Homemade Almond Milk
Guest post by Eve from www.underthebigfirtree.com
I recently met with Carley for a nutrition consultation. I’ve been feeling like I need to switch things up. As a new mama I’ve not been feeling like myself very much lately. She was wonderful and so incredibly knowledgeable. After everything she said, I responded with “That’s interesting.” “That’s really interesting.” “Hmm interesting.” Nutrition is so cool!
Among a few recommendations, one thing she strongly recommended was for me to cut out soy products (especially those that haven’t been fermented). I had heard rumours about soy, here and there. But really… What was so wrong with it? Well let me tell you! Firstly, she asked why I chose soy milk over other non-dairy substitutes, like nut milk. Well it was because soy milk has the most protein of all of them. And not eating any meat, I was looking for every source of protein that I could find. Want to hear something super interesting? Well, I want to tell you something super interesting. She informed me that soy contains trypsin inhibitors, which restrict your body from absorbing as much protein. Wait what? So the protein I thought I was getting wasn’t really there. There really isn’t as much protein in a glass of soy milk as I thought.
She mentioned a few other things about soy that turned me right off of it. One of them being that it contains phyotoestrogen, which messes with your body’s natural estrogen. She used a metaphor to explain it, and quite honestly I basically only understand things if they are in metaphor form. Estrogen is like a key for your house. It is shaped a certain way and fits into a specific lock. When you consume soy, the phyotyoestrogen gets itself it that keyhole and works really hard to get through. It makes it through the door, but as a result the lock is all buggered from it trying to get through. Ya hear me? Now, when your body’s estrogen comes by again, and tries to get in the door, it doesn’t fit in the lock. The lock is buggered. The result? A bunch of leftover estrogen just hanging outside your house wanting to come in. Too much estrogen hanging around is not fun and can lead to a whole bunch of symptoms. Which, I was definitely experiencing. Lack of memory anyone? Hello? K sorry, what did you just say?
I have made my own nut milk before. It’s really tasty. Super smooth. Fun to make. And you know exactly what’s in it. Ever read the ingredient list on the store bought nut milk? Weird stuff I tell you.
Homemade almond milk
1 cup raw almonds
1 ½ teaspoons of unrefined salt
4 cups filtered water
a cheesecloth, or a nut milk bag
Put the almonds in a bowl, cover with water, add salt and let sit overnight. The next day, rinse the almonds and skin them. The skin just pops off! Next, put your little gems in a good blender. (We have a Ninja, Carley has a Vitamix, and they both work like a dream.) Add the water and blend it up. Place the cheesecloth/nut bag over the mouth of the glass jar and pour the mixture through. Make sure to squeeze out all the liquid from the cheesecloth/nut bag. Enjoy!
- You could add vanilla and maple syrup for a little sweet treat.
- Hey! Save the nut pulp and make macaroons, or put it in hummus, or muffins or granola. Don’t throw it out!
