Chances are if you like cow's milk and cow's milk likes you, you're the minority. 2/3 people have bodies that do not react well to traditional cow's milk. The most common reactions to cow's milk are lactose intolerance and sensitivity to casein proteins, which can be a cause of acne. This begs the question: Is traditional cow's milk better than alternatives such as almond milk?
I have always found that my skin didn't react well when I'd been drinking more milk than usual but I'd never considered switching to an alternative. However, recently I went Vegan for a week, which forced me to explore other alternatives. Among the more popular alternatives, Almond Milk seems to have the most scientist approved benefits and the least consequences.
Why is Almond Milk Better?
If cow's milk isn't for you, almond milk can provide a lot of added benefits to your diet. Almond milk is not milk extracted from an almond, but in fact it is just a mix of ground almonds and water. Almond milk contains tons of nutrients that are really good for the body. It has Vitamin E, iron and phosphorus along with many other nutrients. It even has calcium in addition to the aforementioned ones.
The Taste Test
We tried the kinds of milk 3 different ways: Plain (which is just a glass of milk in a non-descript glass), with Cereal (in a container of plain Cheerios) and in an unsweetened Iced Latte. These are 3 most common ways that I consume milk and I think most university students follow suit.
Plain
We tried the milk plain first. They look pretty similar and have similar tastes but the main difference was that the Almond Milk was slightly sweeter therefore, those who don't really like the taste of milk preferred almond milk.
Cereal
The cereal paired with the milks was unsweetened. Due to this those who preferred the almond milk liked the sweeter taste paired with the unsweetened cereal (despite some concerns that paired with a sweeter cereal the almond milk may have been too sweet). If the taste of the cereal was important to the taster they chose the regular cow's milk.
Iced Latte
The iced latte results were very interesting. The almond milk iced latte was popular among those who didn't like the taste of coffee. However, though almond milk covers the coffee taste, the bitter aftertaste still remains. Those who actually like coffee chose the regular cow's milk iced latte.
Conclusion
Almond milk and cow's milk had very similar results but in general almond milk was preferred. This is probably because almond milk is a little sweeter so it is helpful in these three instances. Moreover, I think both kinds of milk tasted good but almond milk's taste is nicer. If you can switch to almond milk, it may be a lot better for your health for all the reasons we have already discussed.
I would definitely recommend at least trying out almond milk because you may find that you never want to go back to drinking regular old cow's milk.