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The rise of alternative milks

theguardian.com

81–90 of 214 posts

Re: The rise of alternative milks

#81

I've completely switched to soy milk. It tastes a little different to cow milk but after a few cups of tea over a week I didn't notice anymore. Now cow milk tastes strange to me. Soy milk also lasts around a year unopened so you can save time buying it in bulk as a plus. People need to stop expecting replacements to taste 100% identical to what they're use to and give their tastebuds some time to adapt. Same with mea…

I switched to soy milk for about four months, but ultimately went back to regular milk because it has less sugar and is less sweet. I imagine without the sugar it’s not as palatable, but it was a noticeable, negative attribute for me.

Re: The rise of alternative milks

#82
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s pure marketing, where the reality would be “juice” if we’re being charitable. In a lot of cases it’s water with a hint of X, and a lot of added sugar. All told drinking a lot of anything other than water is probably a bad move, but evidence suggests that if you’re not lactose intolerant, milk is a healthier choice for what you put on cereal. All things being equal, my major issue with alternative “milk” isn’t th…

In my experience they are not that high in sugar. Oatly doesn't add sugar and has about 2g/100ml or 3g/100ml. I looked up a cheap brand with more sugar than almond(2%) and they also had a very similar sugar level of under 3g/100ml. Every one has an unsweetened version on the same shelf as well. This is less than that of milk(without getting into the different kinds of sugar). In comparison, soda is 11g/100ml, juice i…

Oatly Skinny and Oatly Whole differ in the amount of fat, but have the same carbs, fiber, and protein content.

So, it appears to be quite similar to skim milk, which is milk with reduced fat (cream skimmed off), not watered down milk.

What amazes me is the strong opinions people have about this topic.

Re: The rise of alternative milks

#83

Using “milk” in the name of something doesn’t make an “alternative milk” in any way that doesn’t apply to any other drinkable liquid.

It’s pure marketing, where the reality would be “juice” if we’re being charitable. In a lot of cases it’s water with a hint of X, and a lot of added sugar. All told drinking a lot of anything other than water is probably a bad move, but evidence suggests that if you’re not lactose intolerant, milk is a healthier choice for what you put on cereal. All things being equal, my major issue with alternative “milk” isn’t th…

Well, it can't be called juice since almond milk contains no juice. It could be called an almond drink or beverage. The fact is, that both animal milk and almond milk are fat water emulsions with various additives to serve their purpose.

Re: The rise of alternative milks

#84

I've completely switched to soy milk. It tastes a little different to cow milk but after a few cups of tea over a week I didn't notice anymore. Now cow milk tastes strange to me. Soy milk also lasts around a year unopened so you can save time buying it in bulk as a plus. People need to stop expecting replacements to taste 100% identical to what they're use to and give their tastebuds some time to adapt. Same with mea…

I don't drink milk. But we do buy a half gallon of heavy whipping cream twice a month from Costco. It's not about the taste, but macros. Try getting the same fat/protein/carb ratio with soy.... FWIW I still drink almond milk occasionally. But it's no replacement for heavy cream in my coffee.

For me it's the same with fake meat. They tend to be carb heavy and little fat. Although beyond meat macros look pretty decent. Unfortunately it's $14/lb.

Re: The rise of alternative milks

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s pure marketing, where the reality would be “juice” if we’re being charitable. In a lot of cases it’s water with a hint of X, and a lot of added sugar. All told drinking a lot of anything other than water is probably a bad move, but evidence suggests that if you’re not lactose intolerant, milk is a healthier choice for what you put on cereal. All things being equal, my major issue with alternative “milk” isn’t th…

If you're concerned about agricultural use of water in California, I would suggest a bigger concern is alfalfa, a low-value, water-intensive crop, most of which gets shipped to China. We are almost literally selling water to China. Almonds, at least, are a high-value crop, meaning that if we found a way to circumvent or invalidate the 19th-century water rights and raise the price of water to farmers, almond growers c…

Do you have a source for California alfalfa mostly being sent to China? Most places on the Internet say that it's mostly used to feed California dairy cows. And that alfalfa cultivation is changing to higher value crops over time, as farmers take advantage of the value of their water rights.

Re: The rise of alternative milks

#86
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The two reasons would be Celiac disease, or pseudoscience. Since there is no reason that someone with Celiac couldn’t also be lactose, nut and legume intolerant, it could be that.

I assumed thay given they called our lactose nut and legume allergies that if they were celiac,they would have mentioned.

Lactose intolerance isn't an allergy. It's lack of an enzyme, so microorganisms end up breaking down the sugar, leading to the gas and other symptoms.

Re: The rise of alternative milks

#87
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Re: The rise of alternative milks

#88
My kids are variously vegan / flex, and since I only put milk in coffee, it wasn't worth keeping milk in the fridge for, so switched to one of their alternatives. Soy curdles, so almond it was, until I learned that it takes ~5 litres (1.1 US gallons) of water to produce a single almond!

The Oatly post here a few days ago may have been a shill, but it was enough for me to try it. Far closer to the taste of cows milk than Almond milk IMH(non Vegan)O.

Re: The rise of alternative milks

#89

I've completely switched to soy milk. It tastes a little different to cow milk but after a few cups of tea over a week I didn't notice anymore. Now cow milk tastes strange to me. Soy milk also lasts around a year unopened so you can save time buying it in bulk as a plus. People need to stop expecting replacements to taste 100% identical to what they're use to and give their tastebuds some time to adapt. Same with mea…

I switched to soy milk for about four months, but ultimately went back to regular milk because it has less sugar and is less sweet. I imagine without the sugar it’s not as palatable, but it was a noticeable, negative attribute for me.

Try it unsweetened. Most non-dairy milk brands sell sweetened and unsweetened, flavored (usually vanilla) and unflavored. Usually the sweetened one adds up to 8g of sugar in 8oz!

I find the sugar is completely unnecessary, and usually skip the flavor as well. Soy and coconut milk have the best texture IMO.

Re: The rise of alternative milks

#90
I personally wish the same stringent law of domain d'origine was applied here. We can't call Australian sparkling wine made on Pinot noir grapes champagne. If it didn't come out of a cow, sheep, goat, or in the case of "red dwarf" dog teat, I don't think it should be called milk or even mylk.

Partner of a nut anaphylaxis sufferer, parent of a formerly cow milk intolerant child so I've straddled both sides of what people need in their life. The answer imnsho is clarity: call it what it is specifically. (Which most people here do. Nut milk. Oat milk. Soy milk) but please, don't call it milk, unqualified.

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