Almonds are unquestionably better than almond milk, but almond milk is a healthier choice than some other substitutes.

I’ll get straight to the point. I’m not a fan of processed products that mimic a desirable culinary experience. Between soy masquerading as bacon, Veganaise and other counterfeit products that attempt to bridge the gap, we’re led away from original forms of nutrition at every turn. My wish is for you to derive great pleasure in consuming the foods you dig once in a while, even if you deem them unhealthy.

A variety of milk wannabes line your supermarket’s shelves, posing as health food. If vanilla soymilk, sweetened almond milk, chocolate rice milk and strawberry coconut milk are the trendy options, consider me a milk hipster.

Milk substitutes are a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Nutritionally, they are not at all similar; you can’t milk a grain of rice. 

Pacific has created an organic almond milk containing the following ingredients: Organic Almond Base (Filtered Water, Organic Almonds), Organic Rice Starch, Sea Salt, Organic Vanilla, Natural Flavor, Carrageenan, Riboflavin (B2), Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D2.

This doesn’t start out badly. Almonds and water are both ingestibles that get my highest level of recommendation. Beyond that, it gets sort of dicey. Rice starch is rice taken out of its original form and turned into a powder. It’s acting as a food additive in this product.  Carrageenan is a common food additive that is extracted from red seaweed. It has no nutritional value and is used as a thickener and emulsifier to theoretically improve the texture of processed foods.

I like to give grub grades to provide some context. If an almond is an “A+” food, and you need a liquid to cover your Grape Nuts, almond milk is a solid “B” option. From livestrong.com:

Many almond milk products are supplemented with vitamins A, D and B-12, so they provide a significant percentage of your recommended dietary allowance for those nutrients. One cup of almond milk contains 500 IU of vitamin A, 100 IU of vitamin D and 3 micrograms of vitamin B-12, which fulfills 100 percent of your B-12 requirements and roughly 20 percent of your vitamin A and D recommendations for the day. Vitamins A and D are important for maintaining a healthy immune system, and B-12 is an essential nutrient for critical functions in the body such as blood cell formation and DNA synthesis.

Of the posers on the market, I’ll give almond milk the best of class label, but only because its soul is the almond. If you need your almond milk, I’m going to push you in the direction of making it at home to avoid any preservatives or thickeners. There are numerous, helpful step-by-steps online. A simple search for “make almond milk home” will give you endless options. My best suggestion, however, is still to eat some almonds and drink some water, but I hear ya.

Kap