Let’s Talk Milk

Ok, let’s talk milk.
Ponder this: we are the only species who drinks milk post lactation. Having just learned in depth about evolution in my biology course, I know that it takes A LOT of time for a population to evolve. So, to make it simple, adult humans weren’t, and still aren’t, built to digest lactase (milk sugar). Our bodies produce lactase (the enzyme needed to break down lactose) when we are babies, but this production stops when we reach adulthood. Some people may be able to eat dairy as adults as be fine, but something tells me that it’s not really the best thing for my body. Additionally, I find it weird that we drink cows’ milk; aren’t we supposed to drink the milk from our own species?!
For whatever reason you may choose to cut dairy out of your diet, I’m sure that you’ve tried a couple of dairy alternatives in your day. I certainly have. Here’s what I have to say about them:
Soy Milk: This was one of the first milk alternatives.  Soymilk was around back in the day when a dairy free diet was “weird.” I, personally, don’t like the soy-ish aftertaste, but I’ll be honest, when I’m at Starbucks and it’s my only option, I’ll totally put some in my coffee. 
Rice Milk:  This option was created shortly after soymilk. Here’s bottom line: I don’t think it’s great. The sweetened variations of rice milk taste lovely, but drinking rice-y water laden with cane syrup doesn’t sound like too much fun to me. If rice milk is your only option, then by all means give it a try. However, it’s not that nutritionally beneficial and doesn’t taste that great, so I choose to stay away.
Almond milk: Now we’re talking!  I LOVE almond milk!  It’s so creamy and delicious!  It’s perfect to add to coffee, tea, smoothies, okay, basically it tastes good on/in everything.  (It also works very well for chia pudding…..)
Almond milk is by far my favorite milk alternative! I always have (multiple bottles of) it in my house and use it for multiple uses on the daily. It’s creamy, nutty, and perfectly delicious.
Cashew milk: I usually just have cashew milk for a treat. I bought cocoa cashew milk from Whole Foods one time and it was DIVINE.  It was a total impulse buy, however somehow I don’t regret it at all…! Due to its thick and creamier-than-almond milk texture, cashew milk is better to use in something like a smoothie rather than in coffee.  A glass of cashew milk on it’s own is definitely a treat!

Coconut milk: Coconut milk is creamier than almond milk, but not as thick as cashew milk. It doesn’t have the nutty flavor that almond milk offers; to be honest, it tastes like water.  When I use coconut milk, I usually use it in baking, because it has a subtle coconut flavor.

There are SO many options to choose from for someone who is in search of a dairy alternative. Although this multitude of options may seem intimidating on a grocery store shelf, I encourage you to give them a try! There are pros and cons to all of them, but they each have unique qualities that make them useful and delicious on their own or in one of your recipes.
And, if you’re interested, give the whole “dairy free thing” a try. You never know what your body might be able to do when it’s not working hard to digest something that it’s not meant to.