Milk alternatives - Almond, Soy, Coconut.. which is best?

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Γαλάνης

The Wallabee Champ
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Jan 18, 2015
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I've been eating clean for almost a month now with 1 cheat meal per week (trying to do just a meal, not an entire cheat day)

Anyway, I pretty much went completely off milk, which was no problem at first. But I do want to have certain kinds of cereals sometimes, and I have always really enjoyed drinking a cold glass of milk. So I've started to check out the alternatives.

I have not tried almond milk yet but it seems to me that people think this is the best. Anyone here try it/like it?

Soy milk was great actually. In fact, way too good tasting, especially the chocolate milk (but that's chocolate milk, so obviously it's going to be like candy). Anyway, when I did research about it, I didn't really like what I found. Just all of the estrogen related stuff was a turn off, especially considering it's not something I need exactly. I don't think I'll be drinking much soy milk, however, I may keep a small 1/4 gallon of chocolate soy milk in the fridge if I ever get a sweet craving, just for a quick 8oz glass, no more than once every 2 weeks. It really is delicious.

Currently I have coconut milk, which I was actually quite surprised at how good it tasted. It's a vanilla flavor (which is what I'd purchase for Almond milk as well). The same company makes all sorts of almond + protein milks, so I want to check those out. I hate the taste of coconuts, but honestly, the milk barely had any hint of it.

I'm a huge fan of coconut water and drink it all the time really (the real kind, not the candy Goya kind, you guys probably know what I mean). I love that because it tastes NOTHING like coconuts, haha. My favorite ones are with pineapple or mango.. But anyway. I was paranoid about the coconut milk since I hate the flavor, but was pleasantly surprised, and I think that unless almond milk is way better, coconut milk may be my permanent replacement for dairy.

Either way, I want to eliminate my dairy intake completely (bad asthma problems and lots of phlegm build up over the years). I won't be drinking much of this stuff, probably 8-10 oz per day, every other day or so with breakfast.

What do you prefer, and why? What are the upsides and downsides to both the above dairy replacements, and dairy itself? I'd love to hear any info you guys have... Thanks
 

IschKabibble

TMMAC Addict
First 100
Jan 15, 2015
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Dairy has never really agreed with my stomach, so I'm currently on the almond milk kick. Stuff taste pretty damn good actually. My morning shake is 16 oz vanilla almond milk, frozen banana, spoonful of almond butter (peanut butter alt), scoop of steel cut oats, scoop of hemp protein and a few dashes of cinnamon. Breakfast of champs.

Soy milk tastes pretty good, but I was also turned off by the reports of potential man-boob growth. Only other milk alternative I've tried is rice milk. It wasn't terrible, but definitely had a ricey taste that I couldn't get past.
 

ECC170

Monster's 11,ATM 2,Parlay Challenge,Hero GP Champ
Pro Fighter
Jan 23, 2015
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Almond milk is pretty good ..def my 2nd fav alternative other than Chocola lol..
 

D241

Banned
Jan 14, 2015
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i recently switched to almond milk. i cannot handle lactose anymore, so i have found this alternative for stuff like cereal or something to drink with oreos.
 

Splinty

Shake 'em off
Admin
Dec 31, 2014
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Priziesthorse;n34847 said:
Never drank milk before. Kind of curious to know what it tastes like.

woah.
Well you should add dairy to your diet slowly then. You can't process it until your gut flora bacteria have had a chance to adapt.


As for the OP...

I actually wouldn't eschew cow's milk, but that wasn't your question:
The thing I've found with milk alternatives is that there's no free lunch.
First, most brands are loaded with sugar flavoring, but I'll assume you can navigate around this trap.

This is a fairly accurate table:





Soy has an okay protein content, but there is a slow and growing evidence for increased estrogen as a result of a lot of intake. This is unlikely to happen at a small glass here and there, but like you said, its not great.

Almond milk unsweetened is really the best go-to for nutrition and calories vs content. Low protein content so just use it as a liquid filler for cereal and to protein shakes, etc.
If you are young and really active, you might consider 1% or skim cows milk and use it in a postworkout shake. Lots of protein and other nutrients. But you pickup some more carbs.
 

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