Should I Drink Almond Milk?

Without some of milk's major nutrients, is almond milk worth drinking?

Welcome to Should I Eat This?—this weekly poll of five experts who answer nutrition questions that gnaw at you.

4/5 experts say yes.

This one’s no cold case. Almond milk is a worthy addition to your fridge, according to most of these experts.

The darling of the plant milk substitutes, almond milk is an obvious choice for vegans and people with lactose allergies, and almond milk is 50% lower in calories than cow’s milk, making it a good for people trying to lose weight. Because it’s not an animal product, it has no cholesterol.

But even though it can stand in for cow’s milk in smoothies, oatmeal and cereal, it’s not milk’s nutritional clone.

Unlike dairy milk and soy milk, almond milk is naturally low in protein. While a glass of cow milk or soy milk has 8 grams of protein, a glass of almond milk has a single measly gram. That may seem strange, since almonds are little ovals of protein: an ounce of the nuts has 6 grams. 

But its “milk” version is mostly water, and most of the nutrient-dense almonds get strained out of the final product. You don’t get as much calcium, either, unless it’s fortified.

That’s part of the confusion around a product like almond milk, which gives you neither the well-known nutritional benefits of almonds (protein and good fat) nor milk (calcium).  

A lot of times this process can leave foods with more additives and sometimes more calories, fat and sugar. If you like the taste of almond milk, then by all means drink it, but make sure to read labels. Unsweetened almond milk lets you avoid the surge of added sugar in the flavored kinds.

Almond milk isn’t for everyone, In fact, substituting milk with alternative milk beverages—including almond milk—in infants under a year old may result in nutritional deficiencies and the growth problems that can come with them.

If you’re not an infant, though, almond milk’s a safe bet. And if you find the non-sugary version delicious, you may have found your perfect non-dairy cereal match.