Old article. I stumbled on to these articles this evening while searching for a plant based alternatives to the acidity regulators. Key points - The production process gives the same amount of blood sugar impact as coke - The rapeseed oil has the same amount of oil serving as french fries - Expressed reservations about using dipotassium phosphate. I have read this. I won’t make any judgement as it is way above my grey cells to understand. https://www.jeffnobbs.com/posts/is-oatly-healthy https://www.jeffnobbs.com/posts/oatly-responds-in-defense-of-its-ingredients

Sadly a lot of this is alarmist rubbish from the author who either doesn't understand basic science or is choosing to purposefully mislead. Yes people should be aware that Oat milk isn't a health drink and consider the fact it has sugar and oil in it but I don't think many think it's actually good for you by any means. Some rapeseed oil contains trans fats but many don't and are perfectly fine, including those used in Oatly. This can be evidenced by the nutrition values he has on the same page as his article where it says 0 trans fats (!) Whether you want oil in your milk alternative is another matter altogether but he's misleading about the health effects of rapeseed, which is a rather useful oil with a high smoking point. He's also not entirely transparent about the sugars, yeah glycemic load is one measurement but it still only has 7g of sugar compared to Coke's 35g, or cow milk's 13g for the same amount. Also this is coming from someone who doesn't regularly drink Oatly, the misleading science just gets to me. I would also add that it would certainly be better for the environment if more people drank Oat milk over dairy and the alternatives (or Coke for that matter).

Is oat milk health

CoyoteOldMan

LMSC There is so much cr@p in the knob’s post it’s hard to know where to start from. His interpretation of what a glycemic index is has no foundation in science - the idea that 7 grams of maltose (mixed with fibre) have the same effect of 26 grams of glucose on blood sugar levels is preposterous. Having been called out he then resorts to the usual “all the studies that don’t agree with me are industry-sponsored”, followed by obfuscation on phosphates. “Extracted from rocks and subject to chemical reactions to make it edible”. Most food is subject to “chemical reactions to make it edible”. Does he think that we cook food just because it’s fashionable?

Where does he get the idea that people have an intake of elemental phosporus, rather than getting it through phosphate salts? Elemental phosphorus is freaking poisonous, even in small doses. Ask the ladies who were making matches in the 1870s…

The one thing he doesn’t point out - which is one of the major causes of the obesity crisis in the US and elsewhere - is the ridiculous amounts of food that people consume, just to then complain they are getting fat. 8 fluid ounces - i.e. 240 ml or a table glass and a half - is a small latte? Bah, humbug.

Sorry, but this sort of stuff really, genuinely makes me angry.

LMSC

CoyoteOldMan Sorry, but this sort of stuff really, genuinely makes me angry.

We will be angry 24 × 7 then! 🤣

CoyoteOldMan

Oh, forgot to say - Novichoks are phosphorus compounds too. Biochemistry is a bit more complex than it seems…

LMSC

CoyoteOldMan forgot to say - Novichoks are phosporus compounds too. Biochemistry is a bit more complex than it seems…

Glad, I did not major science! 😂

LMSC

Thanks for the views folks.

It did surprise me to read Oatly responded, if all it is true. Perhaps, to record their response to show they care and also take comments seriously. They could have easily ignored, given their size.

I drink oat milk not because it is healthy. It is good for the environment than diary.

CoyoteOldMan

LMSC Not really - I don’t read that kind of stuff unless someone “asks” me to… so my liver and coronaries are reasonably safe. 😉

Cuprajake

I used to have oat milk, but I have very little milk in my diet now, black coffee most times, if i do it tends to be home made nut milk

I grab a couple of nuts, give them a bit of a bash, eventually you’ll get nut milk. The wife swears by it .

LMSC

Cuprajake grab a couple of nuts, give them a bit of a bash, eventually you’ll get nut milk. The wife swears by it .

Which one of them do you use? Have you tried steaming ? Can be very expensive - Almond, Cashews, … Soy is ok but not a great fan as even the boiled soy milk (made at home) curds with coffee. I get a strong beans smell.

Oats, by far, is the cheapest to make if we can address curding. Will search a vegan acidity regulator. One replacement is Tiger nuts as an alternative to acidity regulator / calcium carbonate. This is a plant.

Organic Tiger Nuts 1kg (Buy Whole Foods Online Ltd) https://amzn.eu/d/9xjjyOP

DavecUK

Sometimes I read other coffee forums and various YouTube coffee videos….and I suspect there’s more nut milk drunk than we might suspect.

Ernie1

It’s really really difficult to find truthful, unbiased assessments of the health impact of both plant-based foods and dairy products/meats.

There’s enormous financial interests (and arguably entire economies) behind both.

I’ve seen articles from both sides which appear to be blatant smears with so called ‘science’ backing them up. It’s sad how difficult it is to really know what is good/bad for us.

I personally much prefer the flavour and texture of oat milk (Oatly Barista) but I’ve no idea whether it’s as good, better or worse for me than dairy milk.

Cuprajake

I remember watching a thing, and the woman was on about refined and processed foods,

Basically most things that are changed from one thing to another became increasingly in healthier as it went along,

It’s what made me change from diet back to normal coke.

For me, if we strip it back we are hunter gatherers, designed to eat a bit of everything, as I went full vegan to push me off fast food, I’m more pescaratian now, but I noted in 3 yes that now there’s everything vegan, and it’s all just if not more unhealthy.

I prefer to prepare fresh, I know what’s in it

CoyoteOldMan

LMSC a vegan acidity regulator.

A mineral product is even more ‘vegan’ than something of vegetable origin, surely?

BTW - purely as a buffer (pH stabiliser), sodium or potassium bicarbonate will work; whether the concentration required gives an unpleasant ‘salty’ taste is a different question.

LMSC

CoyoteOldMan Example?

CoyoteOldMan

LMSC Erm… dipotassium hydrogen phosphate?

It’s produced by partial neutralisation of phosphoric acid (derived from minerals such as apatite reacting with sulphuric acid - coming from sulphur, oxygen and water) with potassium chloride (extracted directly as a salt from minerals such as potash). No animal- or vegetable-origin products involved.

Edit: at some point I’ll learn how to type sulphur and phosphor.