Homemade almond milk vs. Store bought

[StudentforLife]

I was just wondering how healthy the store bought almond milk was. I usually make my own almond milk but it's getting to be so expensive and my fiance expressed an interest in drinking it now too.

I did buy the store bought stuff for the fist time just recently. It's good but looking at the ingredients makes me wary. Nothing too wacky, but there is tricalcium phosphate and guar gum,(don't really know what those are). It doesn't say that the almonds are raw. It's the Pacific brand.

Any thoughts?

[berrymarymac]

I have that in my fridge and it tastes. Hmmm, oily! It's quite nasty and I only use it in grawnola if I have to since I don't have time to make almond milk.

[Spectatrix]

Tricalcium phosphate is just a mineral salt used to fortify the almond milk with calcium. Guar gum is a thickener. I believe the almonds use are raw, as the ingredients list simply says "almond base", whereas their hazelnut milk says "roasted hazelnut base".

In any case, it's probably decently healthy, but fresh almond milk is definitely better for you.

[Revvell]

Store bought has been heated so most of the benefits of why we are drinking it in the first place is gone. It has to be heated to package it.

[StudentforLife]

Well, that stinks.

Do you have any pointers for cutting costs for homemade? Is there a place I can go that sells raw almonds cheaper, or is the expense just something I have to deal with?

[Revvell]

Depends on whether you're going organic or not. Trader Joe's has the best deal I know of on non-organic. I think others have gotten some from Costco or Cosco or... ?

There are some online sources others have recommended. Might have to do a search here.

[sbaker]

in the book "raw food, real world" they have a form of almond milk thats quick and easy when you dont want to make it from scratch. It uses raw almond butter and some other ingredients that slip my mind right now. It may not be as optimal health wise as making it from scratch, because i hear conflicting views on whether or not "raw" almond butter is in fact raw, but it tastes great and its way better than the store bought stuff.

[StudentforLife]

Hmmm, that's interesting.

Thanks for all the feedback everyone.

[Conscious Midwife]

Well, that stinks.

Do you have any pointers for cutting costs for homemade? Is there a place I can go that sells raw almonds cheaper, or is the expense just something I have to deal with?


Since I'm not a milk drinker I find jus blending almonds with water to be sufficient for my smoothie and frozen treats. This is probaly stretching the recipes that are normally psoted, as I dilute it with water and don't bother with all the nut bag options.

But again I'm not drinking it plain or pouring it over granola.

As a matter of fact I'm soakins some in the fridge now for plumpness. iblend tomorrow in a smoothies