drinking too much almond milk?

[SamuelWilson]

It is routine to make fresh almond milk in the morning after the almonds have soaked in the fridge overnight. I make a half gallon a day and easily drink that every day. I sweeten it slightly with raw agave.

I feel great, but I have a hard time accepting that is very healthy. I would be happy to believe that because I do like it. Is a half a gallon of almond milk every day excessive?

[calee]

Can I ask how many almonds to what amount of water are you using? I'm new to making almond milk and i'm curious.

Thank you!

[Autumn]

Hi Samuel,
I think it's hard to judge what is excessive for one person or another. If you are still feeling wonderful and you enjoy it, I don't see any problem with drinking as much as you like. Later on you may feel you don't want as much. You might wake up one day and say, "I don't want any almond milk today; I'm tired of it." We are constantly changing on raw. Listen to your body, it knows what is best for *you*.

Autumn :D

[SamuelWilson]

For every 1 cup of dried almonds that are soaked over night (they end up swelling to more than one cup), I add 3 cups of water and blend. I then strain the mixture through some cheese cloth. You can do as much as 4 cups of water and as little as 2 cups or even less if you wanted to make almond cream.

I seem satisfied with the 3 cups of water per 1 cup of almonds.

I actually soak 3 cups of almonds at a time though, which become 4 cups after soaking over night. I then mix that 4 cups of soaked almonds with 9 cups of water.

I add a little raw agave to sweeten my almond milk and it really helps it. This stuff is better than any dairy or soy milk. Even a non-raw foodist might actually prefer this stuff over dairy or soy milk.

The only draw back is that the organic almonds are $15.89 a pound at my local health food store. I am thankful that they carry the stuff. It ends up being some pretty expensive almond milk, but as long as it is healthy, I justify it.

[calee]

Thanks for the reply about the ratio.

[VeggieMel]

I don't know if it's healthy or not to drink that much almond milk, but I can relate to the habit. I LOVE almond milk. Someone recently posted a recipe for sweet almond milk. It's almond milk with dates and vanilla. I add 2 dates and a little less than a teaspoon of vanilla to 1 large serving of almond milk. It's incredible!

[tracyinfo]

You might try using sunflower seeds and/or pumpkin seeds for your nut milk. Perhaps even on alternate days or something. The sunflower and pumpkin seeds are much less expensive than almonds!

Blessings.

[GlimR]

I love almond milk too. I would wonder if 3-4 cups of almonds made into milk is ok too,per day, seems like an awful lot to me. I'd love to hear some other opinions on this. I use 1 cup per 4 cups water which makes a quart. I could drink this in two days but don't because I think it might be too much fat.....what do you guys think?

[Punky]

You might try using sunflower seeds and/or pumpkin seeds for your nut milk. Perhaps even on alternate days or something. The sunflower and pumpkin seeds are much less expensive than almonds!

Blessings.

I think tracyinfo has a good idea; rotate the kind of milks you make. Sesame milk is yummy too. I've had brazil nut milk that was decadent. That way you would get a wider range of nutrients included in your diet.

It's hard to say if that is too much almond milk..depends on what the rest of your diet consists of and your current health goals. If you are at a good weight or progressing with you current goals than I do not see why not if the rest of your diet is varied....if you feel your health is not progressing the way you want it too than I would cut back (i.e. weight loss, etc...).
Either way almond milk is a nutrient rich drink. If it helps keep you raw, enjoy!
But do experiment making some other milks. Seed milks are cheaper too.

[RawTruth]

I tried to figure it out, but I got confused -- about how many cups of almonds worth of milk are you drinking each day?

And ... sorry, in advance, to ask such basic questions of you, but I've been really busy IRL so have been largely off the board for a while, so I'd normally know these ... how long have you been all raw? what are your goals? what's been happning with your raw journey as far as your body and physical/mental health? (Hoping you understand that I can't really respond responsibly to your question without knowing these things. Okay?)

.

[levamssg]

I go with Autumn's response ... listen to your body. For whatever reason, you must be needing the almond milk right now.

I have had the same experience with more than one food. The latest was avocados ... I ate 3-4 or more every day. Just couldn't get enough of them -- would probably fight to the death over the last one at the market. That lasted for about 3 months ... now if I have one avocado every other day -- or even none, it is just fine.

So, enjoy that milk !!!

[SamuelWilson]

RawTruth, I am drinking around 8 cups of almond milk a day. Now some of that is consumed in smoothies. I have been raw for a year, however, I was a fruitarian, not a raw foodist as most people think of a raw foodist. I did not eat "raw cuisine" like I have been preparing. Before being raw, I was a vegan. I initially experienced some detox when converting from vegan to fruitarian, but when I converted to "raw cuisinist" I didn't really experience much change. I actually have done it a little different than most people. Most people that are fruitarians were initially raw foodist, then converted to the more strict fruitarian diet. I was skeptical of the raw cuisine, but I see no harm in enjoying your food as long as it is raw and healthy. My obective was to become healthy, not to become a prude.

As far as my reasons for being raw, I would say my concern for ethical treatment of animals was a major reason. It goes with out saying, that health was a determining factor also. There is no denying that an all raw vegetable based diet is the most healthy diet for humans. My goals are to learn more of the recipes and to be able to influence the people around me to convert to raw. I was already a healthy weight when I became a raw foodist, so to change my weight has really not been a goal. However, I obviously want to stay trim and I personally can not think of a better way to do it, than to be raw. Mentally, I feel sharper and seem to have the ability to concentrate for longer periods of time.

[RawTruth]

Do the math for me, Samuel -- how many cups of almonds does it take for you to come up with the 8 cups of milk?

Also, thanks for the explanation; I totally know where you're coming from with wanting to eat more of a mainstream style of eating rather than something more extreme. Alissa's way is what works for most people, I think (though I am biased, of course <grin>). It's what worked for me.

How long were you fruitarian and how long since you've been eating this way? Oh, and I imagine you're pretty in touch with your body by now, right?

[ebonysea7]

As long as we're talking about drinks here, I recently found a recipe for tahini milk that's just delish. I add one tablespoon of tahini to 5 cups of water, dates, honey, a dash of sea salt and olive oil. It's convenient, econmical and fast.

/gfj

[SamuelWilson]

RawTruth, 3 cups of dry almonds produce at least 8 cups of almond milk. This is a guess, but I think that is what it comes out or something similar to that. Basically, I put 3 cups of water in the blender with 1 cup of soaked almonds (which ends up being 1 1/4 cup of almonds) and then I blend it, then strain it with cheese cloth. Whatever it yields it yields, varies slightly with each batch.

I have been a raw foodist for a year. However, the only the last 3 months or so, have I started getting more interested in "raw cuisine" and that is actually what led me to this site.

As far as how I feel, I feel fine. However, you can't always go on how you feel. For example, a person may feel fine drinking cokes everyday, but one day you are not going to feel fine if you keep drinking them. This is why I question drinking too much almond milk. It taste so good, I just have a hard time accepting that it is healthy. I have received enough feedback to know that it is ok to drink the almond milk now.

[RawTruth]

It taste so good, I just have a hard time accepting that it is healthy. Yeah -- what a dilemma for us raw fooders, huh? What to do with that worry and guilt that's now unnecessary. :D So, I'm guessing you haven't had the Date Nut Torte for breakfast yet.