Homemade Almond Milk, Coconut Milk, etc

[moolie]

Curious why others drink/use nut milks? Is it a taste thing?

I'm lactose intolerant, so if I want something "milky" I buy it--but I also need the calcium that the commercial stuff is enriched with, can't get it from the homemade stuff. I wouldn't buy it/use it if I could have the real thing.

It's a chicken or the egg thing for me. DH's doctor suggested he avoid wheat plus we go thru a lot of milk here with all of the resulting plastic to recycle (the glass bottles are just too heavy for me to handle). We also have family members that have some issues with both wheat and milk.

Thanks Marianne! I was just wondering, because while I find nut milks and some rice milk "ok", I'd far rather be able to have real dairy products again--haven't been able to tolerate much more than yogurt twice a week or the occasional bit of a nice aged cheese for the last 20 years or so.

On the soy issue, I seem to recall having read (in several places over the years) that only fermented soy is good for you (soy sauce, miso etc.).

But I can't remember what the issue is with unfermented soy

 

[Marianne]

Thanks, now I need to research fermented soy. I have the soybeans on order, but still plenty of time to cancel that if I want to. I checked and they are not GMO and they are organic.

Moolie, can you handle raw goat milk? I know that many people who aren't able to drink cow milk have good luck with goat milk.

 

[k15n1]

Its not just estrogen; there is good evidence that soy is bad for other reasons as well. I think I remember you mentioning your age at some point, and I believe you and I are just about the same age, and you are probably right - its a little too late to be very worried about ingesting less than perfect food stuffs at this point. That said, however, I don't eat soy anymore (and wouldn't, even if it tasted good ), except the occasional miso soup (home made, with organic miso).

http://www.foodrenegade.com/dangers-of-soy/

I don't have a big opinion on this, but I would say that the article linked here is not terribly credible. There's a focus on certain chemical elements of a food. Usually, this is an indication of an out-of-context claim about health. Obsessing about certain molecules (fat, cholesterol, for example) is a bad way to think about food.* Thinking of food as good and evil, with us or against us, healthy or unhealthy is foolish and leads from one health-food claim to another. I think it's a much better plan to eat traditional foods from back before the US gained an international overweight reputation. It's less exciting but better for you in the long run.

Philosophical arguments aside, the bit about alleged trypsin inhibitors is very hard to believe. (I have a Ph.D. from the Mayo Clinic in Biochemistry, so when I say it's hard to believe, I'm being polite.) Trypsin is an enzyme (the original nano tech) that takes apart certain kinds of molecules. It is not the only such enzyme in your gut. And you don't bleed if something doesn't get fully digested. Lots of bits of food aren't digestible and nature has its own way of taking care of that. And I've never heard of a pancreatic issue caused by soy or anything else with trypsin inhibitors. You'll be better off trying to avoid Diabetes mellitus if your pancreas is you main concern. I could be wrong---sometimes our training and intuition lead us to the wrong conclusions. But more information is needed than this article. For instance, what particular molecule is inhibiting trypsin? Is there a research article on the topic, independent of soy? What are the methods? Are there in-vivo studies?

Finally soy is rich in trypsin inhibitors. Trypsin is a digestive enzyme we need to properly digest protein. Without enough trypsin, youll experience many digestive problems including stomach cramps, diarrhea, and bleeding. Youll also be leaving yourself open to future problems with your pancreas.

* There are exceptions but usually it's related to naturally occurring toxins or human pollution. Arsenic is found in certain water sources, for example. Rice with arsenic in is bad for you. No debate needed there. But that's the exception in the friend-enemy type talk about food.

 

[moolie]

Thanks, now I need to research fermented soy. I have the soybeans on order, but still plenty of time to cancel that if I want to. I checked and they are not GMO and they are organic.

Moolie, can you handle raw goat milk? I know that many people who aren't able to drink cow milk have good luck with goat milk.

I'm a no-go on raw goats milk as well--I have tried it a few times and it also causes me gastric distress (to put it lightly) like all dairy.

 

[ORChick]

k15n1 - Thank you for that information. I pulled that one article up mostly because I ran across it early in my search, and it was easy to read and grasp. There are actually many articles on the ways in which soy is not healthful - but of course there are also many articles on the reverse. It comes down to individual feeling on the matter, and mine suggests that eating unfermented soy is not a good idea ... so I don't.

I think it's a much better plan to eat traditional foods from back before the US gained an international overweight reputation. It's less exciting but better for you in the long run.

This is a very good plan, and one that I try to follow. Actually, I go for traditional foods, not just of N. America but from many cultures - and, therefore, quite exciting at times . One thing that both the article I linked to, and others, points out is that soy (contrary to what we are often led to believe) is not a traditional food source - not in the way it is offered today. Even in Asia soy was traditionally used as animal feed, with some part of it put aside for humans, and fermented - miso, traditionally made soy sauce, tempeh, natto, and usually eaten in relatively small quantities. (I haven't got past the visual on tempeh yet, and natto is even worse (in my opinion), but I ate some when I was in Japan {served by our hosts, so it was a source of pride on my part to eat it without flinching }; it tasted fine, just looked disgusting)

In the end we all need to make our own choices on what we eat. What I was hoping to do by linking to the above article was just offer another point of view for those who might not have heard this before, so that choices can be made from a more informed understanding, and to encourage others to do research on their choices, and not take what "The Establishment" says without a grain of salt..

 

[k15n1]

k15n1 - Thank you for that information. I pulled that one article up mostly because I ran across it early in my search, and it was easy to read and grasp. There are actually many articles on the ways in which soy is not healthful - but of course there are also many articles on the reverse. It comes down to individual feeling on the matter, and mine suggests that eating unfermented soy is not a good idea ... so I don't.

I think it's a much better plan to eat traditional foods from back before the US gained an international overweight reputation. It's less exciting but better for you in the long run.

This is a very good plan, and one that I try to follow. Actually, I go for traditional foods, not just of N. America but from many cultures - and, therefore, quite exciting at times . One thing that both the article I linked to, and others, points out is that soy (contrary to what we are often led to believe) is not a traditional food source - not in the way it is offered today. Even in Asia soy was traditionally used as animal feed, with some part of it put aside for humans, and fermented - miso, traditionally made soy sauce, tempeh, natto, and usually eaten in relatively small quantities. (I haven't got past the visual on tempeh yet, and natto is even worse (in my opinion), but I ate some when I was in Japan {served by our hosts, so it was a source of pride on my part to eat it without flinching }; it tasted fine, just looked disgusting)

In the end we all need to make our own choices on what we eat. What I was hoping to do by linking to the above article was just offer another point of view for those who might not have heard this before, so that choices can be made from a more informed understanding, and to encourage others to do research on their choices, and not take what "The Establishment" says without a grain of salt..

Ditto on foods from other continents. Tried suet pastry the other day and it was a big hit. So tonight, it's spotted dick.

Interesting about the history of soy.

(Had to comment on the article. I'm glad it didn't come off as a personal attack or something.)

 

[ORChick]

k15n1 wrote:

Ditto on foods from other continents. Tried suet pastry the other day and it was a big hit. So tonight, it's spotted dick.

Interesting about the history of soy.

(Had to comment on the article. I'm glad it didn't come off as a personal attack or something.)

Not at all - I am always interested in the opinions of others.

I lived, and survived boarding school , for 3 years as a young teen in Ireland. The school kitchen was not terribly successful (in my opinion) in its attempts to feed us an appetizing dinner, but was quite good when it came to desserts. We often (once a week or so) got steamed puddings, which were quite new to this American child. The one that Americans know best (though more likely through hearsay, and the annual TV productions of "A Christmas Carol", rather than actual eating) is the Plum or Christmas pudding. But the English and Irish have a repertoire of steamed puddings that are, in many cases, much lighter than the average plum pudding, almost like a spongecake. They all contain suet (or used to, before the "animal fat is evil" crowd got in the way ) I have retained a fondness for these puddings (for the uninitiated - "pudding" is the generic English term for dessert, though sometimes they just say " the sweet", as in "the sweet today is steamed pudding"), though seldom make them as my DH is of Teutonic persuasion, and would rather I make Strudel or Streusel cake. I've never tried spotted dick, though my various English cookbooks all have recipes that sound good. How was yours?

My, how we have wandered away from almond milk!

 

[Emerald]

I have tried cooking with the coconut flour and boy do you have to add more liquid. Anyone else notice this? It was commercially produced organic so maybe the "spent" coconut from making "milk'' would be different?

Cooking or Baking? Do you really think all Flour is the same heck wheat flour is not all the same. Seing you are 'Corn Woman' I expect you already know about corn flour...

Really? Snarky much? I know you are quite the knowledgeable bloke but sometimes a bit of common politeness wouldn't hurt you ..

on the substitute milk thing. I've been lactose intolerant for many years. Way back before it was such a "buzz" word. I could tolerate a bit of goat milk but after the dairy problems I just lost my taste for it. but I love love love the coconut silk vanilla and if I could afford it I would buy and make my own coconut milk. Soy just gives me the worst gastric distress like milk.. unless it is fermented.. miso and soy don't bother me. I also love the dark chocolate almond milk by silk.

 

[ORChick]

Emerald, obviously I don't know either your food or milk budget, but I have to wonder at your "if I could afford it ..." comment. I just checked the Azure Standard site, which is my first "go to" for organic bulk items (though I don't know whether they ship to Michigan). 5# of organic coconut shreds are $9.70. I haven't measured, so I can't say what that translates to as far as coconut milk. If you can't drink dairy, what are you drinking, and how much does it cost? (This is a rhetorical question; please don't feel that you need to answer). When I lived in a more cosmopolitan area I did some of my shopping at an Indian market, and bought both coconut shreds (for desserts etc.) and coconut powder (for coconut milk) from a lovely little Indian market (as well as many spices) (both shreds and powder work for milk, but the powder was cheaper). I don't remember the prices, only that they were low compared to regular supermarkets. If you have access to such places you might want to check them out. (As a matter of fact, I go back to that area approximately once a year, and keep a list as to what I might want to get at that lovely little shop; not organic, but worth going into if only for the smells, and the small, ethnic market feel of the place --- I will be there at the end of this week, and plan to look for fresh ginger and turmeric, and we'll see what else strikes my fancy) Cow milk is so ubiquitous in our culture it may be hard to find anything comparable that can compete in price. But if you can't drink dairy then you have to compare the alternatives with each other, and not with dairy. The other week I bought shelf stable almond and oat milks, just to have on hand. I was a little shocked at the prices and bought only one container of each (so I could test as to which one I might want to keep on hand in the pantry). I think having the wherewithal to make coconut milk may actually be the better way to go.

 

[Marianne]

Emerald, obviously I don't know either your food or milk budget, but I have to wonder at your "if I could afford it ..." comment. I just checked the Azure Standard site, which is my first "go to" for organic bulk items (though I don't know whether they ship to Michigan). 5# of organic coconut shreds are $9.70. I haven't measured, so I can't say what that translates to as far as coconut milk. If you can't drink dairy, what are you drinking, and how much does it cost? (This is a rhetorical question; please don't feel that you need to answer). When I lived in a more cosmopolitan area I did some of my shopping at an Indian market, and bought both coconut shreds (for desserts etc.) and coconut powder (for coconut milk) from a lovely little Indian market (as well as many spices) (both shreds and powder work for milk, but the powder was cheaper). I don't remember the prices, only that they were low compared to regular supermarkets. If you have access to such places you might want to check them out. (As a matter of fact, I go back to that area approximately once a year, and keep a list as to what I might want to get at that lovely little shop; not organic, but worth going into if only for the smells, and the small, ethnic market feel of the place --- I will be there at the end of this week, and plan to look for fresh ginger and turmeric, and we'll see what else strikes my fancy) Cow milk is so ubiquitous in our culture it may be hard to find anything comparable that can compete in price. But if you can't drink dairy then you have to compare the alternatives with each other, and not with dairy. The other week I bought shelf stable almond and oat milks, just to have on hand. I was a little shocked at the prices and bought only one container of each (so I could test as to which one I might want to keep on hand in the pantry). I think having the wherewithal to make coconut milk may actually be the better way to go.

Our visiting son drove two hours to go to an Indian market. I was shocked when I saw how little he paid for spices.

I'm still new to Azure, I didn't know they had coconut shreds. Hmmmm...