Almond Milk vs. Cow's Milk

I get to eat a few more bites of cereal with the calories saved?! And I think it stays fresher longer, so I waste less. I'm not really a milk drinker either way.

I drink both. Depends on my mood. Cow's milk has more protein. Almond milk has less calories, more calcium. Sometimes, I buy the Silk Chocolate Almond milk if I want dessert. It's 100 cals a glass. Otherwise, I usually just stick with the dairy, but I don't drink a ton of milk anyway.

Adequate protein intake and strength training also protect bone health.

Almond milk has more calcium than cows milk, and I personally believe that people shouldn't drink baby cows milk. We are not built to digest it, but that is my personal opinion. I have not drunk cows milk ever (I'm weird I have had a phobia of it all my life) and have had no medical problems because of it.

. It's bad for bone health.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/22081694/

Some authors have suggested that dairy products are not helpful and perhaps detrimental to bone health because higher osteoporotic fracture incidence is observed in countries with higher dairy product consumption. However, scientific evidence does not support any of these claims.

Double posted instead of editing.

if you're lactose intolerant or allergic to anything in cow's milk, then yes there is a lot of benefit in not drinking it.

if you're not, then there isn't. Almond milk doesn't have anything like the same nutrition as cows milk. From a cooking and meal prep point of view, maybe one can be substituted for another, but from a nutritional point of view, they're very different and one should not be considered as a substitute for the other

Dairy (provided you can digest it) gives you protein, healthy fats and fat soluble vitamins. Some kinds of dairy products e.g. natural yoghurt, laban, are naturally probiotic and help you to maintain a healthy gut flora. Some kinds of dairy products, e.g. labeneh/greek yoghurt, cottage cheese, are high in protein and low in calories so help to ensure you get enough protein withot going over your calorie goal. So for those who can digest it, it's a good food. Also even for people who are lactose intolerant, some dairy products are very low in lactose and may be able to be consumed safely, it depends on the individual and how severe the intolerance is. This may not be true for milk allergy as even small amounts of the offending proteins can still trigger allergic reactions.

Personally, if I wanted the nutritional benefits of almond milk, I'd cut out the middle man and just eat the almonds. You remove some of the nutrition from almonds when you make them into milk. (although I'm not keen on almonds personally, I prefer cashews and pistachios which are also very nutritious, but still won't give you the protein that you get from milk). But if I couldn't drink milk and wanted a milk substitute for recipes, meals etc, I'd go with the almond milk for that reason and get my protein, healthy fats and fat soluble vitamins elsewhere.

How do you milk and almond?

I drink an almond/coconut blend that is 45 calories per cup rather than the 90 calories per cup in skim milk. I do this simply for the calorie savings and because it's absolutely delicious in cereal. It allows me to eat cereal that has no sugar and still have a bit of a sweet taste. I also drink it because it lasts much longer in the fridge and I am the only one in my house that consumes milk.

*edited to add* I drink the Blue Diamond Almond Coconut milk. Very good stuff.