Plant-Based Milks

PLANT-BASED MILKS: A BRIEF HISTORY AND WHY YOU SHOULD TRY THEM

by Valentina Caldart

The consumption of plant-based beverages is booming all around the globe. In the 5 years between 2012 and 2017, US sales grew 61% and global revenues (worth 16 billion dollars in 2018) are expected to reach 38+ billion dollars by 2024.

You may think it’s a new trend, but humans have actually been drinking plant milks for centuries. Soy milk and coconut milk were already being consumed in China and South-East Asia over 2000 years ago, while almond milk was particularly appreciated by the medieval aristocracy both in the Islamic Middle East and in Christian Europe. Almost every cookbook of that time featured several nut-milk-based recipes, eatable even during the religious fasting days in which animal products were strictly forbidden. The origins of rice milk are more mysterious, but its industrial production dates back almost a century. Much more recent is the idea of extracting milk from oats, as the first oat-based drink was launched on the market only in the Nineties.

Today, the rising popularity of plant-based drinks goes along with a decrease in traditional cow’s milk sales, due to both health, environmental and ethical reasons. Let’s explore them together!

HEALTH

Animal milk can be hard to digest.

65% of the world population can’t properly digest lactose, the sugar contained in all animal milks. And you know what? That’s absolutely normal! Mammalian babies are equipped with a special enzyme called “lactase”, whose job is to break down lactose into its basic components, glucose and galactose. These simple sugars are then absorbed into the bloodstream and provide energy to the growing baby. When mom stops producing milk, there’s simply no reason for the baby to keep making lactase. That’s why this enzyme tends to disappear naturally after the weaning phase, in most mammals and even in humans. The ability of some adults to drink a cup of milk without getting bloated is the result of a mutation occurred thousands of years ago in pastoral populations, in a context in which the possibility of using animal milk as a source of nutrients conferred a survival advantage. THEY are the exception, lactose intolerants are just the rule!

Lactose, however, is not the only nutrient that makes animal milk heavy to digest: casein can create problems too. In the stomach, the most abundant protein in cow’s milk forms many sticky “ball-like” clots, resulting in a delayed gastric emptying. In addition, some types of casein are broken down into morphine-like peptides, that can slow down the passage of food by binding the opioid receptors in our digestive tract. Yes, these peptides may be addictive too!

The good news is that plant-based beverages are naturally free of both lactose and casein, which makes them much easier to digest.

Cow’s milk consumption has been linked to several “diseases of civilization”.

Animal milk is high in saturated fat and cholesterol, which increase the risk of atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, it naturally contains several kinds of hormones, including sex steroids and the growth factor IGF-1, which can make your skin prone to acne and have been implicated in the development of various types of cancer, such as prostate and breast cancers.

In contrast, many plant milks are packed with powerful phytonutrients, that can lower cholesterol levels, fight inflammation and protect your overall health.

ENVIRONMENT

As stated by the Food and Agriculture Organization, the livestock sector is one of the top 3 contributors to the most serious environmental problems and is responsible for around 16% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, 62% of which are produced by cows.

On average, producing one litre of cow’s milk requires more than 9 times more land and releases around 3 times more GHG than producing the same quantity of a plant-based milk.

It also requires more than 600 L of water, against the 371 required for almond milk production and the only 28 that are necessary to make 1 L of soy milk.

ETHICS

The global population is becoming increasingly aware of the cruelty associated with the dairy sector, which is probably one of the worst of the entire food industry. To keep up with market demands farmers need their cows to be constantly pregnant, since cows (like all mammals) only produce milk to nurture their babies. Pregnancies are often induced by artificial insemination, a painful process during which a dairy worker inserts one hand into the rectum of the cow to keep the uterus in place and the other hand into the cow’s vagina to deposit the bull sperm. When calves are born, they’re separated from their mother within 24-48 hours. Male calves are usually killed, either immediately or after a few months, while female calves will follow the same fate as their mother. These repeated pregnancies are highly debilitating for cows, that are slaughtered around age 6, even though in nature they could easily live up to 20 years!

...AND TASTE!

Last but not least, plant-based drinks are delicious and can highly enrich the variety of your diet. Soy, almond, oat, rice, cashew, hazelnut, pea, coconut, hemp, quinoa, flax, walnut….the possibilities are just endless!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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