I drank milk growing up but soon started to migrate to oat milk because….I’m not sure why, I think it was trendy. I’m starting to reincorporate cows milk and it’s been going just fine. I’m curious, for those who have switched, why? Since cows milk is the nutritionally most complete out of all of them :)
Caloric management, sugars, and GI inflammation (no, not lactose intolerance) were primary drivers to switch. I get significant protein from food sources (high protein in cows milk relative to alternative protein-based “milk”,was never a reason for my consumption). Recently started making my own plant-based milk so there are no additives. Protein intake for fitness management is achieved through my food intake so milk was easier to substitute.
I do just fine with unsweetened almond or coconut milk, but i must say I miss the consistency of cow milk sometimes.
I have allergy to fresh milk, but not like one might think. If i drink cow’s milk regularly, after a few days i get lightly swollen limbs, irritated gums, some pimples, overall feeling of inflammation in the body. I can get away with occasional cappuccino or icecream.
Cow milk makes me badly phlegmy. It also feels like it leaves a film of fat in my mouth.
It’s a shame as I don’t mind a bit of dairy but I’ve really had to cut back since I realised the phlegm was related to consuming cow dairy products.
Oat is widely available and better for the environment so that’s what I use. I’m going to try to make my own soon too.
Oat and almond milk stay good for much longer, since I don’t eat cereal very often, it would take me a long time to go through a jug of milk, or I’d have to buy smaller ones much more often. Easier to not have to worry about any of that.
I switched to Oatly because I really liked it and preferred it to cow’s milk. I’d tried other plant milks before but none of them had really cracked it. It was Oatly that did and that’s why it’s become such a phenomenon. (No, I’m not in their pocket.) When I started out as a barista in 2017, I’d say roughly 1 in 7 milk-based coffees were ordered with oat milk; now it’s around half. Few of the switchers are vegan - they just like it. When Oatly first became hot in 2018, couldn’t keep up with demand for a few months and we used another brand, people noticed (and complained). I’ve tried other oat milks and they’re OK, one or two are almost as good as Oatly but not quite.
Nutritionally speaking, soy milk has almost as much protein as cow’s milk, and usually has comparable amounts of calcium, iron, vitamin A, etc. But it lasts longer and requires less land, water, and greenhouse gas emissions to produce. Also froths up very nicely. I still occasionally get cow’s milk for certain occasions/guests/recipes and whatnot, but I like the taste of soy milk and it’s comparable or better than cow’s milk in essentially every way.
I always hated the flavor and smell of cow milk and cheese. I started rejecting it when I was around 3.
The adults in my life would force me to drink it (as a kid, “you can’t leave the table until you finish your breakfast/lunch/dinner” was a thing with my grandma and she lived with us =_= )
Once I was a pre-teen I had the power to eat whatever I wanted and immediately cut out all cow milk and cheese. Even at school my classmates would get excited because they know I never wanted my chocolate milk or the Mac n cheese.
Almond and oat milk was really expensive back in 2005 or it was hard to find. Now it’s everywhere and accessible :)
My calcium intake has always been better than my counterparts because I eat A LOT of greens, take calcium supplements and eat very nutrient dense meals.
I give cow milk to my toddler because it does help him grow but eventually when he’s older, I’m going to be transferring him to plant based. (Once he’s a teenager or adult and decides he prefers cow milk, then whatever, that’s his choice)
Humans don’t need cow milk their whole lives. It helps babies, toddlers and small children grow, but teenagers and adults? No. Most of the time it causes weight gain and dairy is known to cause inflammation after long periods of intake. Unless you have some genetic issue or underlying illness, then I see why you’d intake cow milk but I dunno. I guess it depends? Everyone is different and I’m not opposed to people drinking it, people can do whatever they want.
Cows are constantly artificially impregnated so they can produce milk. This puts a toll on the body’s of those female cows. Often the cows will be giving medications, steroids, growth hormones and other things to help keep them going. Some of these are regulated and approved by the fda and others aren’t. I just feel the milk is tainted. But I don’t drink plant milk either because of the oils and other things that are put in.
I had to cut out dairy as part of an elimination diet, turned out not to be a dairy problem but realised that I preferred hazelnut milk to cows milk, I wasn’t a fan of any of the other plant milks at the beginning but over time hazelnut milk became harder to get hold of at a reasonable price so I tried oat milk again and my tastes must have changed over the 5 years of no cows milk and I now enjoy oat milk.
I do still use cows milk in any savoury recipe and some sweet ones because I’ve never found a substitute that actually works.
I should add though that I never really enjoyed cows milk on its own, I’d add it to cereal or hot drinks but could never just drink it straight and the smell of it, even when fresh, had always turned my stomach. I can happily drink a glass of straight oat or hazelnut milk.
Started to get sickened by the taste of dairy milk, and then developed lactose intolerance. I drink an oat drink in my coffee, but there are only a couple of brands I like. A lot of dairy substitutes taste worse than dairy milk.
Environmentally better, I hate the taste of regular milk and it gives me the tummy gurgles, I genuinely enjoy the taste a lot more, it lasts forever in the fridge, etc. Basically everything. Oh, and it’s cheaper nowadays. My Almond milk goes for way less than regular.
It’s baby food for another species and they have to kill the baby in order for you to eat it. So if you are against killing babies, you should consider it too. No judgement tho. Some people enjoy killing babies… If that’s your thing, go for it
Cows milk is not any good because of the way its produced. Too industrialized. Cows are not living a healthy existence. If you got a farm and you’re raising your own cow for milk, that milk will slap, from every aspect compared to stuff you buy at grocery stores
I switched cause plant based milks taste way better and it’s also 2023 we don’t need to keep impregnating cows and machining them for milk so f*ckers can dilute there coffee it’s just straight up greed
Cows milk has always grossed me out. Even in elementary school, I remember gagging when my friend’s parents would make us drink the milk after finishing our cereal. Barf! I started drinking milk alternatives as soon as I found out they existed. For some reason, I can do ice cream and cheese, just not cow-nipple juice.
I have a lot of digestive issues which are exacerbated by dairy products. I usually gravitate towards oat milk over almond milk because I think it is creamier and I like the taste. I also like that plant based “milk” has fewer calories than cows milk.
Dairy is attributed to constipation in children, early puberty in girls, acne in teens and young adults, higher risk of breast cancer in women (because of early puberty but also bovine leukemia virus, which affects >80% of dairy operations in the US), prostate cancer in men, type 1 and 2 diabetes, asthma, Parkinson’s disease…
I grew up drinking cows milk. It’s tasty but not that tasty. I don’t miss it at all, and nowadays I find it tastes pretty gamey. Fortified soy milk tastes great and has fantastic nutrition. The price can be comparable to dairy depending where you shop.
Our family just switched to soymilk when I was a kid since we didn’t go through milk quickly. I think plant milk tastes better, it lasts longer than cow’s milk and my family is lactose intolerant so less gas and upsets. Its also not too hard to make your own plant based milk at home now which is something I can consider if I need milk but don’t have any. There’s also the aspect of how dairy cows and their babies are treated.
Is this thread just for you to argue with people who are answering the question? Do you work for the dairy industry?I still eat dairy and meat but it’s a rarity for me at this point. I drink oat or almond milk for environmental reasons.
I’ve switched until I realised. Cows (at least in the UK, live excellent lives), took environmental science, and actually got to learn farms. Learned how cows actually have been produced to create more milk than they need. So I went back to the gold stuff.
However, I have some nut juice from time to time if it’s as a cereal snack. Only cause dairy before bed hasn’t always worked out for me.
Otherwise, there are no issues. Nutrient dense gold stuff, great fatty acid composition. Always buy the best quality, especially since it gives higher omega 3s.
Only reason I ever opted for plant based “milk” was for lower calories but then I realized how bad it was for you. Plants don’t make milk and never will. It’s terrible for your gut micro biome and has little to no nutritional value
I switched to oat milk for about 2 years because I was trying to reduce my reliance on animal products. I wasn’t super strict but only ever bought oat milk.
I preferred the taste but found that it was sometimes difficult to get ahold of and went back to cows milk
after going a while without milk It started to disgust me. I no longer crave milkshakes or ice cream. it’s inflammatory and causes raging acne/bloating. after discovering oatly (the goat of milk alternatives) i’m never turning back. also way less calories and tastes better than cow milk imo
curiosity mostly. tried vanilla almond milk and it was delicious. switched to unsweetened almond bc i usually just use it for cereal and the sugars/fruits sweeten it enough for me.
i’ve heard that almonds here in the states only grow in California and use up a lot of water. idk how sustainable that is. might switch it to oat milk soon.
also since i started cutting back on fatty foods/processed meats my skin has cleared and i don’t have random joint pains lmao.
Years ago I switched to almond milk for calorie reasons. Made a huge difference and I lost a ton of weight. Then I started drinking dairy again. And then a few years after that I went to other plant milks for ethical reasons.
I switched because when I really think about it - it s gross to be drinking anybody’s body fluids. Now I don’t buy plant based milk because most of it is filled with crap (like low quality oils and art. Flavors) and if it is good quality it is too pricey for me. I would love to start making my own at home almond milk but I find I don’t need it anymore. I don’t eat cereal and don’t need creamer. I just don’t buy it anymore. I still get plant based milks as a treat like in my fraps :) And that is because of what I mentioned at the top - no body fluids for me - esp ones with growth hormones, pus and antibiotics in it.
I drink unsweetened vanilla almond milk, sometimes blended with coconut, because I like the taste, it’s lower calorie, uses less water than cow’s milk (it’s not as good as other vegetable milks, but still way better than cows), and has a lower greenhouse footprint than cow’s milk. I’ve been mostly vegetarian for years, and while dairy cows aren’t treated as badly as some other farm animals, it can still be pretty bad. Like, really, really bad in some places. I still do consume some dairy, but I feel better cutting it out where I can.
I actually switched back from Unsweetened Almond Milk (30 cals) to Whole Milk (organic grass-fed, 160 cals) because I started using Cronometer and realized I can fit it in my cals and still exceed the Calcium RDA.
Whole milk is a lot more nutrient dense and I think the natural Calcium will absorb better with the fat in milk, but I guess you could absorb the Calcium Carbonate in Almond Milk as well if you have it with a separate fat source.
Cows milk has natural hormones and makes me bloat like crazy. I can do small amounts of cheeses and creams, but straight milk hurts.
It’s the carbs and calories. I don’t care that it has nutritional value. I can get the same vitamins and fats from other foods if I need them.
The explosion that happens with lactose intolerance is not worth the “benefits” of cows milk. Especially when I get a plant based milk that taste great (I hate the taste of plain cow milk) with 10g of protein. A good portion of humans are lactose intolerant and don’t know it.
I go half and half. If I’m drinking it straight with no alterations, I drink low-fat cow’s milk (whole/skim milk leave a bad taste in my mouth). But if I’m using it for something else, ie: in my coffee or cereal, I’ll go with almond milk to lower calories. I’m just not a fan of straight milk-alternatives.
Regular milk freaks me out. There’s pus and other gross stuff in it (albeit in small quantities). I know there’s probably bugs in plant milk just like all other processed food but for some reason the pus just really freaks me out. And the livestock industry is horrendous for the earth (yes I know plant milks have their own environmental problems too). It’s just the better of the options for me I guess
I have a lot of digestive issues which are exacerbated by dairy products. I usually gravitate towards oat milk over almond milk because I think it is creamier and I like the taste. I also like that plant based “milk” has fewer calories than cows milk.
Hate the industry! The thought of the newborn calf’s being taken away right away. Cows being impregnated to keep up the milk production. It made sense back in the days, but with so many plant based options today it’s a no brainer for me. And milk gives me stomach aches. People can of course do what they like!
Stopped as a teen because I noticed when I drank less I had less skin problems (acne). Eventually developed a mild intolerance for it (gassy/bloaty). Would avoid milk and dairy based ice cream. Still eat yogurt and small amounts of cheese occasionally. Yogurt doesn’t make me bloaty. Cheese does, so… Just careful about it.
Love oatmilk and oatmilk based ice cream.
During my pregnancy I’ve been craving milk like crazy though, and my intolerance has vanished. Probably my body wanting the extra iodine + calcium + vitamin D. Been enjoying cereal and real ice cream again. Local grassfed whole milk + strawberry kefir have been my favorites.
I always found milk to be nasty. Expected the same from plant based and was pleasantly surprised. Not that I drink milk plain to this day but plant milk is perfect for protein shakes, coffee, and cooking.
Can’t stand the taste of moo milk, and it hates me.
I recently discovered Oat milk and LOVE the flavor, prefer it over Almond and Coconut, but right up there with Rice milk for me.
First dabbled in Soy for a long time until heard something that Soy isn’t good for you. I don’t know, can’t really keep up any more with what’s safe and what’s not.
All I know is the milk of the cow is a no go for me. 🤢