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Almonds are an incredibly healthy food and provide a range of health benefits. They are a rich source of healthy fats, proteins, flavonoids, antioxidants and beneficial phenols.
Adding them to your diet therefore provides many benefits and, moreover, also supplies the body with a lot of energy.
However, although most people who consume almond milk think it is healthier than cow’s milk, this type of milk is actually not as healthy as you might think.
What’s wrong with store-bought almond milk?
The specific problem with store-bought almond milk is that it contains more water, sweeteners and other additives than it does pure almonds.
Research has shown that typical almond milk sold in the United Kingdom contains only 2% almonds. The rest is a mixture of sweeteners, water and added artificial vitamins A, E and D.
Furthermore, store-bought almond milks contain the harmful substance carrageenan, which is added as a thickening agent.
To get even a somewhat meaningful dose of vitamins, you would have to drink an entire one-liter carton.
This fact also explains why store-bought almond milk has so few calories. In one glass you’ll find only about 30, whereas a handful of almonds has up to 160.
A considerable disadvantage of store-bought almond milk is its high price. The profit from it usually goes to the manufacturers, not to ordinary consumers.
It is estimated that the total turnover for producers of this product will reach $1.7 billion just this year!
Why should carrageenan be avoided?
As we have already mentioned, a thickener called carrageenan is added to store-bought almond milk, which is meant to give the impression of a highly concentrated product.
In other words, so that the water looks like thick milk.
However, carrageenan is a substance that causes inflammation in the digestive tract. Therefore we recommend that you or your friends stop buying this expensive mixture of water, sweeteners, additives and a few almonds.
Instead, make your own almond milk. That way you will much more easily obtain the health benefits of almonds and avoid artificial sweeteners or other harmful substances.
How to make homemade almond milk?
Why buy low-quality and expensive almond milk when you can easily make your own at home?
You can find the method in the following video (in English):
For those of you who do not understand English, here is a brief guide in Czech:
1. Soak a handful of almonds (half a cup) in a bowl of water overnight.
2. In the morning put them into a blender and blend with approximately 6 dl of fresh clean water (not the water they were soaked in overnight).
3. Strain the blended liquid through a cloth or cheesecloth and pour into a glass or ceramic container.
4. Keep the almond milk in the refrigerator and consume within the next 3 days.
Conclusion
By following this method you will obtain almond milk that is not only much richer in flavor but also much healthier than the commercial kind.
You can flavor it with a little cinnamon or vanilla extract.
