Cows milk vs almond milk

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Replies

  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    Almond milk & coconut milk are way healthier than cow's milk (less fat, calories, GMOs, etc). Plus, you can even make your own almond milk! How awesome is that? I learned I was lactose intolerant, gave up cow's milk, switching to almond/coconut milk, and t a lot of weight, partly by giving up dairy. :big smile: Plus, if you're drinking coconut milk and you close your eyes, you feel like you're on a tropical island. I'm not kidding! Try it! :wink:

    More like giving up calories.

    And less fat/calories doesn't make it healthier.

    When pediatricians start recommending feeding almond/coconut milk to babies, I'll believe it's "healthier."
  • Strokingdiction
    Strokingdiction Posts: 1,164 Member
    Almond milk & coconut milk are way healthier than cow's milk (less fat, calories, GMOs, etc). Plus, you can even make your own almond milk! How awesome is that? I learned I was lactose intolerant, gave up cow's milk, switching to almond/coconut milk, and lost a lot of weight, partly by giving up dairy. :bigsmile: Plus, if you're drinking coconut milk and you close your eyes, you feel like you're on a tropical island. I'm not kidding! Try it! :wink:

    Define 'way healthier'.

    The comparison on fat, calories and protein have already been done for commercial brands. Homemade has little protein (1g per cup). I don't need a low cal drink, I need on with appreciable protein and calcium. Cow's milk is a better source for me and healthier for me since it helps me meet my aggragate nutrition goals. If you have different goals that almond milk helps you meet then it will be healthier for your aggragate nutritional goals.

    If you like it more due to taste, then by all means, drink it but claims that it's "way healthier" just aren't true.
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
    Had a coupon for almond milk, so I bought some to use in my protein shakes. Wasn't a great taste and nutritionally the regular milk was better. Finished the carton and never bought another.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    For my chocolate milk recovery drink, cow milk is the only one that gives me enough protein to hit the 4:1 ratio (and honestly the only way I can stand cow's milk unless I'm using it to cook some kind of dairy meal). I prefer almond or coconut milk to flavor my matcha green tea as it tastes better. I also keep kosher so I try not to cook with cow's milk in general.

    So if you're not lactose intolerant, the question is: what do you need when it comes to milk? What health needs are you trying to fulfill? Do you need extra calories and you like having milk around? Do you need less calories but you can't give up milk? Do you need more protein/calories than almond milk? Do you need less protein/calories than cow's milk? Do you just like the taste of one over the other? Sometimes I just grab one over the other because there's a big sale.

    In the grand scheme of things, it's not like the majority of your calories are going to be comprised of any kind of milk. However little you have it each day likely equates to how important which one you drink is (hopefully not much).

    Yeah basically this. I mean if you are going to put something into your diet other than just that it tastes good you should have more reason behind it than the subjective opinion that it is healthier for some reason that is apparently hard to quantify.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Almond milk & coconut milk are way healthier than cow's milk (less fat, calories, GMOs, etc).

    <shudder> anti-GMO people give me nightmares from former excursions onto the internet.
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
    For my chocolate milk recovery drink, cow milk is the only one that gives me enough protein to hit the 4:1 ratio (and honestly the only way I can stand cow's milk unless I'm using it to cook some kind of dairy meal). I prefer almond or coconut milk to flavor my matcha green tea as it tastes better. I also keep kosher so I try not to cook with cow's milk in general.

    So if you're not lactose intolerant, the question is: what do you need when it comes to milk? What health needs are you trying to fulfill? Do you need extra calories and you like having milk around? Do you need less calories but you can't give up milk? Do you need more protein/calories than almond milk? Do you need less protein/calories than cow's milk? Do you just like the taste of one over the other? Sometimes I just grab one over the other because there's a big sale.

    In the grand scheme of things, it's not like the majority of your calories are going to be comprised of any kind of milk. However little you have it each day likely equates to how important which one you drink is (hopefully not much).

    Other than putting any type of milk in matcha, which is a grave and unforgivable error, I agree with this.
  • Ashwee87
    Ashwee87 Posts: 695 Member
    When pediatricians start recommending feeding almond/coconut milk to babies, I'll believe it's "healthier."

    How is this. My 2 year old son NEVER drinks milk of any kind. He is very healthy and his pediatrician doesn't care. My child only drinks water unless my mom sneaks him some juice of some sort or tea. :/ But if I give him cereal, he drinks it with almond milk.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    When pediatricians start recommending feeding almond/coconut milk to babies, I'll believe it's "healthier."

    How is this. My 2 year old son NEVER drinks milk of any kind. He is very healthy and his pediatrician doesn't care. My child only drinks water unless my mom sneaks him some juice of some sort or tea. :/ But if I give him cereal, he drinks it with almond milk.

    She wasn't saying that almond milk poisons children, she was saying that there is no scientific or evidence-based reason to suspect that almond milk is somehow "healthier" than cow milk. Almond milk lacks lactose and many people are allergic to lactose...thats all.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Forgive me if there has already been a post about this, but I'm new :)

    I love almonds, and almond milk. But what is healthier?
    I have oats for breakfast (fills me up for a few hours!)
    And not sure if to use almond milk instead of cows milk?
    Thanks x
    Use whichever you like, or both! :bigsmile:

    I drink both lactose free milk and coconut milk because I am lactose and soy intolerant. Almond milk is ok but not my favorite.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    I have been on other communities that are very supportive, and this board in general has a very hateful tone to it (again, not saying your posts specifically).

    What? Hateful?

    Where? When? I think this is your own perception. I've been here since July 2012, have thousands of posts, read thousands of posts, and I've seen hateful comments maybe a half a dozen times. I have those folks on ignore.

    I've seen more than half a dozen in just a handful of threads, but I'm happy to learn there is an option to ignore.. thanks!

    It must be your own perception then.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    When pediatricians start recommending feeding almond/coconut milk to babies, I'll believe it's "healthier."

    How is this. My 2 year old son NEVER drinks milk of any kind. He is very healthy and his pediatrician doesn't care. My child only drinks water unless my mom sneaks him some juice of some sort or tea. :/ But if I give him cereal, he drinks it with almond milk.

    She wasn't saying that almond milk poisons children, she was saying that there is no scientific or evidence-based reason to suspect that almond milk is somehow "healthier" than cow milk. Almond milk lacks lactose and many people are allergic to lactose...thats all.

    Exactly. There's nothing wrong with almond milk or coconut milk, but as soon as my daughter turned a year old, her pediatrician told me to give her whole cows' milk (plenty of protein for growth and fat for brain development). When almond milk and coconut can beat that, I'll believe it's healthier.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    But I'm just curious, to any parent that doesn't give their kids cows' milk, do you pack a lunch for them to take to school?

    My mom never gave me milk either growing up, and I never liked it until I became an adult. I didn't even like it in my cereal; I ate it dry. It caused me a lot of grief since school lunches and snacks are often served with milk.
  • FireOpalCO
    FireOpalCO Posts: 641 Member
    No animal other than humans consume milk after infancy. It's not supposed to be in our diet at all.

    With respect to the third sentence, who said? Who determines what is "supposed to be" in a human diet, especially when we are talking about foods that plenty of humans enjoy, can digest, and which provide calories and nutrients?

    With respect to the second sentence, I am currently reading this while eating lunch and am munching on, among other things, some lovely roasted asparagus cooked with a bit of olive oil. Do other animals eat that precise dish? If not, does that make it unnatural and something I am not supposed to eat? I'd get really bored of raw meat, fruit, and vegetables all the time, even apart from the other problems with such a diet from my perspective.

    I love the "supposed to" argument as well. It definitely leans towards requiring a higher power, and if you're going to claim that, you might as well pull out Bible verses and keep strict kosher.

    Humans evolved. We evolved as omnivores and take advantage of any other food source available to us at different times. The idea of "supposed to" when we've been doing it for thousands of years and is one of the reasons we domesticated goats and cows in the first place. In fact if we didn't raise dairy cows, they would barely exist as a species.

    As far as the 400,000 cells of pus (and millions of cells fit on the head of a pin) that might be in my mL of milk (that has been pasteurized), well I served my son bloody breast milk and he was fine.
  • lthames0810
    lthames0810 Posts: 722 Member
    Cow's milk has a much shorter shelf life in your fridge than almond or soy milk. After cows milk has been opened for a single day, it gets a tang to it, that makes me think it's about to spoil. So for that reason alone I use almond milk for drinking or on my cereal. (Scarred for life by a spoiled milk experience in my youth.)

    However, for cooking / baking I only use whole cows milk.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    I go for unsweetened soy milk. Cow milk and I can have issues.
  • GretaGirl8
    GretaGirl8 Posts: 274 Member
    There is no propaganda about cow's milk. No animal other than humans consume milk after infancy.

    what about cats? growing up on a farm, we gave cow's milk to our barn cats every night. they loved it.

    okay, not the point of the post.
  • FireOpalCO
    FireOpalCO Posts: 641 Member
    I do have a question for the "dairy industry is evil" crowd. Why do you assume that all milk production facilities are the same and we, as consumers, don't have control of our milk supply?

    We get our milk delivered from a local dairy. It comes in glass bottles and yes, we could go tour the farm and see the animals. Since they are producing in small quantity only for their delivery customers, the problems people complain about aren't happening. If there was an outbreak of any kind that made the news, they would be wiped out as a business, there is no "faceless" milk producer who is getting mixed in with others and could get away with shoddy practices.
  • kwmarissa
    kwmarissa Posts: 34 Member
    I use the sweetened vanilla almond milk because it's sweet and tasty and can drink it plain and not feel nauseous. It's 90 calories per cup, just as much as skim milk. It's amazing in coffee! Only problem is the 16 grams of sugar.
  • Slacker16
    Slacker16 Posts: 1,184 Member
    She wasn't saying that almond milk poisons children, she was saying that there is no scientific or evidence-based reason to suspect that almond milk is somehow "healthier" than cow milk. Almond milk lacks lactose and many people are allergic to lactose...thats all.
    There is an argument - and I think it's the only one - that could be made in favour of the idea that nut milks are objectively better for weight management than dairy milk: many people find liquids non-filling so choosing less caloric beverages and more solid calories can help you feel fuller and delay hunger better.

    That's the reason why I get my calcium from cheese and almond milk, I won't drink a lot of calories unless they at least gets me drunk.

    That being said, I think the choice between different types of milk mainly boils down to taste.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    There is no propaganda about cow's milk. No animal other than humans consume milk after infancy.

    what about cats? growing up on a farm, we gave cow's milk to our barn cats every night. they loved it.

    okay, not the point of the post.

    I'm pretty sure adult cats are lactose intolerant. They might love the taste but I don't think they can digest it properly. Not that its a huge deal either way really.

    In "normal" mammalian function only the very young can digest lactose, as they age into adulthood the metabolic pathway is shut down to prevent lactose digestion. I can only assume the "reason" for this was to prevent adults from drinking milk that was for the purpose of feeding young. Anyways skip forward to us and humans developed a mutation that prevented the shutdown of this pathway so some became lactose tolerant.

    Its actually lactose tolerance that is the mutation, not lactose intolerance. So in that regard yes humans are "supposed to be" lactose intolerant. That said I do think the "supposed to be" argument is silly. If you can drink it drink it imo.
  • Strokingdiction
    Strokingdiction Posts: 1,164 Member
    There is no propaganda about cow's milk. No animal other than humans consume milk after infancy.

    what about cats? growing up on a farm, we gave cow's milk to our barn cats every night. they loved it.

    okay, not the point of the post.

    I raise one meat pig each year. I feed them goats milk (from a neighbor's dairy goats). Prior to butchering, they are in excellent health and LOVE when it's milk time.

    Best pork, hands down.
  • ErinMcMom
    ErinMcMom Posts: 228 Member
    I LOVE cows milk! I've cut down my intake quite a bit (I was drinking WAY too much) but I won't remove it from my life completely. I just enjoy it too much.
    I've tried almond milk since I have a friend that swears by it, but it's just not nearly as tasty in my opinion (and has far less protein per serving).
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    I like both, and not testifying about the health factors...but we buy almond milk more often because it has fewer calories and seems to last longer in our household.

    Doesn't that mean your family likes it less?

    Nah, it's my husband and I and we only use milk for our morning coffee and cooking. We may have a smoothie like once a week or so. With dairy milk, we often wound up throwing some out because it went bad when we bought a half gallon but the tiny quart size would be used up too quickly.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    There is no propaganda about cow's milk. No animal other than humans consume milk after infancy.

    what about cats? growing up on a farm, we gave cow's milk to our barn cats every night. they loved it.

    okay, not the point of the post.

    I raise one meat pig each year. I feed them goats milk (from a neighbor's dairy goats). Prior to butchering, they are in excellent health and LOVE when it's milk time.

    Best pork, hands down.

    I'd guess adult pigs are lactose intolerant as well. That said lactose intolerance isn't exactly fatal if you injest lactose, at worst it makes you a bit gassy really. Just because an animal will drink milk doesn't mean that it can digest lactose.
  • Mario_Az
    Mario_Az Posts: 1,331 Member
    Love Almond Milk
  • Noogynoogs
    Noogynoogs Posts: 1,028 Member
    Almond milk
  • snazzyjazzy21
    snazzyjazzy21 Posts: 1,298 Member
    Egh, almond milk makes terrible coffees. I get lactose free cows milk or soy, depending on what's on special.
  • fitfabforties
    fitfabforties Posts: 370 Member
    Silk unsweetened plain almond milk.....i put it on my cereal, oatmeal and just drink it as well.....but for my coffee....it's gotta be light cream.....can't do almond milk in the coffee....lol....i haven't used cow's milk in ages.....but i keep it for my little one....
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    If you are unsure of which to pick just get yourself a cow and feed it nothing but almonds, should be good to go.
  • rowlandsw
    rowlandsw Posts: 1,166 Member
    I go with Silk unsweetened original almond milk, the sweetened didn't taste good to me. I use it in my instant breakfast, protein shakes, and cereal.