Why the frenzy about almond milk?

seltzermint555 · July 2014

I don't know what kind of almond milk you are using that doesn't need refrigeration. Every type I've used must be refrigerated, even if it's the shelf-stable containers, they have to be refrigerated after opening...

But anyway...I love dairy milk, but my husband and I find it kind of difficult to gauge how much we should buy without it spoiling on us but still having enough if we need it for cooking/baking. We buy the shelf-stable containers of almond milk and have a bunch of them in the pantry, so it works out well for us. Some weeks we'll use two and most weeks we use 1/4 or 1/3 of one because we're just putting it in our morning coffee and nothing else.

For us it's just an extra benefit that the unsweetened original almond milk we buy has very low calories and sugar.

Snail_Whale · July 2014

Meh. Personal preference.

I drink it just because I like it more than cow milk. That's about it. The low calorie blah blah is just an added bonus IMHO. Usually I buy the unsweetened kind, but will get the normal or flavoured.

My six year old son drinks it because for some reason cow milk gives him the sh*ts. He can have cheese and yogurt...but plain, normal cow milk results in a messy afternoon. So, almond or soy instead.

errollmaclean · July 2014

it's GROSS.

"I see you're drinking almond milk. Is that because you think you're fat? Because you're not. You could be drinking 1% if you wanted"

BAHAHAHAHA, awesome! I've always preferred skim milk. Anything more just tastes like drinking creamer.

cwolfman13 · July 2014

some people have legit reasons...but many are purely lemmings and don't know a whole lot about actual nutrition other than what they hear and see on t.v. commercials and the like. Dairy is the debil....

ILiftHeavyAcrylics · July 2014

Almond milk is for baby almonds.

Synchronicity · July 2014

I use it because I don't like it as much as I like milk. Silly, I know, but if I have milk around, I will drink several glasses in a day. 8oz of skim = 80 calories. Multiply that by three or four, and that's a healthy chunk of my calorie budget. And the macros aren't that good. At least not good enough to justify the three or four glasses. So rather than leave the temptation sitting in my fridge, I have 30 calories worth of almond milk on my cereal and call it good.

There's a lot to be said about shelf life, too. If I ration my milk consumption, then the gallon of milk in the fridge goes bad (sometimes) before I drink it all. My husband isn't a milk drinker.

But I don't kid myself thinking almond milk is some kinda super food. Nor do I think dairy is the devil.

PrincessMissDee · July 2014

I used it for a while because it was so low cal (the unsweetened one especially, which is what I'd use) but I heard it can cause issues for people why thyroid problems so I stopped. I thought it tasted really good though!

Wait, I stopped soy because of its interference with thyroid and moved on to almond milk. Are you sure almond milk ALSO has thyroid issues? What milk now?

For the record I don't drink dairy milk because I had my gall bladder removed and can't process the fat in dairy.

bagge72 · July 2014

It is good to use in marinades, and great for protein shakes to thicken them up if you don't want use just water, and don't want the calories of milk.

jbrownnolan · July 2014

Because it's awesome

I started drinking it for the lower calorie count (I always buy the unsweetened almond milk, 35 cals/1 cup), and now I prefer it. I've even tried going back to cows milk a couple of times (which I swear I use to drink by the liter) and now I can barely choke down a mouth full. I use it in everything that I would have used milk for in the past (including baking).

I drink it because it's AWESOME!!!

mzfrizz15 · July 2014

I ADORE chocolate almond milk. But I only get it rarely, as a treat for myself. Otherwise, I get the unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Mainly, I use it in my breakfast smoothies to cut down on calories. Also, I have thyroid disease and was instructed to not over-do soy foods/products.

LiftAndBalance · July 2014

Ok, thanks everyone, so the short answer to my question is no :bigsmile:

I don't know what kind of almond milk you are using that doesn't need refrigeration. Every type I've used must be refrigerated, even if it's the shelf-stable containers, they have to be refrigerated after opening...

You're right....I missed the tiny note on the package that said so. I've previously been buying the refrigerated versions for baking for vegan friends and just bought a shelf-stable one for the first time since I thought it would be great for work. Turns out I don't like the taste of it anyway, though, so I took it home and will now be using it up for smoothies. (And keeping it in the fridge now.)

And almond milk does have more calcium than cow's milk

If yours does, it's added calcium. I get two brands here, gogreen doesn't seem to contain any calcium to speak of since there isn't any added, and Alpro contains the same amount of (added) calcium as regular dairy does naturally.

Apart from the way in which the food is grown/raised, there's no difference in nutrition between organic and non-organic food.

There is. Hormones were already mentioned and there are also studies that show organic milk is higher in certain micronutrients. I'm working so can't look it up right now but I remember reading one study on it a while back.

I don't trust that organic crap because some of my buddies work in agriculture and tell horror stories of how many corners people cut, so I just stick with the Blue Diamond.

You don't trust organic agriculture because people cheat but you do trust conventional agriculture? You think people don't cheat there? Also there are huge differences between various standards of 'organic' - in Europe at least there's the EU organic symbol, which is a bare minimum, and then there are different organisations that have much stricter rules and that also control if their farmers stick to them (demeter, for example, and some smaller regional ones). I know some farmers who are certified by those and they're in because they believe in it. Personally, I'd trust them much more than huge conventional agriculture businesses...

HelloAmbie · July 2014

because.. I like it.

logicman69 · July 2014

I use it for my protein shakes at breakfast and after a workout. I use the unsweetened kind, so the calories are lower (35 per serving). I like the taste in the shakes better than cow's milk.

EvanKeel · July 2014

There are two main uses for milk in my house (3 if you count coffee, but I'm not the one who drinks coffee). It's either going in cereal or in my protein shake because protein powder and water bores me.

As it turns out, the physical discomfort I get from milk that I've had since I was a kid hasn't gone away. So, I've started using unsweetened almond milk. It's mildly more interesting in my protein shake than water, and definitely better in cereal than water.

I probably wouldn't have a glass of it by itself, but I never liked to drink milk that way either. I haven't tried dipping oreos in it, though...

BigGuy47 · July 2014

So overall it's kinda like the gluten-free frenzy it seems...

Not at all.
If it were similar to the gluten free nonsense then people would:
- assume they were lactose intolerant without any medical tests to determine lactose tolerance.
- assume that milk is bad for you
- assume that it must be good because it's from almonds and almonds are supposed to be good for you
- assume that everyone else is drinking it so they should drink it too

Sadly there are some people that actually make some of those assumptions. But not nearly on the scale of the gluten free bandwagon. I make the assumption that people drink almond milk for far more simple reasons: they want to cut the calories (unsweetened Almond milk is 30 cals/ seving) or they enjoy the taste.

There are a ton of choices in milk; Dairy, Almond, Coconut, Soy, Rice, Kefir and others.
Pick one you like and carry on.

MalayanTiger · July 2014

After eliminating liquid cow's milk and gluten from my diet, the autoimmune disorder I have (psoriasis) has reduced significantly. Reintroducing these foods after 1-2 weeks of elimination seems to make me have breakouts on my face and scalp that very same day.

So, I mostly use unsweetened almond milk with my protein shakes. On my two or three heavy strength training days, I can handle 4 oz. of chocolate milk, 4 oz. of almond milk and a scoop of protein powder with no ill effects.

I am still testing these foods and their possible effects on my own body.

justisroyster · July 2014

I never used it and got fine results. Sounds like it's just a trend.

kimny72 · July 2014

I get plenty of dairy in cheese and yogurt, and unsweetened almond milk is a little thicker than skim milk with less calories, so I use it in smoothies and oatmeal.