Which is best: cows milk, soymilk, rice milk, almond milk?

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Mike Geary. I have his permission to share it with you. ]

I had a conversation about this topic with a good friend of mine today and it reminded me of how many other people always have this same question…

The problem is that we’ve established (as you know from the thorough details in my Fat Burning Kitchen ebook) that regular pasteurized/homogenized milk is horrible for you…

We’re talking about the regular milk (no matter whether it’s skim, 2%, or whole) that you get at the grocery store — which is almost ALL from factory farms where the cows are kept in horrendous conditions, poor health, and fed the wrong foods.

Even if you find milk that is “organic” at your grocery store, it still has the problem that the homogenization process renders the fat molecules unhealthy within your body, and the pastuerization destroys beneficial enzymes that help the proper digestion of milk proteins and lactose. But we’ve also established that raw whole milk from grass-fed cows raised in a healthy manner, fed the correct foods, and treated right, is the ONLY source of healthy milk.

And no, despite the propaganda you’ve been fed, raw milk is NOT dangerous… not when it comes from a clean grass-fed farm operation certified to produce raw milk and with healthy cows. I’m living proof of that fact… I’ve been drinking 100′s and 100′s of gallons of raw whole milk for about 7 years now, and never once have gotten sick from it. Nor have any of the families and friends I know that have also been drinking it for years.

Certainly, if raw milk was “dangerous”, we’d all be dead by now or at least have been sick multiple times by now. Nope, not once! But the fact that raw milk is the only healthy milk is a problem for many people because they simply can’t find a farm in their area that supplies raw milk. btw, you can search your area on realmilk.com to see if any farms deliver in your area.

So I’ve come up with a possible healthy alternative if you can’t find raw milk and want a good cows milk alternative…

First of all, stay FAR, FAR away from soymilk! It’s a straight-up junk food.

There’s an entire article on my website dedicated to this topic of why soy is pure junk… http://www.truthaboutabs.com/soy-foods-make-you-fat.html

What about Rice Milk?

No! Way too much sugar and total carbs and almost ZERO protein. If you want to shoot your blood sugar through the roof, rice milk will do the job, and will pack on the blubber just as fast. Here’s the best option I’ve found…

It’s a new “Coconut Milk Beverage” that I’ve seen recently in the grocery stores here in the US. It seems to differ from the “coconut milk” that you see in cans simply that it’s diluted down more than canned coconut milk so that it’s not such a thick coconut cream.

Now as you know from reading my books and newsletters, coconut fat is one of the healthiest fats you can consume… Yes, it’s saturated fat, but research has proven that it is a very healthy form of saturated fat, and is mostly medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) including lauric acid, which supports a strong immune system. The flavored “coconut milk beverages” do have some added sugar, but still only have 9 grams of carbs per 8 oz, which is less than a glass of cow milk. But they also have an unsweetened version, which only has 1 gram of carbs. The only problem is that this “coconut milk beverage” only has 1 gram of protein too.

So here’s my solution…

get a good quality vanilla whey protein (sweetened with stevia instead of typical artificial sweeteners) and mix 3-4 scoops of whey protein into the entire half gallon carton of “coconut milk beverage”… possibly in a blender and then transfer to a new pitcher. Now you have a milk alternative that’s high in healthy fats (MCTs in this case) and also quality protein, with only 1 gram of sugar per 8 oz serving!

I still won’t give up my raw whole cows milk for this (since I do have access to a good raw milk farm)… but this coconut milk mixture would be the only option that I would actually drink if I couldn’t get my good raw milk.

What about almond milk? Actually, I don’t have a problem with this as long as it’s not heavily sweetened with added sugars or artificial sweeteners. I’ve occasionally seen almond milk that is unsweetened and only has 1 gram of sugar per 8oz, just like the coconut milk. I think adding the protein to almond milk would make a great mixture too and make it more balanced as a good healthy milk alternative.

Btw, one of the best whey proteins out there is a cold processed whey protein with ZERO artificial sweeteners from my friends at
http://ProGradeSupplements.net

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist Certified Personal Trainer
Founder TruthAboutAbs.com

My Comments: I share the same experience with Mike when it comes to raw milk. I’ve been drinking it now for over 5 years and get stares from family members & friends when I drink it. My sisters, mother and In -Laws just don’t catch on that I have not dropped dead from drinking Real Unprocessed Raw Milk. They all still drink store bought pasteurized milk because they have been conditioned to believe that it is safe for you. Tis life.  And as Mike wrote it is very easy to find quality raw milk these days if you go through a farm program like I do. I use TNG here in NYC and highly recommend it.

As far as soy, rice and almond milk I’ve never been a fan simply based on the taste.  The same goes for Coconut milk as I’m just not a fan of the taste. I will say that I do love drinking fresh coconut water right from the coconut which is readily available here in NYC year round here in NYC.

Now onto protein powders: I’ll say this first before anything. Food first always wins! Even the best protein powders or supplements are highly processed. They would not come in a pretty packages if this were not true.

However after real food comes convenience and what you can actually implement in real life. This is where supplements shine because they can make for quick snacks and serve as in between bridges to real food.

ProGrade Protein shines here because it tastes great, is not as processed (cold processed) and does not contain artificial sweetners like aspartame ( a big plus) .

I’d love to hear your comments on this topic as it will serve everyone well to know what people do for milk (cow’s, goat’s, soy, rice, almond, coconut etc…)

As I’ve always maintained: What ever works for you is all that matters

As Always

Best In Strength & Health

Virgil Aponte