Almond milk has long been touted as a “health food” due to its high nutritional content and low calorie count. For decades, almond milk was made from pulverized almonds, sometimes with added skimmed cow’s or soy milk for extra creaminess. Then, innovative entrepreneurs discovered that it’s possible to make almond milk from soaking almonds in water and straining them through cheesecloth.
Nowadays, home-made almond milks are made by blending soaked almonds with water or raw cashews blended with water before being strained. In this article, I will discuss the benefits of homemade almond milk.
1. High Nutritional Content
Nutritionists verify that almonds have a high nutritional value, containing the highest amount of heart-healthy monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFAs) of all other plant foods. Almonds also contain protein and calorically-dense carbohydrates, as well as numerous vitamins and minerals. Nutritional content varies depending on which types of nuts are used in making homemade almond milk. High-quality raw almonds contain a lot of fiber and little fat.
2. An Efficient Fat-Burner
Many people claim that homemade almond milk provides energy and is an efficient fat burner. One reason for this claim is the fact that almonds are 30% fat. The other reason is that almonds contain a compound called arginine, which helps burn fat and increase metabolism. Arginine exists in many foods, but almonds have the highest amount of it of all other nuts, which could explain their high fat content if eaten in moderation.
3. High Vitamin E Levels
Vitamin E is an antioxidant essential for good health. It aids in the production of healthy red blood cells and contributes to good circulation. Vitamin E offers benefits such as improving eyesight, preventing heart disease, stimulating the immune system and enhancing fertility. Almonds are high in vitamin E because they contain more of it than most other nuts. This vitamin is essential for a healthy heart, lungs and brain because it prevents coronary heart disease by preventing blood platelets from clumping together inside blood vessels.
4. High Protein Content
Most people claim that homemade almond milk is a great source of protein. This could be true because almonds contain small amounts of protein. Still, some people claim that homemade almond milk contains more protein than regular cows’ or soy milk. To get the exact amount of protein in almonds, you would need to do a comparison between both types as well as adding your ingredients (almonds and water) to determine how much protein each type has.