
- dotancohen 5y ago> This is milk, but not in Europe Do you know what they call a quarter pounder with cheese in Europe?
- drawqrtz 5y agoI think it's fair to call it milk. It's definitely not a beverage as a soda or beer would be. It used to be "secretion from the mammary glands of certain farm animals" but you can rephrase it to "liquid that is taken from a particular protein source — a coconut, a soy[bean], a cow, a goat..."
- 0x008 5y agoWell coconut milk has been coconut milk forever basically, I don’t see why it shouldn’t be allowed to call the liquid produces of plants milk anymore only because the threatened dairy industry suddenly decides. And I think some countries agree here.
- newman555 5y agoonce I switched there’s no way I’m ever going back to cow’s milk. Why? Health, much greater taste variety, no cruelty involved to make it, environmental benefits.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- taejavu 5y agoThere are some horrendous practices prevalent in the dairy industry for sure, but it’s naive to think there is no cruelty or environmental detriment involved in plant based milk. The natural ecosystem of the land that is now crop was obliterated before the first seed was sewn, and most likely the soil’s nutrients are depleted more and more each year, due to pesticides and crude plowing techniques. If a moral high ground is what you’re looking for, drink water.
- dunefox 5y agoMost farming is done for live stock feed, so your argument makes little sense. Also if there's the choice to be made between soil and live animals I'm choosing the animals.
- taejavu 5y agoNot true, live stock feed is mostly the husks and stalks of the plants that are inedible to humans, which if it weren't for livestock, would be discarded as waste. See this video for some more common misconceptions, if you're interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGG-A80Tl5g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGG-A80Tl5g Every plot of land used to grow crop represents countless animals that used to live there, and were wiped out by the farmer. Farmers constantly battle against pests, which too are animals, just trying to live. Vultures are often seen following combine harvesters, to prey on the corpses of field mice and other small mammals that get caught in the blades. Zero harm is a myth.
- 5y ago
- waterglassFull 5y agoThe best tasting plant based milk I've had and consume regularly is Plenish Oat Milk (UK). It's particularly creamy without having any oil additives, not great for frothing in coffee though.
- dunefox 5y agoOatly Barista for me.
- lwansbrough 5y agoI agree with the article. Oat milk is my favourite for a few reasons. To start with, it doesn’t have a weird after taste. It’s not quite milk flavour but it’s very good in its own right. Really great in coffee and warm drinks in general. I assume it would be great with cereal too on account of it being.. oats, though I haven’t tried. I bought some Oat Nog recently which was surprisingly good. Overall the taste and creaminess feel very authentically milky, would recommend. I understand it’s also one of the most environmentally friendly alternatives across all categories, so that’s a big bonus too. And I bet it’s pretty easy to make yourself if you’re keen.
- vinni2 5y ago> Really great in coffee and warm drinks in general. That’s not my experience. It curdles with strong espresso and the barista versions are fatty and/or mixed with soya milk.
- lwansbrough 5y agoInteresting. I haven’t noticed a problem with curdling myself. Admittedly I’m buying my coffee from a coffee shop so I’m not sure if I’m getting 100% oat milk. But soy messes with my throat so I think I’d have noticed that.
- waterglassFull 5y agoThere's a barista version for some brands and it comes with a small amount of rapeseed oil added in which helps with the blending process. Normal oat milk curdles otherwise.
- vinni2 5y agoI am 100% sure coffee shops use barista version which are fatty and mixed with soya milk.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- formvoltron 5y agoMaybe figure out how to curb the use of jets, the use of fossil fuels in industry, and China's conversion of coal into cheap products???? No... let's talk about which veggie milk is the best / worst for the environment. Don't these writers maybe consider that what they are doing is creating NOISE??
- vinni2 5y agoThese are things which we as consumers can control why not? Why can’t we talk about plant based milk and do all those you mention?
- igetspam 5y agoThe argument that because we can't fix everything, or the bigger things, we shouldn't fix anything has never been a good one. Making positive choices, however individually small, does wonders at collective scale. These types of things can change markets and lead to much larger changes. Maybe think about your work moments a little more before writing them. Don't you consider that what you're doing is creating NOISE?
- timeon 5y ago> China's conversion of coal into cheap products???? Who buys them?
- theGeatZhopa 5y agoOrdinary milk isn't very healthy. On the one side lactose, for few of us a problem, but there's help with enzyme supplements. The problem with mammals milk is that extra portion of hormones you get. Ever drink raw milk? It taste like the cow smells and looks. The milk we drink out of the Box is processed. So, basically they take the strange taste out of the milk by homogenizing and pasteurization, but leave the hormones in it, which are needed by newborn offspring in reality. Like some medicine can also be transmitted by milk to the newborn, so does the hormones and medications. On the other side, plant based milk has also quite few problems. One is pesticide, and fertilizer that are used for growing the plants. The other thing is what they need to add to keep the "milk" smooth without demixing to water-oil-phases. I like oat milk. I love lactofree cow milk. I like horse, goat and soy milk - but try to consume not to much of any type.
- frnkng 5y agoPlease provide evidence for that statement.
- theGeatZhopa 5y agoTo face the possibility of not answering your question, I think I answer on the not so obviously one. https://www.verywellfamily.com/hormones-in-breast-milk-p2-3984343 https://www.verywellfamily.com/hormones-in-breast-milk-p2-39... Here's an explanation of hormone/active content in our human mammals milk. I assume (others say "We know") with other mammals it is the same. There is also evidence that milk of cows given to human babies let them develop eczema of skin. That's why they get mom's milk or processed artificial powder milk with supplements a human newborn needs. Also, young mothers should avoid alcohol while still breastfeeding. Medicine taken also must not be passed to baby with milk. Quite a lot of medicine have a warning. Also a lot of food ingredients can be passed with milk to newborns, like salt, pepper & spices, garlic, onions, cardamom, etc - which induce flatulence and pain or having even bigger effects, like lavender scent does by being oestrogenious and letting boys grow boobies or the girls developing "elephantiasis of their secondary sexual character parts" (= I can't write that three descriptive words in here) and later as a result a high risk of breast cancer (to much of oestrogen hormone as main cause). So, we eat parts of dead bodys and drink the milk which is not intended for our branch of evolution :)
- imartin2k 5y agoI do alternate between oat milk and pea-based milk (the latter might be my favorite, taste-wise).
- AnonC 5y agoA store bought one could be convenient and great for taste, but those are usually and primarily sunflower oil blended with some other plant products (like oats or almonds) and emulsifiers. The best one is what you can make at home. If you skip the vegetable oil and emulsifiers, you can make these quite quickly. You either blend it (the nut or seed) with water or soak and then blend with water (or additionally cook after blending). You could get more wholesome nutrition too. Look up the recipes to make these at home. They’re quite simple (or at least not as complex as cooking some other foods). Try making with cashews or coconut or almonds or flax seeds or soybeans or peanuts or rice or hemp or sesame or a blend of these.