Reprinted Articles

Many people are consuming less dairy milk as they gradually switch to non-dairy milk. Increasingly, supermarkets everywhere are selling soy (soya) milk, rice milk and almond milk. Switching to non-dairy milk is better for your health in two big ways:

Firstly, you avoid all the unhealthy aspects of cow’s milk (too numerous to mention in this article). Secondly, you will greatly benefit from the truly delicious and highly nutritious aspects of plant-based milks.

Don’t just think ’soy’ when it comes to non-dairy milk. There are many kinds of plant-based milks offering a wide range of mouth-watering flavours such as the various nut milks, seed-based milks, grain milks, and soy milk. Once you taste two or three kinds of non-dairy milk, and experience the sheer cool delicious taste you will never want to go back to dairy milk.

Many people think that making non-dairy milk is complicated and requires special milk-making equipment. But in fact, a new and easy method makes it quick and simple to make non-dairy milk whenever you like.

Soy milk-makers have been marketed vigorously and this has generated the belief that making milk without a special machine is difficult and time-consuming. The concept of a dedicated milk-maker is that all you have to do is put the ingredients into the machine, then come back later and your milk is ready.

In reality, a milk-maker increases the workload, reduces the nutritional value, and is more time consuming. This is why:

More hassle: the same preparatory work applies, whether using a special milk-maker or not. But with a milk-making machine you have the additional burden of having to take apart and clean all the components afterwards.

A milk-maker is always going to be less effective at extracting milk (nothing can beat a strainer and the human hand and when it comes to extracting the milk!). With a milk-maker the left-over residue is not fully squeezed out, which is a waste of milk.

Many milk recipes cannot be made using a milk-making machine as it is principally designed for soybeans. A blender is usually much more effective than the limited mixing capability of a milk-making appliance.

The okara (residue) tends to end up too soggy when using a milk-making machine, making it more difficult to freeze or use in other recipes.

When adding condiments (e.g. vanilla extract, maple syrup, salt, etc.) you cannot check the taste of the mixture while you are making it in the machine.

The biggest drawback of a milk-maker is that you cannot control the boiling temperature or indeed any part of the milk-making process. As a consequence, the nutritional value of the milk can be affected more than necessary. Many vitamins, health-promoting enzymes, and oils are easily destroyed with heat. The consequence of using a milk-maker is milk with poor nutritional value compared to making milk without such a machine.

Clearly, you may if you wish, simply buy non-dairy milk from a health-food store or supermarket. You are likely to have a limited choice (usually just soy or rice milk) and it can be quite expensive compared to making your own milk at home. Also, some commercial non-dairy milks can be high in added sugars and they may contain preservatives.

When you discover the wonderful variety of flavours of home made milk you will never want to go back to buying any kind of milk, whether dairy or non-dairy. Non-dairy milk is quick and easy to make, is highly nutritious, and is super delicious, and everybody in the family will always want it.

Last 5 posts by Russell Eaton

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• Dioxin Levels Significantly Higher in Organic Milk - April 12th, 2008
• American Milk Consumers Being Deceived by Mislabelling - April 9th, 2008

Tags: Nutrition