Check out the January 28, 2011 Sacramento Bee news article by Gina Kim, "As almond milk sales rise, Blue Diamond battles Silk." The article contains comparisons of both brand's ingredients. Basically, you have Sacramento's Blue Diamond Growers competing with the maker of Silk soy milk for dominance of the fast-growing almond milk market, whose sales totaled $105 million in 2010. If you'd like to read about the health benefits of almonds, check out the site, Almond milk benefits and side effects | Sweet Additions.
Regardless of how small the market started, there's one problem that was overlooked in the news article. The fact that there's an unsweetened brand of almond milk you can find in the dairy cooler section of numerous Sacramento supermarkets.
Why this is important is that when you buy a half gallon of almond milk, you may be drinking more than a cup daily. And if one serving is an eight-ounce cup, you'd be getting at least 7 grams of sugar per cup in both brands. However, one of the brands makes a refrigerated version that's unsweetened. That's no added sugar, cane sugar, or any other sweetener.
When you buy almond milk for health reasons, maybe you don't want sugar in your milk, and especially not if you have metabolic syndrome or other issues where you don't want sweetened almond milk. For example, the Silk brand of unsweetened almond milk found in most Sacramento supermarkets doesn't contain added sugars or sweeteners.
That's fine. But when you look at the salt content, the Silk brand lists 180 mg of salt added per serving. Can you imagine if you're on a low-salt diet and drink 4 cups daily of almond milk? That's four times 180mg of salt per cup. If you're salt-sensitive and trying to stay on a low-salt diet, you don't need almond milk full of added salt. They left out the sugar, then why not leave out the salt as well?
The answer is either they want it to taste a certain way or they want to preserve the shelf life of almond milk that's in the dairy case cooler. The only way to deal with a choice between all that salt or all that sugar in the sweetened varieties is to make your own almond milk. You'd need a blender, a cheese cloth, almonds soaked in a jar overnight in your refrigerator, and filtered water.
When you enter a Sacramento supermarket and buy one of the almond milk brands, the cashier may hand you a coupon for the other competing brand. So in Sacramento, you have the brand Blue Diamond offering almond milk competiting with Silk. But if you look on the natural food shelves in numerous Sacramento food markets, you'll see other brands of almond milk without all that added salt. According to the Sacramento Bee article, "almond milk has been a staple of the health foods aisle since Blue Diamond put out a shelf-stable version in 1998."
Almond milk sales in Sacramento have risen since the company created its refrigerated Almond Breeze, rolled out to test markets in 2008 and then nationwide in September 2009, just months before Silk launched its Pure Almond in January 2010. Silk is a product of Colorado-based WhiteWave Foods, which is a subsidiary of the country's largest dairy processor, Dean Foods.
Maybe you just want unsweetened organic almond milk without all that added salt. Then you can find in Sacramento food markets, usually in the natural food aisles, another brand, Pacific Natural Foods. See the site, Organic Unsweetened Almond Original - Pacific Natural Foods » Home.
The Sacramento Bee article didn't mention Pacific Natural Foods almond milk, which is on the natural food aisles in at least three Sacramento area supermarkets and in some health food or natural food type stores locally. Since it doesn't need refrigeration, you can buy it online or in many Sacramento food stores. Check out the site for coupons.
The Sacramento Bee noted how Blue Diamond's sales of Almond Breeze climbed from $1.1 million in 2008 to $10.3 million in 2009 – and then jumped to $57.8 million last year, excluding sales at Walmarts, club stores and gas and convenience stores, according to the Chicago-based market research firm SymphonyIRI Group. You can also compare that to Silk Pure Almond rang up $47.1 million in sales in 2010, according to SymphonyIRI.
So, you don't have to buy almond milk in the cooler. It's also available in a shelf-stable version. And there are several brands available that way in most Sacramento supermarkets. According to the Sacramento Bee article, in the United States, people buy 90 percent of their milk and milk alternatives – soy, almond, coconut and rice milk – from the dairy case. But what if you don't want a perishable item if it is left out of your refrigerator? Then buy the shelf-compatible version that as long as it's left sealed, you can store in your pantry or take with you on a picnic or to the office.
Maybe the panic is on because people are buying cows' milk just a tiny bit less than they are buying plant-based milk. For example, according to the Sacramento Bee article, consumption of cows' milk has slipped down to 87 percent in 2010 from 90 percent in 2000. But nondairy milk substitute increased to 4 percent from 1 percent, according to the New York-based market research firm, NPD Group, as noted in the Sacramento Bee article.
See the site, What Nuts Have Omega 3 Fatty Acids? | Livestrong.com. But almonds have the best mild taste rather than soy, hemp, hazelnut, oat, or rice 'milk' substitute, especially in a vegan 'nog.'
Cows' milk is not going out of business. Actually nothing much really is happening to cows' milk consumption in the long run, as most people still drink cows' milk. If you ask the average person in a supermarket whether he or she buys cows' milk or plant-based milk substitute, most of the time, you'll be told it's cows' milk for the individual and the person' family.
Most people drink milk unless they have adverse reactions or allergies to dairy products. And you'll find those with allergies drinking cows' milk that's altered for the lactose-intolerant individual. A few people choose goats' milk or goats' milk kefir, yogurt, and cheese products.
Maybe you'd like to make your own almond milk to use as a base to make other types of smoothies or beverages. For example, eggless 'nog' emulsions. Almond milk at home can be made by putting soaked almonds in your blender with water and then straining the liquid through a cheesecloth or fine strainer until the liquid you obtain is milky. Then you can flavor it, if desired with any spices you like such as cinnamon or cloves, ginger, or leave it unsweetened and natural as it is. You don't have to add salt or honey to almond milk, especially if you don't want a rise in your blood glucose levels that you'd get from sweetened beverages.
In Sacramento supermarkets, sometimes the word 'plain' still refers to the plant-based 'milk' being sweetened with sugar, evaporated cane juice, or brown rice syrup. What you want on the label is to see the word 'unsweetened.' Plain does not mean unsweetened. Sometimes store clerks think when they order plain that it means unsweetened. No, it does not. Look on the label. How much salt is added? And why do some brands add vitamin D2 when your body really should be getting D3?
There are brands that do not add vitamin D2 to the almond milk. Check out the brands you find in Sacramento supermarkets that have no added vitamins. That way, you can take your own vitamin D3 instead of drinking the added D2 of some brands and any other ingredients you can take yourself with your daily multiple vitamin.
Make Your Own Almond Milk Without Added Ingredients
Almond milk, including almond milk turned into a vegan egg nog can be made without eggs, dairy products, white table sugar, or expensive liqueurs. Here's how to make eggless nog from almond milk. You could also use coconut milk, soy, oat, rice, hemp, or hazelnut milk. Using almond milk, add your favorite spices such as cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
If you want to sweeten, use your favorite sweetener, and for nog, natural rum and vanilla flavorings. You can make your own almond milk from soaked almonds and water. All you need to start in addition to the ingredients are a container to store the eggless nog in, a cheesecloth, and your blender.
Select your favorite spices and flavorings for the nog. It can be rum, vanilla, almond flavoring, or any other taste and scent you want in your nog. For a Mediterranean scent, try orange blossom extract or rose petal extract that comes in a bottle. You can buy these exotic scents to add to food and beverages at any Middle Eastern or Greek grocery store found in most American urban areas. Most familiar flavorings for nog are rum flavoring and vanilla.
Instead of making egg nog the usual way by adding several raw eggs, sugar, and rum flavoring to cream and milk, here's a nondairy, vegan, lower glycemic original recipe to make egg nog from Anne Hart's original vegan recipe for holiday eggless nog. First, from a kitchen supplies store buy a clean cheesecloth approved for draining and straining food. Sterilize the cheesecloth by boiling it in water for a few minutes.
Ingredients
One cup raw, unsalted almonds
Three tablespoons of your favorite sweetener. This can be a handful of goji berries, a banana, or raw, organic unheated honey--about a tablespoon. (Don't give raw honey to a baby under the age of one.)
(Optional) Two 14 ounce cans of coconut milk
(Optional) Two cups unsweetened soy milk or other nut milk, or rice, hemp, hazelnut, or oats milk
Three tablespoons of rum flavoring
Two tablespoons of vanilla flavoring
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, powdered
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, powdered
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, powdered
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg, powdered
Soak the almonds in a covered jar of water overnight in the refrigerator. The next day, drain the almonds in a strainer and put almonds in your blender to liquify. Add the coconut milk, agave nectar, and the soy milk on top of the almonds. Then add the rum and vanilla flavorings. Finally, add the spices--cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg. Optional, add 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom.
Liquify all ingredients in a blender. You have the choice of serving the nog with the tiny ground almond pieces in the liquid or straining out any almond pieces or skins. Either way is fine. It's a similar to a choice between serving juice with or without the pulp.
If you want to remove the almond pieces not liquified, then when everything is liquified, strain the contents of your blender through a cheesecloth so that the almond skin and itchy to swallow pieces of almond skins are strained out and the liquid and spices runs through the cheesecloth into a bowl, container, or jar.
Chill in the refrigerator and serve with a small amount of cinnamon on top. If you want a thicker eggless nog, stir in 1/2 teaspoon of grapefruit or apple pectin powder which will turn the nog into a gelatin-like consistency.
Or keep the nog thin the way it is. Serve cold with your dinner or desserts. If desired, top the nog when served in small glasses, with grated coconut or chopped nuts. Some people like to sweeten with dried fruit put in the blender with the almonds.
Health Benefits of Almonds - Resource Links
Almond Milk - Health Benefits of Almond Milk, Nutritional Facts
Almond milk benefits and side effects | Sweet Additions
6 Health Benefits of Almond Milk | 3FC
10 Benefits of Almond Milk - Associated Content from Yahoo
Soy Milk, Rice Milk or Almond Milk: Which is the Best Alternative
The Tremendous Health Benefits of Almond Milk
Does packaged almond milk provide the same health benefits as whole almonds?
The benefits of almond milk - by Paul Linsell - Helium
Almond Milk Health Benefits | Marci Lall | Fitness | Weight Loss
Almond Milk Health Benefits - a comprehensive view - Wellsphere
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