Milk, Almond Milk, Lactose Free Milk... help!

If you aren't lactose intolerant and are looking for something with a diverse nutrient profile I would suggest sticking with milk. Other milks may have their place in terms of being lower calories (eg unsweetened almond milk) but nutritionally there isn't really a benefit. If it's a change of taste you're looking for, that will really be about finding the right brand for you- I think some brands of soy/almond milk taste like dirt water, but some I love.

I also note you have dismissed the comment re lactose free milk having a similar nutrient profile as regular milk as being a bad thing because you want something with 'lots of nutrients'- regular milk has a lot of nutrients, macro and micro. Where lactose (a sugar) is removed there may be some differences as far as the carbohydrate content but I think the poster MAY have broadly been referring to the macronutrient profile, which for some may not suit their individual macronutrient goals.

I can't have dairy because my entire body breaks out in eczema but if I could I would be all up in that. I used to source my dairy products from a local producer and the difference was noticeable. Perhaps that could be a starting place instead of changing the food source?

Hubby prefers unsweetened almond milk. I like unsweetened soy milk. Both are harder to find than the sweetened versions but Trader Joe's can be relied on to have them. We stopped with cow's milk because we each starting to react badly (GERD). This is common as people age. For awhile we were using Lactaid but even that was giving us discomfort but we still buy it for medicating our cat. Our fridge is crowded. Use what you like and doesn't give you a tummy ache but watch out for the added sugars in many of the soy-, almond-, etc. milks.

I don't see much of a reason to switch from cow's milk to anything else unless you're having a problem with the lactose or dairy in it. My boyfriend is allergic to dairy so I have gotten away from cow's milk since we started dating about 4 years ago. We used to use almond milk and soy milk somewhat interchangeably, but since I started to get more serious about nutrition, I dropped the almond milk because of its low protein content, and now we use soy only. There is also rice milk, flax milk, cashew milk, and all kinds of weird stuff... so far, almond and soy are the only ones that taste decent to me. :P

Also FYI, "lactose-free" milk is really just regular milk with lactase enzyme added to it... so it's really no different than just having regular milk and popping a Lactaid or similar supplement.

ETA: If you do wind up going the soy milk route, I have found that Whole Foods's 365 brand plain soy milk has the best flavor compared to Silk and other store brands, and most times is cheaper than Silk unless Silk is on sale.

Charlottesometimes23 wrote: »

I drink lactose free skim UHT milk not because I'm lactose intolerant, but for the taste. The fact that the lactose has been broken down releases the glucose, and it has a rich, slightly sweet taste.

I am lactose intolerant. I had to add chocolate syrup to lactose free milk when I first started drinking it because it tasted so "wrong" because it was sweet. Now that I am used to it, I can drink it straight

I love the taste of Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almond milk, but I'm not a big milk drinker so I just use it mainly to drink with my protein powder without adding too many calories and to cut the calories of cream in my coffee.

I'm lactose intolerant, I was originally using Silk Soy, but switched mid-spring. I don't look at the nutrients much, but I know it has more calcium which helps me. I drink the sweetened light.

The problem is that you won't get as much milk as a regular jug will provide. You have to really look at the brands to see which ones you enjoy the taste/consistency.