Catching up?
– Vegan How To: Introduction (Why this series?)
– Part 1: How To Make The Transition
Part 2: Replacing Dairy Milk
Today I’d like to talk about one of the first changes that I made in my own personal journey – switching from cow’s milk to non-dairy milk. It was also one of the easiest changes I made thanks to a huge selection of non-dairy milks on the market. I’m always amazed when I see the mammoth wall of non-dairy milk in my grocery store. It’s taking over! There’s really something for everyone from almond milk to flax milk and everything in between.
And, boy, I’ve tried a lot. Here is a list of the non-dairy milks I’ve given a go:
- Soy milk
- Almond milk
- Hemp milk
- Oat milk
- Coconut milk
- Rice milk
- Almond-coconut milk
- Quinoa Milk
- Flax milk
I’ll admit, I’m not head over heels for all of them, but I have a few favourites that keep me more than happy.
My personal favourite non-dairy milks:
1. Almond Milk (Whole Foods 365 Organic)
2. Soy Milk (Edensoy Organic) – for the protein
Soy milk was the first milk I tried back in 2008/2009 and while I didn’t fall head over heels initially, it eventually grew on my taste buds with time. (Actually, it wasn’t the first time I had soy milk; I was allergic to cow’s milk formula when I was a baby and my mom had to put me on soy milk instead). Soy milk is also the only non-dairy milk (to my knowledge) that has a similar nutritional profile to cow’s milk. My go-to brand of soy milk, Edensoy Organic, has a whopping 12 grams of protein per 1 cup serving making it the soy milk with the highest protein content. The ingredient list is also impressive: just organic soybeans and purified water! It’s great for smoothies when you don’t want to add protein powder, but still want a kick of protein. To be honest, the flavour of it unsweetened isn’t my favourite, but when I mix it into other foods I don’t notice it as much. They also have sweetened varieties of course. No matter the brand you buy, look for organic, GMO-free soy milk whenever possible.
Here is a side-by-side comparison of Edensoy soy milk vs. 2% cow’s milk:
| Nutrition Facts (per 8 fl oz serving) |
Unsweetened Soy Milk (Edensoy) | 2% Cow’s milk |
| Calories | 120 cals | 122 cals |
| Total fat | 6 grams | 5 grams |
| Saturated fat | 1 gram | 3 grams |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg | 20 mg |
| Sodium | 5 mg | 100 mg |
| Potassium | 460 mg | 366 mg |
| Total carbohydrate | 5 grams | 11.5 grams |
| Dietary fibre | 0 gram | 0 gram |
| Sugars | 2 grams | 12 grams |
| Protein | 12 grams | 8 grams |
Almond milk. I obviously have a lot of love for this non-dairy milk and it seems to be taking over the world. Almond milk is creamy, deliciously nutty, and blends well into just about anything. My brand of choice is Whole Foods 365 as it is carrageenan free. Almond milk is very low in protein, so be sure to pair it with protein rich vegan foods like hemp seed, chia seed, beans/legumes, protein powder, etc.
Note: Please see my post, Carrageenan in Our Foods for a list of dairy and non-dairy products that contain this potentially harmful ingredient.
What about calcium?
A balanced vegan diet can actually be quite high in calcium even without a lick of dairy. My favourite example – 1 ounce of chia seeds (about 2.5 tbsp) has reportedly 300 mg of calcium. Other non-dairy foods high in calcium include: collard greens (357mg calcium), fortified soymilk (368 mg), black eyed peas (211 mg), firm tofu (204mg), calcium fortified OJ (200mg), blackstrap molasses (172mg), baked beans (154mg), kale (94mg), almonds (70mg) [per serving, source] Be sure to pair calcium rich foods with vitamin C and D rich foods for the best absorption. As extra insurance, I take calcium and vitamin D supplements daily. There are also fortified non-dairy milks on the market (I think these tend to be the refrigerated kind?), so that is an option too. Be sure to read your labels!
Sweetened or unsweetened?
When I started experimenting with non-dairy milk, I always bought the lightly sweetened option. I think this really helped with my transition. Once I got used to the change, I switched to unsweetened varieties. As I’ve said many times in the past, its amazing what the taste buds can get used to with time. If you are starting out, you might want to check out the lightly sweetened varieties to help with your transition. Another option is to make the transition gradual. Having cereal? Why not try subbing half the cow’s milk with non-dairy milk? Or try using creamy almond milk or coconut milk in a cup of tea. There are plenty of ways to gradually ease into the taste.
When I’m doing any savoury cooking, I always use unflavoured and unsweetened almond milk. Keep the vanilla flavoured milk for your sweet recipes and smoothies.
Ok, now I’ll pass it over to you guys!
Have you made the switch from cow’s milk to non-dairy? Was it difficult?
If you drink non-dairy milk, which varieties do you like the best?
Do you prefer sweetened or unsweetened?
Coming up, a homemade nut milk bonanza!
I’m thoroughly addicted to unsweetened almond milk-both regular(not vanilla) and the chocolate I use in protein shakes:)
I love almond milk best, but we’re trying to figure out if I”m allergic or not, so I’ve removed it for now. My go-to is Good Karma Flax milk, though I use unsweetened soy in mashed potatoes because the flax seems weird. I do enjoy my chocolate soy milk for a treat.
My husband found by accident (turned out when he ate with me, he didn’t have a bellyache) he’s milk-sensitive, so he’s switched to non-dairy as well. He loves the almond-coconut hybrid best. My daughter still drinks dairy, but only Organic Valley because after she had it she was ruined for all others. Because of all this milk preference, this is what we usually have in our fridge:
Flax milk (sometimes sweet and unsweet, if I’m in a mood)
Chocolate soy milk
Almond-coconut milk
Unsweetened soy milk
Organic Valley skim dairy milk
Soy creamer
Guests tend to look at us really funny when the open the door.
So Delicious coconut milk is the best. I love that it isn’t mixed with almond milk (I can’t have almonds!) and that it makes any smoothie I make super thick. So good!
I love unsweetened almond milk. It works great in dessert recipes too! I also enjoy the coconut almond hybrid. Such a great post for people who are considering making the switch.
I’ve been vegetarian for 2.5 years, and I’ve been toying for a bit with the idea of going vegan. I’m loving this series, so thank you! I will say that switching milks has been something I really enjoy. I have been using almond milk (and now coconut/almond blend, which I am borderline obsessed with) in my cereal, on my oatmeal, and even as a drink on its own with some vegan chocolate syrup after a run. I love it! The one switch I haven’t been able to stomach, though, is replacing the organic half and half I use in my coffee. I don’t put any sugar or sweetener in my coffee, so I like it rather light, and I just can’t get the creaminess from any of the non-dairy creamers I’ve tried (and I don’t want to use any of the traditional non-dairy creamers that are laden with chemicals for obvious reasons). Do you have any that you think might be thicker/heavier/creamier for use in coffee?
I can’t wait until you talk about cheese! That’s the one thing that I’m worried about.
Thank you for these posts on transitioning. I am taking it slow and one step at a time. I’m hoping to get used to one change at a time and live with it before I move on to the next. I was never a red meat or pork eater so that was easy. I’ve given up milk for a while now. Currently, I’m working on being poultry-free. The other harder steps (seafood, yogurt, & cheese) will follow after that. Thanks for the great recipes and motivation!
I tried soy milks and almond milks for the first time about a year ago. I will say that I definitely think they can be an acquired taste, but I love them now! I would much rather top my cereal with Silk unsweetened vanilla almond milk or 8th Continent unsweetened vanilla soy milk than with dairy milk. I also love cooking with almond milk. When I cook with it I use an unsweetened, non-flavored variety. You seriously do not need diary milk with all of the other milk options that are available out there today.
Something you mentioned in this post that I’d love to hear you expand on is which supplements you take daily. I’d love to know all of the vitamins/supplements you take as well as the brands, as I’ve read/heard that some brands don’t even really absorb and aren’t really worth taking! Any information you’d be willing to share about your supplement regimen would be greatly appreciated. Thank you always for all of the info and recipes!
Here is a list of the products with/without carrageenan http://www.cornucopia.org/shopping-guide-to-avoiding-organic-foods-with-carrageenan/. We switched to the Whole Foods brand a while ago, because almost every brand we’ve checked had it (as well as loads of other vegan non dairy products and “real” milk, for the omnis). I figure it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Trying to not use as much cow’s milk, I like to make my own Almond milk from scratch, easy to do with a VitaMix and a milk bag. I just made some tonight and added some vanilla extract
Australia finally got unsweetened Almond Breeze almond milk last year, and I fell in love with milk for the first time. I never liked cow’s milk and soy milk wasn’t something I enjoyed plain or even in smoothies really, so it has been fantastic finding a milk I actually like!
I am going to check out carrageenan though…
I like coconut milk and soy milk, have not tried hemp milk yet though I’ve seen it at my Whole Foods in Los Angeles
Great post by the way, hope this helps people who aren’t vegan and may be curious about alternate milk options :-)
Thanks so much for the info on carrageenan. I had no idea. Thankfully the brand of rice milk that we use does not have it, but I’m going to start looking for it on labels.
Re: alternative milks: being lactose intolerant pretty much sealed the deal for me to stop drinking cow’s milk. I had bad stomach issues from soymilk, almond was too sweet, so the rice milk or a soy/rice blend seem to work best for us. Now I can’t even fathom drinking cow’s milk — I’m not a baby cow!
I made the switch from dairy milk to non dairy milk a few years ago. I started out drinking sweetened soy milk and it took me quite a while to get used to it. It just tasted..different. My husband and I realized we were eating a lot of soy products and decided to make the switch to Almond Milk instead (we buy Silk Almond Milk.) I like that a lot better! So much creamer and doesn’t give a weird taste when I use it in food (like Soy Milk did)
I love Pure Silk Almond Milk. It is Non-GMO and fortified with B12, which not all almond milk brands include, and is important for me as a vegan. This brand also tastes great!
You really shouldn’t drink soy milk. Atleast with organic you reduce the risk of it being gmo down to 10% but soy in itself produces estrogen in the body. An excess of estrogen can cause breast cancer among other problems. There’s tons of information out there about that. I wrote an article about it awhile back (though you can find information on it from Mercola, NaturalNews, Sally Fallon, etc) Here’s the link to my article http://naturalandorganiclifestyle.blogspot.com/2010/04/dangers-of-soy.html
If you don’t consume dairy, you are better off with coconut, almond, or rice milk…all organic of course =)
Same here! Besides giving up meat, I gave up milk too when I found out what residual stuff was left in it, gross. This was only hard because I love cereal…but soymilk was a good sub. About two years ago my husband and I bought the unsweetened almond milk…. It’s so delicious. I like it even more than milk. And it’s low in calories. The unsweetened vanilla is my favorite…It’s thick enough and delicious as a substitute.
hi Angela,
As you have used a lot of Almond milk, i am curious to find out if it has a lot of sediment, i bought some a few weeks ago from my local health food store, when i opened it it had a lot of sediment and the liquid was clumpy, it could have been a bad batch, but i threw it out as i could not imagine drinking it, maybe i will try another brand.
Hey Karen, I have had that happen to me with occasional almond milk cartons…I cannot remember the brand though and think it was a fluke because that definitely isn’t supposed to happen. Keep in mind you do have to give it a shake before using, but it’s not supposed to have sediment or clumps. I wish I could remember the brand where that happened to me so we could compare notes. I would suggest trying another brand until you find one that is good for you.
Thanks Angela, just for your notes the brand was Pacific Organic Almond milk, i will try some other brands as suggested.
I made the transition away from dairy about 6 months ago at the advise of my doctor to help with depression and anxiety (D/A). Wow, was that a wonderful life changing experience! Not only did it help with D/A, I no longer suffer from IBS either!
For milk, my favorite is almond milk (lightly sweetened) – I use it with everything from cereal, to baking, to smoothies (though I add soy protein). For my coffee, I prefer the heartier taste of soy milk (again, lightly sweetened). When I need to replace high-fat dairy my favorite is coconut milk/cream (out of the can) as the taste is very mild, but it is super creamy.
I have done much research and found that RAW cows milk (from a grass fed, antibiotic free cow) is full of important enzymes and nutrients. Many people have found that by switching to raw organic cow or goat milk they were freed from asthma, allergies, and were no longer lactose intolerant! I prefer this to soy (for obvious health hazards) and almond (store bought).