Almond milk or cow's milk. Almond milk: the benefits and harms of the drink, recipes

Almond milk obtained by combining nuts and water. Such a drink is similar to soy milk and other products. plant origin. Almond milk has been used since the Middle Ages. Its main advantage was the ability to keep fresh for a long time without a low temperature.

This drink is also popular due to the fact that it is allowed to be consumed in fasting. Almond milk is especially loved by vegetarians, who use it to prepare a variety of dishes instead of the cow version that is forbidden for them. Many people love this drink for its delicate and refreshing taste. Purchased almond milk is best stored at room temperature.

Beneficial features

The benefit of almond milk in the first place is that it does not contain lactose, which causes allergies in many people and cholesterol, which is harmful to health in general. The drink is rich in calcium, which is necessary for strengthening bones, and it also improves the condition of teeth, nails and hair. There is also phosphorus in almond milk, which is involved in the regeneration of bone tissue, as well as magnesium, a mineral that is necessary for the normal functioning of the heart muscle. This drink also contains manganese, zinc, copper and other beneficial substances that have a beneficial effect on the activity of the whole organism.

With regular use, almond milk helps to cope with extra pounds. This happens primarily due to the low calorie content in comparison with options of animal origin. The drink has a positive effect on the activity of the cardiovascular system. Almond milk is low in sodium, but contains plenty of omega fatty acids, which normalize blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease. The composition of this drink also includes vitamin D, which resists the occurrence of osteoporosis in old age and rickets in children.

Almond milk has a positive effect on the condition of the skin, as it contains 50% of the daily requirement of vitamin E. It will be useful for diabetics to know that this drink does not affect blood sugar in any way, and given the low glycemic index it reduces the risk of this disease. When consumed regularly, almond milk strengthens muscles. It contains B vitamins, which are involved in the growth and functioning of muscle tissue, and they also normalize activity. nervous system. This drink also improves digestion as it contains fiber. Given the presence of vitamin A in this product, vision improves, as well as the ability of the eyes to quickly get used to changing lighting.

It is recommended that pregnant women and children include almond milk in their diet as a mild laxative. It will help to improve the condition during the period of pneumonia, with sore throat, as well as with convulsions and migraines.

Almond milk already a large number of time used for cosmetic purposes. The drink can be used for washing and rubbing, and it also has a whitening effect. Almond milk also acts as a cleanser and emollient.

Use in cooking

Almond milk is an excellent independent drink that will appeal to both adults and children. It can also replace the usual cow in many recipes. On the basis of milk from almonds, you can prepare a large number of different drinks, desserts and cocktails.

How to make almond milk at home?

This drink is very easy to make at home. To do this, take 1 tbsp. almond nuts, 6 tbsp. water, honey and cinnamon. Nuts should be taken not fried, because otherwise they will not remain useful substances. Almonds must be thoroughly washed, pour 3 tbsp. water and leave to infuse for 6 hours. After the time has elapsed, the water is drained, and the nuts again need to be poured with 3 tbsp. water. The mass with a blender must be crushed to such a state that the nuts become cereals, and the liquid acquires White color. Next, you need to strain the milk and squeeze the remaining cake with gauze. By the way, it can be diluted again with a small amount of water and again grind and strain. Ready-made milk is neutral in taste, so it is recommended to dilute it with honey, cinnamon or lemon juice. Keep ready-made almond milk in the refrigerator for 36 hours.

Harm of almond milk and contraindications

Almond milk can harm people with individual intolerance to the product. It is also worth considering that some variants of a store-bought drink may contain the dietary supplement carrageenan, which, in turn, can provoke inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, aggravate ulcers and coronary disease hearts. Also, such industrial milk can provoke the development of cancer.

  • 60 calories
  • 2 g carbs
  • 1 gram protein
  • 3 grams of fat
  • 1 gram dietary fiber
  • 10 mg vitamin E - 50% DV
  • 100 IU Vitamin D - 25% DV
  • 200 mg calcium - 20% DV
  • 16 mg magnesium - 4% DV
  • 40 mg phosphorus - 4% DV

Of all the casein-free alternatives available, almond milk has the richest nutritional content. Rice, coconut, and soy milk lag behind or have more intake restrictions.

Not only casein, but also lactose can cause persistent ailments.

Judging by the statistics, lactose deficiency should be suspected even more often than milk protein intolerance. According to WHO statistics in the United States, up to 25% do not digest milk sugar well. In Russia, this number is about 16%. From the point of view of casein and lactose, almond milk is a complete benefit: there is neither one nor the other substance.

Benefits for weight loss and weight stabilization.

And again, let's compare the product from cows and a drink from almonds. Calorie content is a key success factor for most diets. One full glass of traditional milk of different fat content:

  • 0.5% - 84 kcal
  • 1% - 100 kcal
  • 2.5% - 122 kcal
  • 3.5% - 142 kcal

And only 60-70 kcal in almond milk! A good drink for anyone who wants to lose weight or maintain a normal weight.

Nutrition benefits for diabetics.

And all people with hyperinsulinism. This is a condition where blood glucose levels fluctuate greatly and insulin is secreted in excess. Such people include those with a sweet tooth, women who often lose weight, and most city dwellers with an unhealthy diet, when there are long breaks between meals.

Almond milk has little effect on insulin levels, has a low glycemic index (about 20) and is recommended in the diet to control glucose spikes.

Supports heart and vascular health.

Vegetable product, no cholesterol by definition. Low sodium, high in vitamin E and calcium, magnesium and monounsaturated fats. A solid combination to protect against oxidative stress and support normal blood pressure.

Nourishes the beauty of the skin.

This valuable property provides half daily allowance vitamin E - the main antioxidant for healthy and youthful skin.

Helps bones stay strong.

And together with them strengthens the tooth enamel. The reason for the beneficial effects is calcium and the phosphorus, magnesium and manganese necessary for its proper absorption.

  • To maximize the effect of the product, add a salad of leafy vegetables, including cabbage, and foods with vitamin D (for example, chicken or quail egg). Sources of vitamin D for strict vegetarians and raw foodists are mushrooms, including champignons.

Good drink for digestion.

A whole gram of dietary fiber from a drinking dish! A very good choice if we care about sufficient fiber intake.

Recall that the average norm of dietary fiber for an adult is from 20 to 30 grams per day.

Culinary advantages of the product

Amazing sweet taste.

Often it is children who choose milk from almonds to the detriment of cow milk. It is excellent for cold soups and light cocktails with berries and banana. It quenches thirst better, has an almost familiar texture, but a more delicate taste.

Interesting cooking at home.

Almond milk is one of those recipes that kids are curious about. Soaking, chopping in a blender and straining are affordable processes in every kitchen, yet easy and unusual for inquisitive little ones. We began to prepare such milk for the sake of children and immediately involved them in business.

And no waste!

The cake remaining after filtering is useful and tasty to add to pastries, smoothies, cereals, vegetarian cutlets and pates, cold soups and fruit purees.

We lay it out on a tray, dry it slightly and freeze in portions. Healthy fiber-rich supplement - always on hand for 2-3 months!

It is especially beneficial that, due to the soaking in the almond cake, there is almost no antinutrient phytic acid left, which compromises the benefits of all nuts and cereals.

Cooking recipe - with photo at home

Almond milk can be available to a child for breakfast in minutes if you soak almonds tonight.

For about 1 glass we need:

  • Raw almonds (!) - 1 cup
  • Drinking water for soaking - 2 cups
  • Drinking water to mix with nuts - 2 cups
  • Spices and extracts to taste: we do not add
  • Powerful blender: from 600, preferably 800 rpm

Want more servings? Multiply by the number of eaters.

How to cook.

We wash the nuts in running water and fill it with drinking water to completely cover the kernels. You can add salt - 1 teaspoon to 1 glass of water.

Leave at least overnight (12 hours), even better for 1 day (24 hours).

Soaked almonds are thrown into a colander, washed and placed in a blender.

Pure drinking water is added to the bowl of the device and we turn on first low, then high speed. In a powerful device, the process takes 2-3 minutes.

Result: a dense white liquid that must be filtered through 2-3 layers of gauze or a very fine sieve. Almond milk is ready!

Our experience with spices and sweetness.

No additives - unusual agave or maple syrup, nutmeg, honey or vanilla extract, with which Americans often cook and tireless gourmets experiment. We also do not use boiling water and do not peel nuts.

Best Choice - The Easiest Raw Nut Recipe to Save Them nutritional value. Try it! Such milk has every chance of becoming your favorite among nut drinks.





Possible harm and precautions

Let's start with money. There will be harm to the budget, almonds are not a cheap nut. But if health conditions require you to abandon traditional milk, then almonds are the best alternative.

Increasingly popular every day, almond milk can be easily prepared at home. In addition, to make it with your own hands, you only need two components - almonds and ordinary water, which compares favorably with a home-made product from a purchased one, because the latter often sins with an imperfect composition. Almond milk is suitable both for self-serving and as a component for baking and making dessert dishes. It can be used to cook cereals, bake pancakes, add to coffee, tea, non-alcoholic cocktails or smoothies. Almond milk can be consumed during fasting as an alternative to cow's milk, and it is also suitable for vegetarians and people with lactose intolerance. A dish with the addition of this drink turns out to be very tender, light, saturated with a pleasant nutty flavor.

The benefits of almond milk are a topic for a whole separate article, so let's say briefly: this drink contains a huge amount of calcium, trace elements and vitamins. Moreover, here these substances are in dissolved form, which contributes to easy absorption by the body, which is why almond milk is especially recommended for children. So, if you are not yet familiar with the popular miracle drink, we correct this omission and move on to the recipe! In general, almond milk cooks quickly, but you need to take into account the time for tincture and swelling of the nuts. In order not to languish in a long wait and not count the hours, we recommend soaking the nuts in water the night before and leaving them in the cold overnight. In the morning, with the help of a blender, we will have time to complete the preparation, and by breakfast we will already be able to enjoy a silky, delicious drink.

Ingredients:

  • almonds (unroasted) - 150 g;
  • drinking water - 700 ml.

almond milk homemade recipe

  1. First you need to prepare the almonds, namely, peel them from the brown skin. To do this, pour the nuts into a convenient heat-resistant dish. Pour boiling water - the liquid should completely cover the almonds. We leave for 10 minutes.
  2. Then we remove the steamed skin. After being in boiling water, the skin will swell, soften, and the nuts will be easy to clean. If the almonds are difficult to peel, pour boiling water again, after draining the cooled liquid.
  3. We place the peeled kernels in a clean bowl, pour cold drinking water (700 ml). Leave for 2-4 hours, but rather cover the container with cling film / lid and put it in the refrigerator overnight.
  4. Pour water together with swollen almonds into a deep glass for making cocktails or a bowl of a stationary blender. Thoroughly punch at high speed for 2-5 minutes like a cocktail or smoothie. As a result, the nuts should be crushed into minimal crumbs (almost flour), and the water should turn a rich white color like regular cow's milk. If desired, you can add honey or sugar and beat a little more, you can also flavor the liquid with cinnamon, nutmeg or other spices. But also in pure form without additives, almond milk is very tasty and balanced.
  5. We filter the finished drink through cheesecloth folded in 4 layers to get rid of small particles of nuts and get perfectly homogeneous, tender and silky milk. We do not throw out the almond crumb remaining on the fabric - it can be dried and added to biscuits, cookies, muffins, pancakes, etc. in the future. After filtering and all the manipulations, approximately 500 g of a pure finished drink is obtained. Homemade almond milk can be stored in the refrigerator in a sealed container for 2-3 days.
  6. We use our healthy and tasty drink as you like - we sip it through a straw with cookies and other sweets, add it to tea, coffee, cocoa, etc., or leave it for cooking other dishes.

Almond milk at home is ready! Bon appetit and successful culinary experiments!

Almond milk is milk that is made from almonds. This is a dietary product that is good for health, skin, keeps youth. It can be easily made at home, while keeping everything beneficial features walnut. In this article you will find recipes for making almond milk and what you can cook from it.

According to WHO data, about 20 percent of people in the world suffer from intolerance to milk sugar - lactose. For such people, almond milk can be a good substitute for regular cow's milk.

To many, the taste of this nut milk is reminiscent of a nut-flavoured protein shake. Although almond milk does not contain a large amount of protein, it is included in the nutrition of athletes. The presence of many vitamins, iron helps in strengthening and building muscle mass.

Just one glass of almond milk can satisfy hunger, maintain a healthy balance of proteins, fats, carbohydrates for those who are on a diet. It contains a significant amount of fatty acids, vitamin E and other beneficial nutrients.

Almond milk is useful for pressure, you can drink it to prevent heart disease, it protects the skin and body from the oxidative effects of free radicals.

Given its low calorie content, which in 100 grams is only about 60 calories (depending on the amount of sugar and other ingredients), low glycemic index, then it can be drunk by patients with diabetes.

The presence of calcium and vitamin D makes this milk useful for the prevention of osteoporosis, especially for women who have passed the age of menopause.

Benefits of homemade almond milk

Not so often, but in large cities you can find almond milk in stores. It's certainly convenient. But not all milk is equally useful and of high quality, it may contain a lot of sugar, various additives and preservatives. After all, the period vegetable milk limited.

Homemade milk can be made with no sugar at all or with minimal amounts. Such milk is much more nutritious, retains all the beneficial properties of almonds, with a mild creamy taste.

When making homemade almond milk, you can control the quality of the finished product, ranging from the quality of the nuts, the amount of sugar, and the texture. Fresh homemade milk contains many enzymes, without additives and preservatives.

The simplest cooking recipe contains only nuts and water. Coconut oil, almond oil, lecithin, vanilla and other natural products can be added to the finished milk to make it richer in taste and increase fat content.

Unsweetened milk can be used in various recipes: when making porridge, add to coffee or tea, smoothies. Sauces are prepared on almond milk, added to pastries, soups, when preparing breakfast cereals.

After preparing milk according to the basic recipe, you can add to it:

Berries or fruits;

How to make almond milk at home

Whether you are a vegetarian or follow healthy eating, almond milk can be a good alternative to cow's milk. It's easy to make at home. It is surprisingly versatile in use: they cook porridge with it, bake pancakes, add it to smoothies.

To make almond milk delicious, you need to choose fresh nuts. This is the basis of a delicious drink. To make homemade milk, all you need is almonds, water and a blender. Here's how it's done.

Basic almond milk recipe

You will need:

1 cup almonds

3 cups purified water

1 pinch of salt

How to cook

Place the nuts in a large bowl or glass jar. Add a pinch of salt (sea salt is better) and a little lemon juice or natural vinegar.

Fill with clean purified water and close the container. Leave for a few hours (10-12 hours) to soak the almonds.

Drain the water in which the nuts were soaked. This water does not need to be used to make milk.

Okay, rinse the nuts a few times and peel them.

Place the nuts in a blender and add water. Chop the nuts.

Strain the milk through a sieve, the bottom of which must be covered with gauze. Squeeze out all the water well.

The remaining pulp can be used to make smoothies, add to the dough when baking cookies, muffins, etc., make a body scrub.

Pour the strained milk into a clean, dry container with a lid. Store in the refrigerator in a sealed container for no longer than 2-4 days.

With this basic milk recipe, you can make flavored almond milk.

Sweetened almond milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3-6 dates (pitted)

1 tablespoon coconut oil

Place the prepared milk in a blender, rinsing it well after preparing the milk according to the basic recipe. Add the rest of the ingredients and whisk.

Instead of dates, you can use syrup, natural sweetener. Replace coconut oil with almond oil.

Chocolate almond milk

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Beat milk in a blender, adding cocoa powder.

Almond milk with cinnamon (turmeric)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Whisk milk with cinnamon.

Strawberry almond milk

2 cups strawberries

Wash and dry strawberries. Place in a blender. Add milk and beat.

Flavored almond milk has a shorter shelf life. This milk is best used immediately. Maximum on the second day.

Porridge with almond milk

To prepare porridge you will need:

80 grams of oatmeal

1 pinch of salt

200 ml almond milk

How to cook

Pour oatmeal with almond milk, salt and cook until tender. You can add a banana or other fresh or frozen berries, fruits, honey, sunflower seeds or nuts to the finished porridge.

Pancakes with almond milk

For cooking you will need:

1 cup flour

1.5 cups almond milk

1 pinch of salt

Sugar to taste

Mix all the ingredients by whisking them with a whisk. You can add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the dough at once.

If you need a stiffer dough, add flour. For thinner, add milk.

Pancakes can be crushed with honey, jam, syrup, or garnished with fresh berries.

As you can see, making almond milk at home is very easy and does not take much time. It is versatile in use. On it you can cook all the usual dishes, in which the basis is cow's milk.

M indal milk- This is one of the most famous types of vegetable milk. It is made from sweet almonds. Almond milk can be easily obtained without heat treatment, so it is suitable for both raw and raw food types. Is an great alternative animal milk, for example, during fasting days or when dieting.

Benefits of almond milk:

  • almond milk is saturated with macro- and microelements (Ca, Mg, P, Mn, Zn, Cu);
  • contains vitamins A, E, B, C, PP, and is also rich in antioxidants;
  • contains vitamin D, indispensable for strengthening bone structures and immunity in general;
  • omega acids have a beneficial effect on the condition of blood vessels, the heart, and normalize blood pressure;
  • easily digestible and suitable for people with lactose intolerance and diabetes;
  • very nutritious;
  • drink almond milk helps in the treatment of cough, diseases of the upper respiratory tract.

Harm of almond milk:

  • Do not use almond milk for people who are allergic to almonds.
  • it is important to reasonably limit its amount, since excessive consumption of foods rich in proteins and fats can adversely affect the balance of nutrition in general;
  • almond milk is not equivalent to cow's milk, it is an alternative to milky taste.

Almond milk: recipe

To make your own homemade almond milk, you only need two ingredients: almonds and water.

  1. Almonds must be raw, that is, not cooked.
  2. It is necessary to revive the nuts, that is, to germinate them. To do this, soak them overnight in water at room temperature.
  3. When the almond swells, peel it from the skin so that you can later use the cake from it. If the skin does not separate well, pour boiling water over the nuts.
  4. Beat the kernels in a blender with water: for 1 cup of nuts - 3 cups of water. You can vary this ratio to get richer milk or cream. We advise you to add only part of the water at first, so that the nuts are better frayed, gradually bringing its amount to the desired one.
  5. Squeeze the milk through a cheesecloth or synthetic bag. Cake can be widely used in various recipes.

It is best to use almond milk right away or store it in the refrigerator for no longer than a few days.

Application of almond milk

You can drink almond milk in its pure form or use it in cooking. various dishes instead of animal milk. Not only milk itself is widely used, but also cake from it. Almond milk has a light milky-nutty taste.

Use the almond milk drink to prepare both sweet and savory dishes:

  • baking,
  • salads,
  • snacks,
  • ice cream, etc.

Almond cake can also be used in various dishes:

  • loaves,
  • biscuit,
  • sweets,
  • additions to salads and side dishes, etc.

The use of almond milk in cosmetology

Almond milk is effective for sensitive, dry and normal skin. It softens the skin, normalizes metabolic processes, provides a balance of fluid in the cells, improves skin firmness and elasticity.