The healthiest and best dairy milk substitutes to make at home for children and adults and why to avoid commercial versions even if organic.
Milk allergy affects approximately 2-5% of children worldwide.
Many times “milk allergy” simply masquerades as “pasteurization allergy”, which means that when a switch is made from processed store milk to farm fresh unpasteurized milk, the “milk allergy” magically disappears!
Why is this?
Pasteurization denatures fragile milk proteins and renders them allergenic because digestive enzymes no longer work effectively on them.
It also destroys lactase, the enzyme necessary for digesting lactose, the naturally occurring sugar in milk.
A simple switch to fresh from the farm raw milk solves both of these problems.
Beware the Plant-Based Milk Scam
In those rare instances when a child is truly allergic to cow or goat milk – even the farm-fresh variety, figuring out which plant-based milk to try can be a bewildering experience for a concerned parent.
Soy milk, also called soya bean milk, is clearly not a good option as high amounts of isoflavones (plant estrogens) disrupt the hormonal development of young children.
Commercial rice milk is high in sugar and low in nutrition with little to no protein or fats to stabilize the blood sugar.
Even store-bought almond milk is not a good choice as it is also very low in protein and fat, high in sugar, and is not made from almonds that have been properly soaked/dehydrated first to eliminate anti-nutrients.
Besides all the issues with the ingredients themselves, the tetrapak packaging of these products is incredibly toxic.
To sterilize the container, boiling hot liquid is poured into the container that is lined with thin plastic before sealing.
While this results in a long shelf life, toxins leach into the product itself! In short, you are no doubt getting a hefty serving of petrochemicals with that plant-based milk.
The short answer is to never buy alternative milk from the store if you value your health.
Fortunately, making safe, healthy milk substitutes yourself is easy. Suggestions below!
Who Should Drink Non-Dairy Milk?
Before we go any further, an important point requires clarification.
Despite being healthy, all-natural, and homemade, the milk substitutes suggested below are ONLY for adults and children older than one year.
A baby younger than one that is not breastfed should be getting a homemade formula and if allergic to milk, homemade dairy-free baby formula is best.
Goat milk formula, sheep milk formula, or camel milk formula may be used instead if the allergy is only to cow’s milk.
One final point…never use these recipes to make plant-based or vegan baby formula.
Nutritious DIY Dairy Milk Substitutes
Below is a summation of the ones I recommend trying to see which recipe works best for your family!
Coconut Milk Beverage
This healthy coconut milk beverage is made with whole coconut milk so that it is high in good fats to stabilize blood sugar in a manner similar to full-fat dairy milk.
The base is ideally homemade coconut milk. However, if you must buy, I suggest this brand or this brand of commercial coconut milk.
Powdered coconut milk is also an option, but it is quite expensive per serving. This type of product also usually contains maltodextrin and sometimes digestion-irritating gums.
Cultured Rice Milk Recipe
This fermented rice milk recipe is lightly cultured and sweetened with raw honey.
If your child is allergic to coconut as well as dairy, traditional rice milk works well. Avoid the sugar-laden, nutritionless versions from the store packaged in toxic containers!
If you prefer nonfermented beverages, this wild rice milk recipe uses soaked rice instead of fermentation. This renders the rice digestible without the slightly sour taste typical of cultured foods.
Since wild rice is not technically a grain, substituting it for brown rice is suitable for those on a grain-free diet.
Sprouted Almond Milk
This easy recipe for sprouted almond milk is a huge step up from anything you can buy from the store.
If even more digestibility is needed, you can lightly culture the beverage into fermented almond milk. This additional step provides gut-balancing probiotics and even more enzymes.
Note that while this beverage is well tolerated by most people, those who are sensitive to oxalates would be better off picking one of the other alternative milks in this list.
Almonds even if sprouted or soaked are one of the highest foods in oxalic acid.
Sprouted Oat Milk
There are a couple of different ways to make healthy oat milk (never buy commercial oat milk!).
The first is this recipe for homemade oat milk using sprouted rolled oats.
The second method is this yummy beverage from soaked oat groats.
While you normally need to cook oats after soaking or sprouting if you will be consuming the entire grain, for purposes of beverage-making, the antinutrients are sufficiently deactivated with soaking or sprouting only.
The key point here is that the fibrous portion of the grain is discarded or composted when making oat milk at home.
While I have not seen causative research on this as of yet, anecdotal evidence from those with digestive disorders indicates that the effect on digestion is not disruptive or inflammatory such as would occur when eating uncooked or lightly toasted oats (even if sprouted or soaked overnight first).
References
Eat Fat, Lose Fat
Nourishing Traditions Cookbook
Why Almond Milk and Coconut Milk from the Store Should Be Avoided
I know that this is an old post but I really hope someone can give me a good help!
My baby was thriving with homemade raw milk formula but during a trip I had to buy raw milk in another place that was supposed to be a trusted source. Turns out my baby developped a strong rash eczema and it doesn’t go away no matter what I do (I tried to rub – in different times – shea butter, coconut oil, olive oil + 2 drops of tea tree essential oil, castor oil on her skin and the patches don’t go away). I removed the egg yolk (it is now maybe 2 weeks or more) and it’s not this that triggers the eczema, it is the raw milk (even though we are already at home and with our previous source of good raw milk). My baby cannot stand the liver, so I thought about doing almond milk. However I have doubts and worries… where will she get her minerals from (namely calcium as well) not to mention fat? I have vanilla extract that I made with vodka… I am not going to add vodka to my baby’s milk!
What are the benefits of the vanilla and almond extracts (homemade almond milk)?
Can please someone help with this?
What about homemade hemp milk?
Hi, My children all have digestive problems. We have found the thing that helps them the most is having them take a supplement of digestive enzymes and probiotics. We didn’t learn about them though until my boys were ages 1 and 3. They were on acid reducer meds and ate no dairy. They are now able to eat dairy as long as they take one of their supplement pills.
With my daughter I took the supplements while pregnant and nursing and it made a huge difference. I nursed her to 8 months and then she did fine with regular formula. At a year (3 months ago) I switched her to fresh dairy milk and she did ok with it until we went on a trip at Christmas and forgot the milk at home. We tried her on store bought milk and she got very fussy and constipated. Although we still give her the digestive enzymes and probiotics and she is still MUCH better than my boys, I am trying to figure out what to do to get her back on track with her digestive system. She has never been the same since Christmas. A week ago while on a trip I started her on store bought coconut milk and she improved but when we got home we couldn’t find coconut milk so started her on almond milk. Now she seems worse again. And is having some constipation.
I found this site when searching for whether almond or coconut milk is better. Sorry for the long post but my question is… is there any reason that I can’t give her store bought coconut milk in a carton? Or why is the homemade stuff better? With my sons I tried soy, rice, and goat milk and they couldn’t tolerate any of them. Finally they just drank water. I think I tried almond once but either they didn’t like it or it was just too expensive for us. I don’t remember ever seeing coconut milk for sale.
Thanks!
If anyone is interested, I have created a blog that tells about what all we went through with our childrens digestive problems and what we’ve found to help. help4acidreflux.wordpress.com
I’m Asian and know many many other Asians who swear by soy and soy milk (freshly made) and we hardly ever eat manufactured soy products. Our history of eating soy is millenium old.
I agree with Dr. Weil the and Journal of Nutrition.
“When you consider that millions of men in China, Japan and other Asian countries have had soy foods in their daily diets from earliest childhood, you can appreciate that the plant estrogens they contain have no discernible effect on male sexual development, and no feminizing effects at all. Given the huge populations of Asian countries there’s no reason to think that soy affects male fertility, either.” – Dr Weil MD
My rice milk tastes very bitter and lemony. I only put a 1/4 cup of lemon juice. Does this mean I didn’t do it right? or that it has gone bad?
I tasted the almond milk right before I covered it on the counter for 2 days. It was so delicious! Then after 2 days + chilling, it tasted completely rotten/sour. Is it necessary for the milk to sit on the counter for 2 days?
Well apparently you are evil for offering alternatives to breast milk and not writing in caps that breast milk is best. I just don’t get people. My milk dried up when my son turned 1 bc I got pregnant, then with my second I was so depressed and out of it by the time she was 10 months old that if I didn’t stop nursing I would expose her growing brain to anti-depressants and my rage and issues. 10 days after I stopped nursing it was like a heavy fog lifted from my brain. I assume it was hormones. I was a mess and a terrible mother for a while there. I wish I was still nursing just so I didn’t have to figure out an alternative to milk bc of a dairy allergy, but that ship has sailed. I’m grateful for info like this. All people saying breast is best over and over does is make me feel guilty for being a messed up person. I’m damned if I do and I’m damned if I don’t no matter what my choice. I can’t afford the best and homemade ing either, but sometimes I’m just grateful to live in a place where the water is clean, the food is the best I can afford and I have a resource like the internet to get info.
Hi, great post. I’m only 18 and unable to purchase a food processor. Is it necessary to use that or will a blender be able to work just as good with the same results? I was also wondering how long each homemade milk can be stored for? Thanks!
She answered previously about the almond milk lasting a week : )