Made by soaking and sometimes blending almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, or pistachios in water, they're not dairy products, but are similar enough that they've already put a dent in the cow's milk market — especially almond milk, which, according to the market research firm IRI, has become the nation's most popular non-dairy alternative with 2014 sales grossing nearly $700 million to date.
Meanwhile, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, per capita consumption of cow's milk has dropped by about 25 percent since 1975. This is partly because of the prevalence of other bottled drinks like soda or iced tea, but some is also due to the nut-milk juggernaut.
Initially, the move appears to make sense for consumers, especially the waistline-conscious. One cup of unsweetened almond milk has about 30 calories and 2.5 grams of fat, none of which is saturated. A cup of 2 percent dairy milk, by comparison, has about 120 calories and 5 grams of fat, 3 of which is saturated.
It's also an attractive alternative for the lactose intolerant, who may be searching for a way to continue imbibing their recommended daily intake of calcium (to maintain bone health) and vitamin D (to support the immune system). Although nut milks have neither naturally, they're fortified during processing to about the same levels as dairy.
"It's the same benefits that we get from drinking skim milk," said Peggy Policastro, nutrition specialist at Rutgers University. "But you really have to make sure that the nut milk is fortified. Natural milk is very high in calcium and vitamin D, and if you exclude that, your diet will be deficient."
Seems like a wonder drink, doesn't it? Not to everyone.
Andrea Anfuso-Sisto, a registered dietitian at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, said that although nut milk is a good alternative source for calcium and vitamin D, it is much lower in protein: traditional milk has about 8 grams per cup, but most nut milks, including almond and cashew, have 1 gram or less.
That could be a necessary tradeoff for the lactose intolerant, she said, but for those without some sort of milk allergy, dairy is probably better, especially for young kids who need the protein during growth spurts. They often have milk at breakfast alongside a cereal that has plenty of carbohydrates, but little else.
"Most cereals aren't a good source of protein, so it's good to balance that out," she said. "So you're missing the calories [with nut milk], but it's at the cost of the protein."
Furthermore, she said, many types of nut milk are sweetened to soften the drink's inherently raw taste, so blindly grabbing for Almond Breeze in a grocer's refrigerated case could mean buying "vanilla" instead of "unsweetened vanilla" (and the half-gallon containers do look similar). The taste difference is marked, but so is the nutritional: no sugar in the unsweetened, 13 grams in the sweetened.
Other nut milks are similar — sweetened cashew milk has 5 grams of sugar, and Pacific's brand of hazelnut milk has 14 — and all of it is added sugar that's not found naturally in the drink. This type of sugar has been linked to obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Cow's milk, Anfuso-Sisto said, may have 11 grams itself, but that's natural sugar, similar to the fructose in an apple.
"If you're talking about the recommendations for added sugar each day, females get about 100 calories (6 teaspoons) and males get about 150 (9 teaspoons). Things like pieces of fruit or glasses of milk don't count — but the sweetened almond milk would," she said.
Policastro agreed, and said that consumers must be aware of what they're buying.
"It's similar to chocolate milk; you're still getting the vitamin D, but you're getting a lot of sugar," she said.
But she didn't share Anfuso-Sisto's concern about the lack of protein, and said that Americans regularly get "more than enough" in their regular diet. In her opinion, the best kind of milk is the kind that people will actually drink.
"Drink whichever you like better. Just don't leave a milk out of your diet, because that's where you're getting your calcium," she said.
Email: janoski@northjersey.com
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