Almond milk is very trending since last few years for having good nutritious value. Almond milk is prepared by grinding the almond follows the mixing in the water and straining this. The texture is just like milk with a nutty taste.
Almond milk is a low calorie plant based milk and replacement of dairy milk, which also makes this popular among the vegans.
When it comes to the nutrition value, almond is enriched with various nutrients itself but some extra nutrients such as vitamin E, vitamin D, calcium and riboflavin are added to increase the nutrition value of the products.
Although there are many commercial varieties are available in the market prepared by manufacturers, almond milk can also be prepared at home without any additional preservatives and flavors.
One of the benefits of almond milk is that it is a great option to those people who don’t like to drink or people who are allergic to the milk but they used to like the taste of the milk.
In this article 10 awesome benefits of almond milk are mentioned.
Have low calories
Generally almonds are known for their high calories and omega-3 fatty acids, but it really surprising to know that almond milk contains low calories than the cow milk. This happens due to the processing of the almond milk, during the preparation most of the calories cut don and only a small portion of almonds remains I the finished products.
Almond milk is great option for the people who want to cut down the calorie and lose weight.
An amount of 240 ml which is around a cup of cow milk contains 146 calories while same amount of the unsweetened almond milk have 30-50 calories. This proves that almond milk cut down about 60- 80% of the calories.
For the People who want to lose weight, cutting the calories with the combination of exercise is a promising way. A loss of moderate weight about 5-10 % can also helps you to safe and keeps healthy or you can say this can prevent and manage medical conditions like diabetes.
If you have the resolution to lose weight than replace the 2-3 daily servings of dairy with the almond milk. This would show a great result in daily reduction in calorie up to 348 calories.
Generally most of the strategies to lose moderate weight loss recommend consuming approximately 500 less calories than usual and almond milk is a promising option for this.
When you are going to the mall make sure to keep in mind that sweetened products contains added sugar so do not go for sweetened products. Always use unsweetened almond milk. The homemade version of almond milk may contain higher calorie than commercial almond milk due to unfiltered and less processing.
Rich source of vitamin E
Almonds are known as a rich source of vitamin E worldwide as they providing 37% of the daily requirement by consuming only 28 grams. Hence almond milk also considered as natural source of vitamin E which is good for your skin as well as other health benefits. Some of the manufacturers also add extra vitamin E during production which makes this more promising.
Vitamin E is a useful and strong candidate as antioxidants which help you to deal with inflammation and stress. Vitamin E is capable of scavenging free radical. Vitamin E is beneficial to your eyes and bones. This also prevents some medical conditions like heart diseases and cancer.
Furthermore vitamin E is found to be useful in mental health. Vitamin E is fat soluble vitamin so it also improves metal health and reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Rich source of calcium
All dairy products and milk Are the rich source of calcium and consumed by most of the people in order to fulfill the requirement of calcium. A cup of milk (240 ml) gives 28% of the daily requirement.
Even though almond milk is good option for replacing milk and dairy products, this only contains a small portion of calcium which is 7% of the daily requirement on consuming 28 grams of almond. Due to most often use of almond milk, manufacturers add calcium to enrich it so that people don’t miss the calcium when they drink almond milk.
A cup of 240 ml of almond milk provide 20-45% of daily calcium requirement.
Calcium is mineral which is important for development of bone and strengthen the bones. Consuming calcium regularly reduces the risk of bone fractures and osteoporosis.
Apart from the bone health calcium is necessary for maintain blood pressure, nerves, muscle and proper functioning of heart.
To ensure the amount of calcium always look for the label and list of ingredients. Some brands of almond milk use different type s of calcium, they use tricalcium phosphate instead of calcium carbonate. The issue with tricalcium phosphate is that it does not absorb well.
If you are making almond milk at home on your own than you may need to add some other supplements to your diet which is full of calcium like yogurt, fish, seeds, legumes, leafy vegetables and cheese. So that calcium requirement can be fulfilling.
Provides Vitamin D
Vitamin D plays an important role in many aspects of health. Vitamin D is good for heart function, strengthens the bone and also helps to boost immune system.
Generally vitamin D is produced in the body on exposure of sunlight. Most of the people do not get enough vitamin D due to their reasons like lifestyle, long working hours, due to skin color or living in those areas which are out of reach of sunlight.
Deficiency of Vitamin D increases the risk of developing numerous medical conditions *like heart diseases, high blood pressure, muscle weakness, osteoporosis, fertility issues, cancer, infectious and autoimmune diseases like alopecia. Only a few foods naturally contains vitamin D so many manufacturers do fortifying the foods with vitamin D. cereals, yogurt, margarines, juices and milk are some vitamin D fortified food.
In case of almond milk, they fortified with the vitamin D2 which is also known as erocalciferol. One whole cup (240 ml) of almond milk gives 25% of the daily requirement of vitamin D intake. It is not possible to add vitamin D in almond milk at home so you really need to concern about the getting vitamin D from other sources in case of not getting proper sunlight exposure.
Almond milk contains low sugar
The benefits of almond milk also include the low sugar level. The unsweetened Almond milk does not contain any additional sugar hence it is very low in sugar.
Around 1-2 grams of carbohydrate are present in the 1 cup of almond milk which is around 240 ml which present as dietary fibers. The same amount of dairy milk contains 3 grams of carbohydrates which is present as sugar.
Most of the commercial almond milk are additional sweeteners and flavors and hey contain about 5-7 grams of sugar per 240 ml. so make sure to check nutritional value and list of ingredients on label.
Unsweetened almond milk is a good option for the people with diabetes as they need to limit their daily carbohydrate consumption in order to maintain glucose level. So for them replacing almond milk with dairy product is good option to achieve the goal of maintaining glucose level.
Lactose free milk
Most of the people have lactose intolerance, a condition associated with inability of digesting lactose which is carbs present in the milk. This condition causes due to the deficiency of lactase enzyme which is responsible for the digestion of lactose into its digestive forms. This could be genetic or could be associated with certain medical condition.
Lactose intolerance can cause some symptoms like stomach pain, bloating and gas.
So for the people who have lactose intolerance, almond milk is a good choice to replace with dairy product and milk so that they do not suffer from that further.
Vegan in nature
Many of the people avoid dairy product and milk due to their, health, lifestyle, environment or religious reasons. Now a day’s veganism is in trends.
Almond milk is able to fulfill the nutritional requirements in these groups of people and can be easily replace it the milk and dairy products. Besides this almond milk is protein free. Around 0.5% of the adults are allergic to protein.
For this kind of people soy milk is an alternative to dairy milk for adults but around 14% of the people who are allergic to protein also allergic to soy milk. In that case almond milk is promising alternative of dairy milk. However it has been shown that almond milk contains very low amount of digestible protein in comparison of the dairy milk. Hence it is not suitable for the children and infants.
Low phosphorus
Benefits of almond milk also associated with kidney diseases. Phosphorus is essential for bone development and bone health but in people who are suffering from chronic kidney disease often avoid the consumption of milk due to phosphorus and potassium.
Their kidneys are unable to filter these nutrients which develop the risk of accumulation of these molecules in the blood. Higher amount of phosphorus in blood develop the risk of heart diseases, bone disease and hyperparathyroidism. Irregular heart rhythm, heart attack and death are fatal conditions arises by the phosphorous.
Unprocessed dairy milk consist 233 mg of phosphorous and 366 mg of potassium in a whole cup (240 ml). The same amount of the almond mil contains 20 mg and 160 mg of phosphorous and potassium respectively. The amount varies from brand to brand so make sure to check the amount in ingredients list with different brands.
The daily requirement and limits may vary in the people who have kidney disease, depends on the stage of kidney and current blood levels of potassium and phosphorus.
Almond milk can be a promising alternative of dairy milk for those who wants to cut down their intake of phosphorous and potassium due to kidney disease and other discomforts.
Almond milk loaded with antioxidant
List of the benefits of almond milk includes the antioxidants. Almond is fully packed with antioxidants so almond milk provides antioxidants. Antioxidants are generally had anti inflammatory property which scavenge free radical and prevent many diseases.
Easiness to include in diet
Even though almond milk is plant based milk but it is enriched with nutrients and it can be used in any way that dairy milk can be used. Some of the common ways to use almond milk and include this to your diet are as follows:
- You can have almond milk as nutritious and refreshing drink.
- You can incorporate almond milk in cereal, muesli, or oats instead of dairy milk
- You can also use almond milk in the form of sauces and dressings
- Put some fruits and almond milk together in a grinder, this smoothie is good for you health.
- You can add almond milk to your coffee, tea or hot chocolate
- Use almond milk as yogurt.
- You can also add almond in cooking and baking instead of dairy milk such as in muffins and pancakes
- Make some ice cream with almonds at home and get a sweet treat
1 cup of almond milk can be prepared by simply soaking almond and blend skinless almonds into 1 cup of water. Strain this mixture with nut bag. You can adjust the consistency according to your taste thick or thinner by adding water to this.
Summary
Almond milk is nutritious drink and plant based milk, it serves many health benefits ranging from skin, eye, bone, heart health and kidneys.
Almond milk is packed with vitamin E, vitamin, D, calcium etc. almond milk helps you to lose weight, maintain diabetes, and strengthen bones and maintaining eye health. This also helps to boost immunity of individual. Almond milk helps to reducing the risk of Alzheimer also.
Almond milk is suitable and promising alternative of dairy milk for the people who are allergic to dairy milk protein and lactose intolerance.
Including almond milk to your diet is quite simple. Just soak the almonds, peel the skin and blend with water and it’s ready to use.
So drink healthy and keep healthy
