I have read the China Study and know that we should not consume animal protein or at least keep it at 5% of the daily intake. I also have read that soy products are not what they seem, so if we should stay away from animal products and soy is not that good, what would be an alternative for milk?
Thanks.
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Rice milk is a great alternative!
Coconut milk?
Why look for alternative even?
When I was starting out with raw food I read Helmut Wandmaker’s book where he talks about mono-mealing. Which did wonders for me when applied correctly. This also means almost all raw recipes were out of the question since they included more than one type of food. So there really weren’t any alternatives. I accepted raw eating as a totally new paradigm not looking for any parallels in conventional food.
Perhaps we should take such radical changes as they come without comparing them to old ways.
You can make or buy almond milk or any nut milk, hemp milk.
Why bother with Milk?
Drink Water or Acai juice.
Almond milk works great for me. I buy Almond Breeze from the grocery store but there are also recipes online to make it at home.
Easy peasy! Almond milk (you can get in on the group buy and make your own; it takes about 3 minutes) tastes the best to me. There’s also rice milk, hemp milk, cashew milk. Basically and nut/seed will make “milk” or “mylk” for you.
I have a friend who makes her own granola and uses fresh-squeezed orange juice on it, which I think is ingenious! :)
We make almond or cashew milk. We soak the raw nuts overnight, and take the skins off the almonds. We put them in our VitaMix with some filtered water, and store the unused “milk” in the refrigerator up to two days.
I would definitely say coconut milk (not in the cans, the one in the cold section). I have tried, hemp, soy, rice, almond, and coconut….and coconut comes in first with hemp in second. I have been told by people that eat dairy that the coconut milk is very similar to cow’s milk (i do not know – i have never drank cow’s milk)…its very lite but has a consistency unlike rice milk. Now hemp milk is nice but it has a thicker consistency and i feel like it is too heavy (I use it more as a protein shake than a milk substitute – great in smoothies).
Maybe you don’t want to overdo the soy, just like you don’t want to overdo anything, but I can find study after study that proves that soy is safe. So the other milks are fine, but enjoy your soy, too. :)
I think you might want to consider boxed pre-made almond or rice milks (or any other mylk) a last resort, since this is mostly dead, and not live food, and the container really challenges the environment. However, in a pinch these may be good to have on hand since they are so much better than Soy or Cow’s milk. Easy to use are cashews, even if not soaked, since they are a soft nut. Blend in VitaMix or other blender with some clean water, add some Stevia or other sweetener, and voila. Of course, soaked, viable almonds are preferable, but I often forget to soak etc. Also, I use (unsoaked, if I forget to soak) a mix of sunflower and pumpkin seeds, with some clean water, blend, sweeten or not, and again, voila. Lots of MYLK!
We make almond milk regularly and enjoy it straight up or with smoothies! I also make a cashew chai milk that my whole family loves….raw cashews soaked overnight, rinsed and add to water in blender (3 c water, 1 1/2 c. soaked cashews, dates to taste -we use 5-, dash of sea salt, cinnamon to taste) blend well, strain through nut milk bag or cheesecloth and enjoy! We love this version of nut milk….it’s flavorful, good in tea, good over homemade raw granola, good in raw smoothies (cashew milk, frozen bananas, raw cacoa, raw cocoa nibs, agave…..blend and eat up! so good!). Good in raw chocolate pudding (cashew milk, avocados, raw cacoa, agave….blend well, eat up!).
Have fun with your nut milks….they are fun to make and if you have children, they love to get involved in the squeezing of the “milk”.
All the best!
Leigh
I would highly recommend coconut milk–so delicious and nutritious! There is a brand on the market called So Delicious and it is truly heaven to drink!! Don’t bother with the canned stuff–no comparison.
If you eat bananas you can make banana milk. It doesn’t keep well, but it is yummy. Whiz a banana up with 3-4 cups of water. That’s it!
I would like to thank everyone who has contributed an answer on this page.
I live in the UK I don’t understand some of your terminology but I am glad to learn that you can make your own nut milk, that is a new one on me. And Banana Milk, I can’t wait to try that one.
I was going to write in and say Rice Dream similar to rice milk. I am unable to eat white flour which is not good for my system. If someone would just explain what the ‘c’means. Like 3 c water, unless it means centimeters of water.
I have a problem with breakfast but the granola that you describe sounds worth a try. i don’t eat soy either.
Many Thanks
Connie
c stands for cup
“c” = cup…. 1 cup = 240 mL
Connie,
The ‘c’ in 3 c water means cups. 1 cup is 8 oz, or 250 ml.
Hope that helps!
Beth
I am in the soy milk is NOT safe camp. The great benefits from soy that are so touted are from studies done on oriental populations where they eat fermented soy products which is a different animal from the overly processed pasteurized soy products. Read the history on how soy milk and all the other soy prodcuts came to be in the USA and you will see that is it more political and profit motivated than health motivated. I encourage you to try almond milk (some of the best raw almonds come from Spain), hemp nut milk and brazil nut milk. Cocnut nilk is good too but only if yo like a heavy coconut flavour. Search the internet for recipes. There are plenty of sites by raw food gurus that have great free recipes. BTW, c means cups, as in 3 cups milk.