The Truth About The Benefits Of Almond Milk

By Paul Scicluna

Milk is generally a typical part of just about everyone’s diet, whether that be store bought cow’s milk, soy milk or varieties of nut milk.  

Almond milk has been gaining popularity over other types of milk and for good reasons. Many people think it’s still a new phenomenon due to this recent popularity, but it has actually been around since the middle ages.

Geographically it was found to be used in what we now know as Spain right through to East Asia as well as across many different religions.

I personally don’t have dairy milk, and if I did I would avoid those that you can generally buy in stores, and even some of the other varieties of milks. For me, I prefer homemade almond milk. Let me explain why...

Almond milk doesn’t contain cholesterol or lactose. But benefits of almond milk is that it’s rich in nutrients such as magnesium, calcium, selenium, manganese, zinc, potassium, iron, phosphorus, biotin, copper, trytophan, vitamin E, vitamin B2, flavonoids, fibre, as well as protein.

Many store bought milks including almond milk are pasteurized. This manufacturing process has been shown to kill off many of the natural enzymes and nutrients. Many of them have synthetic nutrients added through fortification or enrichment. So basically you’re getting lifeless milk lacking in vital vitamins and nutrition.

It really is simple and easy to make homemade almond milk. The best thing about making it yourself is that you know what’s in it and it’ll have all of the natural enzymes and nutrients with no other potentially toxic additives, flavors or preservatives included.

Other almond benefits include that they’ve been shown to inhibit free radicals in the body, strengthen the immune system, aid digestive health and weight loss, help protect against heart disease and diabetes.

Many people like to add flavorings to whatever types of milk they drink such as sugar, artificial flavorings, colorings, powders and syrups. However, these are far less healthy for your body and devoid of nutrients.  These additives in milk when consumed regularly are a major contributor to numerous health conditions such as diabetes and obesity. Sadly, obesity has become an epidemic.

Unfortunately with billions of people worldwide classed as being overweight or obese, we will be the first generation that sees our kids die before we do from obesity related illnesses. So please consider this if you are thinking of buying pre-packaged flavored milks or the other flavorings mentioned above for yourself or your family.

Here’s some tips on how to make almond milk healthier if you want flavorings - add medjool dates, the seeds from vanilla beans or even fruit for naturally added flavor. You could even add honey or cinnamon which not only taste great but have numerous medicinal benefits, or even cocao powder for you chocolate lovers! Adding these natural ingredients means you get plenty of vitamins and nutrients.

Whether you have plain almond milk or another nut milk or add natural flavorings, at least you know you’ll be getting a higher dose of quality nutrients to help protect you from contracting diseases.

So do yourself a favour and choose the healthier type of milk!