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Best Milk Substitute?

Postby Dogshot on Sun Aug 21, 2011 3:42 pm

Neither my wife nor I have any health issues, but after reading about and doing some research into the incredible effects of the Esselstyn diet, we have decided to see if we can go for 12 weeks eating no dairy, animal, oils, or sugars. If it goes ok, we will probably stick with it.

While this has almost no impact on my coffee habits (maybe the first shot in the morning is in a cap), my wife is a regular cap consumer. Can anyone recommend the best (i.e., most milk-like) milk replacement for coffee drinks?

OT: anyone tried this Esselstyn diet?

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Postby spiffdude on Sun Aug 21, 2011 4:21 pm

hmmm, converting you better half to drinking straight shots would seem like the only answer to me... :? Sorry i'm a whole milk guy...

I've tried soy milk and imo find it undrinkable but it seems like the most common alternative to dairy. There's also almond milk, rice milk and hemp milk. I haven't tried those so maybe someone else can chime in.

search for "soy steaming" "alternative to cow milk" in these forums for tips on technique
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Postby Randy G. on Sun Aug 21, 2011 4:32 pm

I think paying more attention to Dr. Oz and less to extreme diets makes more sense. But no dairy? No oil? No cheese, no yoghurt, and no olive oil.. Ouch. Wow.. Anyway...

If you are drinking by the glass, then my favorite is Silk vanilla (made with non-GMO soybeans). Also excellent on cereal. For coffee (cappas in particular) I like the Kirkland (Costco) vanilla. But these are both sweetened. If you are cutting out sugar totally, and if you find unsweetened, then add a little Stevia (the liquid is excellent for that). Unsweetened soymilk is not very palatable.
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Postby Dogshot on Sun Aug 21, 2011 5:45 pm

When I handed my wife her first ever soy cappuccino, I suggested that maybe we could move her to an Americano or even a macchiato; so I'm with you on the idea of easing her toward espresso.

Randy, thanks for the specific recommendations. I had to Google Stevia. I have always eaten whatever I like (never needed to diet), but the data on this Esselstyn diet are profound. They basically guarantee that you will die of something other than a heart attack or stroke. Cardiac patients show observable changes after 3 weeks. This is the only way to actually remove arterial plaque.

And by the way, Dr. Oz says that if you are going to change to a healthy diet, this is the best way to go.

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Postby bean2friends on Sun Aug 21, 2011 6:17 pm

For me, nothing quite does it like milk. I'd rather have an Americano or a straight shot than soy milk or any of the others. Believe me, I've tried.
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Postby CoffeeOwl on Sun Aug 21, 2011 6:33 pm

I don't know if it is a great substitute, but it's definitely great on its own feet - almond milk.
I have two more friends on twitter who also like it (they're coffee lovers like me).
I don't drink normal milk at all, but just as you I find soy milk undrinkable. I tried coconut milk and it was good but it's distinct coconut (sic!) and sweet :)
If you want here's a guide to making your own: Guide to making your own almond milk
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Postby Dogshot on Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:08 pm

Thanks again for the suggestions. I've laid in a few types of soy of varying degrees of fat and sugar content as well as some almond milk.

I'm pretty sure the soy thing is not going to work out for either myself or my wife as far as coffee goes. I am looking forward to trying the almond milk tomorrow morning.

I realized today that abstaining from milk altogether does impact my coffee consumption - on the road. I make places like $Bux and Tim Hortons drinkable with milk. I had a $Bux coffee today without my usual milk and was surprised how little I found to enjoy about it.

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Postby doubleOsoul on Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:45 pm

I'll jump in a minute.
Silk is owned by megacorporation Dean Foods who also owns Horizon milk - a product that's been pulled from many a health food store shelf because of the sweatshop atmosphere the cows 'get' to live in. Soy is very mucus forming and about as harmful as dairy can be anyway. They have been caught fibbing on the non GMO soybean thing like many companies. With Monsanto in the mix, there's so little actual non-GMO soybean available (similar story with corn, etc).

Almond milk is an alternative but it's cooked (not very good taste wise and the foam is pretty anemic) and Blue Diamond out of Sacramento is notorious for mistreating workers in the worst way (kinda like the dairy sweatshops). I used to see a lot of strikes down at the plant.

The best bet taste wise is making some raw almond milk. I say that because I've made every nut milk available (for the raw food book I'm writing). Nice microfoam can be achieved and it's pretty tasty with a good shot. It can be made in the blender and cheesecloth (cheap and cheerful) or you can step it up and buy a Soyabella for $100 (off Amazon) that makes it and strains it in under 30 seconds. I have one as I only use dairy (raw half & half) in my cortados. Everything else is dairy free and raw (nut milks, raw cheeze, etc). The soyabella uses only about an ounce of soaked almonds (cost effective as hell) and the almond meal can be used after for a mess of things - even as a face scrub (oops, this is a dude site, Doubt y'all care about face scrubs...lol).
Raw milk (if you can get it) is rarely upsetting for digestion as it contains live enzymes.

OO
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Postby Dogshot on Mon Aug 22, 2011 11:16 pm

Thanks for the info. The cheesecloth and Soyabella ideas are great. If I end up using soy or almond milk over the long term, either for coffee or for my kids and cereal, I will definitely do my own straining (milking?, pasting?, there must be a verb for it).

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Postby Light-Zone on Tue Aug 23, 2011 3:17 pm

I have been using Almond milk for the past month or so. It steams relatively well, and if you have a frother, it does even better. The slightly sweet taste is a great companion to espresso. Half the calories of 2% milk, no lactose. I like it.
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