Posted on March 31, 2009 in Latest News
Cow’s milk is full of vitamins but many don’t want to take it because they don’t like the taste, lactose intolerance, dairy allergies or having interest in healthier beverages. To find healthy alternatives to cow’s milk read on.
The Milk Alternatives
Milk alternatives are not at all milk but they may contain a good amount of vitamins which milk also contains. Some of the alternatives discussed here are “soy juice”, “almond beverage”, “coconut beverage”, “hemp beverage” and “Oat beverage”. The goat milk could have been included in this context but due to its lactose and casein content (which causes allergy in some), it is left out.
The Benefits
In almost all the cases the alternative milk has less sugar, cholesterol, calories and fat compared to the whole milk. Most of them are fortified or enriched to contain the nutrients to be comparable with cow’s milk. All of them can be stored easily without losing the nutritional value or flavor.
- Soy Strengths: The non-dairy but highly protein-rich milk; 1 cup of soy contains 30 mg of isoflavones, which helps in various disease.Omega-3 fatty acids is also present in it. Some ‘soy’ is also fortified with riboflavin, calcium, vitamins A, B12 and D.
- Almond Strengths: Low fat content; half in calories compared to 2 % milk, soy and rice. It also contains vitamins D, A and E, and it is lactose free, casein free, as well as cholesterol and gluten free. Its very tasty too. It gives the health benefits of nuts to the body.
- Coconut Strengths: It contains fat, which is considered as “good fat” because it can be easily metabolized inside the human body. Oil from the Coconut contains “lauric acid”, which is believed to have anti-viral as well as anti-bacterial qualities. Sometimes it comes with fortified calcium, and various vitamins like vitamin A, B12 etc and also minerals like magnesium. It doesn’t contain cholesterol or gluten. Calorie content is about half to that of regular cow milk
- Hemp Strengths: Both omega-3, 6 fatty acids are present in it. It has magnesium as well as manganese minerals which helps us in various diseases. It is an abundant source of calcium and vitamins A, vitamin B12, and vitamin D, riboflavin as well as folic acid.
- Oat Strengths: More fiber amongst all the milk alternatives discussed here. It is low in fat content; more in protein content. Various vitamins like A, D, E, B12 and calcium also present.
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