The Benefits of Cows Milk Alternatives in your Smoothie

Cow’s milk, almond milk, bran milk, rice milk, oat milk. How do you pick which one to put in your Booseblend smoothie?

We’re spoiled by the number of non-dairy alternatives on the market right now and it’s a privilege to be able to experiment with them all to be able to make the tastiest, most healthy juice possible.

Using cow’s milk alternatives in smoothies has been a hot topic for a while and if you want to learn about the benefits of putting some in your Booseblend you’ve come to the right place.

Cow’s milk once reigned supreme, but it’s no longer considered to be the healthiest option out there. Several studies undertaken that draw links between consuming plenty of the stuff and nasty things like an increased risk of acne. Plus, it’s high in saturated fat and calories - so if you’re trying to cut down on those two things it’s probably best to give cow’s milk a swerve. 

You can still consume a healthy smoothie using a diary alternative, and it’s for you to decide what lifestyle choice and options you’d like to follow, but there is a fair cannon of work to suggest that cutting down cow-based products will end up benefiting your health in the long term.

Alternatives to cow's milk have been discussed for a long time now and include almost anything that can be pulped down into incy wincy pieces can be turned into a delicious, dairy-free milk.

You can even make this yourself by running a handful of nuts through a juicer and adding water - except it takes a large amount of the nut to create enough milk to use in a smoothie, so it’s normally better off to buy it in the store.

Soy is one of the classical milks to choose, but there has been some debate about whether or not we should be consuming heaps of the stuff. But regardless of which piece of research you look at, one thing is clear: soy is a great source of plant based protein, which will go down extremely well in any smoothie.

It’s got more protein per serving than the other alternatives listed in this article, and that makes it a really good choice if you don’t want to add a lot of extras to your smoothie. But if you’re already going to throw some protein powder to your mix, that shouldn’t really be much of a concern.

However, there is a problem with soy milk. The estrogen-like compounds within soy have been linked with some pretty nasty stuff. Among them, thyroid functionality can be impared and female fertility impacted. For more reading on the subject, this article by Good Housekeeping is pretty thorough and covers a lot of these subjects.

The gist of the article seems to indicate that, just like with most stuff, have it in moderation. By all means, keep buying and consuming soy milk, but maybe it’s worth considering a few of the alternatives. There are plenty on the market right now, but they all have slightly different tastes and consistency.

However, if those stories have put you off slinging soy in your healthy smoothie, there are plenty of other options you can put in your Booseblend.

Almond milk can be found nearly everywhere now. You can buy it in the supermarket, you can make it yourself using almonds and water, and it’s really good for you if you want to cut down on calories.

Gym goers and people looking to cut down on some of their calorie count should be welcoming almond milk with open arms. 240ml of it contains just 39 calories, three grams of fat and just over three grams of carbs per serving.

However, you’ve got to be careful with this ingredient because it’s really low in protein and that means you’ll have to find some other way to get protein into your smoothie. 

It’s got a really nice nutty, sweetish flavour that lends itself well to making smoothies with. When you consider that you can make the same smoothie with almond milk as you can with cow’s milk, but this one has less calories and the same amount of calcium, it’s a pretty solid route to go down.

Try one of these recipes to give almond milk a go. Antioxidants are really good for you and can help with clearing out the free radicals within your system. 

So, how do you get more of these powerful little fighters into your body? The answer is with a smoothie packed full of berries. You can use almond milk in this recipe, which also calls for some banana and some protein powder.

For a hit of ice-cool breeze, freeze the berries or banana or throw some ice cubes into your Booseblend Pro. All you have to do is throw a cup of mixed berries in with one banana and a scoop of protein powder and the smoothie maker does the rest.

There you go, damn. One antioxidant rich, diary-free smoothie made using a calorie-lite almond milk.

 

There’s plenty more options to choose from if the nutty flavour of almond isn’t for you, so let’s crack on without any further ado.

Rice milk is sweeter and as a result contains more carbs than almond milk and comes with very little nutritional value of its own. Because of that, it’s got to be enriched with calcium, vitamin A and vitamin B.

However, it’s excellent if you’ve got multiple allergies and can’t have things like dairy, soy or nuts. Because it’s low in protein, as well, you need to make sure you’re putting alternative sources into your healthy smoothie. With almond milk, this will give you 324 calories, 12-18g of protein, 4g of fat and 45g of carbs.

Rice milk doesn’t have much flavour in of itself, but that won’t really matter when you’re whizzing it all up with the Booseblend Pro. 

You can pair it with some really great combination, too. Throw it in with some bananas and vanilla extract, while it also pairs well with cinnamon, honey and cocoa powder.

A lot of the time you don’t want to add just milk, you’ll throw some yoghurt in there as well. This might be a bit more tricky if you’re using the portable function of the smoothie maker because proper chilling won’t always be available - but nevertheless it’s worth putting a few spoons in if you want to add some extra body to your healthy smoothie.

You could mix up some coconut yoghurt with your rice or almond milk to supplement some of the protein that’s lost by using that sort of non-dairy product. It’s a great source of calcium and B12.

It comes with other health benefits, too. It’s probiotic-rich, say Livestrong, and that can help with your digestive system. That’s another great reason why you should consider putting a spoonful in your smoothie every now and again.

All of these options should whizz up just fine in your Booseblend portable blender and they’ll come together really nicely to create a smoothie that’s healthy and delicious. If you’re using a non-dairy milk, sometimes the consistency can be a little thinner - rice milk is definitely guilty of this! But that means you can thicken it up with some of this non-dairy yogurt, as well as adding some extra goodness to your smoothie.

With all of this, though, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on what has been added to your non-dairy products in order to bulk them out. You’re going to have to keep an eye out for any added sugar - too much and your healthy eating plans go straight out the window. 

Try and grab the non-sweetened stuff and throw in plenty of fruit, frozen is great, to add that natural flavour and sweetness. 

Some other things that you could do if the budget is a little tight and you can’t afford to keep buying non-diary milk all the time is whizz up a few sorbets. All this requires is one frozen fruit and a little tap water, plus a sweetener if the natural sugars in the fruit isn’t doing the job for you and some lime juice.

Put the water and half a cup of raspberries in your Booseblend and give that a whirl until they become smooth. Put in the rest of the ingredients and blend them until they’re all done, and then pour the mixture into a container and freeze it for three hours.

When the timer is up, you’re good to go! Delicious, and contains nothing more than fruit, citrus and water.

Bare in mind that this article is definitely not exhaustive. There are heaps of other options out there - new forms of non-dairy milk are being tried and experimented on all the time and things like bran and oats can be used to make a good product.

Be creative, remember to stick to non-sweetened products and bulk up your smoothie with extras like coconut yoghurt or lots of frozen berries and fruits.