VebieAB

MILK

Milk is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food.
Just like other mammals, the first thing consumed by human is also milk (breast milk). As we grow up, we no longer consume breast milk, and mostly switch to cow milk.

I'm a milk-person myself. Growing up, my mom gave me and my brother milk every day.
Up until today, milk is a "must-have" item in our fridge.

Non-Fat / Skim Milk, healthy or not?

As I enter my "womanhood", I began to pay more attention towards my appearance. My constant goal for years is "to lose weight".
One of the efforts I did in the past (for years) is switching from whole/full-cream milk to low-fat/skim milk.

But only recently I came to realize that the so-called healthy milk is not healthier than the whole/full-cream milk.
Turns out, we also need the fat contained in the milk.

Here are some facts about non-fat / skim milk:

Less nutrients are absorbed without the fat. The nutrients in milk, vitamins D, E, and A, are fat-soluble, which means your body absorbs them better when they're delivered via fat. What's more, the vitamin K found naturally in butterfat gets left behind altogether.
Skim and low-fat milk contain powdered milk, which is made with oxidized cholesterol, a carcinogen. Oxidized cholesterol can contribute to the build-up of plaque in your arteries. On the other hand, untreated cholesterol in whole milk is an antioxidant.
Milk producers have started adding sugary flavoring to skim and low-fat milk to encourage kids to drink more of it. This means more empty calories in milk that releases fewer nutrients into your body.
Skim can leave you feeling unsatisfied, which leads many people to fill up on less-healthy "non-fat" foods. This is because saturated fats like those found in whole milk trigger the release of the hormone cholecystokinin, which makes you feel full.
Skim milk has been linked with "transient" weight loss in studies. This means you may lose some weight from cutting out whole milk at first, but then you're likely to gain back that weight.
Fats slow the release of sugar into your bloodstream, reducing the amount that can be stored as fat. This is an argument for letting some "healthy" fats into your daily diet overall, and they don't have to come from milk. They can come from olive oil and nuts, for example.

So if you drink cow milk, I suggest you to drink the whole milk instead of low-fat / skim ones.
Alternatively, you can drink soy, almond, or hazelnut milk as dairy substitutes.

Dairy Alternatives / Substitutes

It's been almost a year since I switch from cow milk to these dairy substitutes (most of the time), which are soy, almond and recently hazelnut milk.

I've always been a fan of soy milk, and I have no problem drinking it since I have no thyroid problem. For soy milk, I prefer the organic unsweetened ones.

But ever since I got introduced to almond milk, I immediately fell in love with it.
Not because of the trend, but simply because I like it.
it suits my personal taste, subtle nutty flavor, not too thick, not sweet, and most importantly, healthy.

Currently I drink almond milk more than any other milk, despite the fact that almond milk costs more than cow milk and soy milk. I personally consider it as an investment to a healthier life.
Besides, being sick costs more!

I get my raw almond milk from these producers/places:

Yourganic

Available in basic variants (Sweet-dates, Matcha, Rockin' Iced Coffee) and Exelicious Flavour (their ever changing adventurous flavor), you can purchase them at stores or you can have them delivered to you.
Visit yourganic's blog or instagram account @Yourganic for more info.

Organic Crush

Available in original flavor as well as sweet-dates, coconut cinnamon, and chocolate (my favorite!), you can have them delivered to you, or you can visit their flagship retail booth at Grand Indonesia.
Visit Organicrush's page or instagram account @organicrush for more info.

Gwen's Kitchen

Available in original and sweet-dates flavors, they come in several packaging (bottle, pouch and plastic glass container). You can have them delivered to you, or you can pick them up at Bless Nature's Best, where you can have super delicious almond-milk based smoothies there.
My personal favorite is choco-ban almond milk smoothies!
Visit Gwen's Kitchen page or instagram account @blessnaturesbest for more info.

Just recently that I've read about hazelnut milk from a friend's blog.
Curious about it, so I gave it a try.
I liked it, and it went straight to my "dairy substitutes" list.

It has a slightly-strong-but-not-overpowering yummy nutty flavor (kinda like nutella, but not sweet), and the texture is not too thick.

I bought my hazelnut milk from Dama

Available in pure and slightly sweetened flavor, you can have them delivered to you.

Dama also makes almond milk, with various flavors: pure, slightly sweetened, earl grey, ginger, and carob.

Visit Dama's page or instagram account @damaeats for more info.

At the end of the day, the kind of milk that you should consume is basically depends on your preference, your need/goal, and/or your health condition.

Here are some info about milk, for your consideration: