The past few weeks I have been seeing a lot about Oatly...and none of it has been good. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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There have been articles with titles like " Oatly: the New Coke" and "Some Plant based eaters are boycotting Oatly" ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Today I wanted to break talk about some of these headlines and offer up my two cents. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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So here's a little backstory - Oatly is a Swedish brand that was founded in the 1990's due to a large part of Swedish population unable to drink milk, or not wanting to support the dairy industry. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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In 2012 Oatly hired a new CEO who re-branded the milk alternative and brought it over to the US. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The re-branding placed a HEAVY focus on both health and the environment - two of the main issues they are under fire for right now! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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So Here are some things that stuck out to me

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1. Oatly adds Rapeseed Oil to their product ( AKA Canola) - we know this is highly inflammatory and linked to Alzheimer's, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and more. ⠀ After a little digging and flipping over multiple brands of Oat Milk in the grocery store - added oil was in every single store bought Oat Milk I saw. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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2. There is evidence that how they create the oatmilk and the enzyme they are adding to break down the fiber turns to maltose - which effects the blood sugar levels in the same or worse ways as HFCS. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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3. Oatly is not organic, and oats are DIRTY! A study done on oats found 7 different pesticides on them ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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4. About 10% of Oatly was recently purchased by a company that has a major impact on the Amazon Deforestation- Oatly's response was "we're convinced that if we’re to progress in the shift towards plant-based we have to involve governments and private equity firms, and steer more global capital into green investments." ⠀

So now we have almond milk that is unsafe for the bees, and Oat milk that is unsafe for us - what do we do?

We make our own.

Oatmilk in my opinion is the easiest nut milk to make. There is no soaking required and the straining process is light on the muscles!

Some things to note before buying oats:

I always look for certified GF, Organic oats (see point 3!). Oats are naturally gluten free but can become contaminated during the processing part. Bob’s Red Mill has certified GF and Organic oats.

How to make Oat Milk

1 Cup GF Organic Oats

4 Cups Filtered Water

High Speed Blender

Cheese Cloth or Nut Milk Bag

Put oats and water in blender and blend on medium - high speed for 30- 40 seconds. This is important because over blending will result in a gummy milk

Pour the milk into a nut milk bag, and squeeze gently to release all the water.

Store in a glass jar in the fridge for about 1 week.

Easy!

You would think buying nut milk would be simple. It should be 2 ingredients, but these days there are so many options and some have a half dozen ingredients or more.

Today I want to help you navigate the fridge section of your local grocery store to help you pick the best nutmilk.

What to Look For

The less ingredients the better.

I have found Almond Milk’s on store shelves that had just a handful of ingredients. You want to find these milks.

Carrageenan Free

Carrageenan is a thickening agent that is made out of red seaweed. Although it seems natural, it has been linked to digestive distress ( gas and bloating), IBS, and colon cancer. It is also the cause of chronic inflammation which is the leading cause of all dis-ease.

Avoid Natural Flavors

Natural flavors are anything but natural. They are made using the same process as artificial flavors, see this quote from Bon Apetite

“Both natural and artificial flavors are synthesized in laboratories, but artificial flavors come from petroleum and other inedible substances, while “natural flavor” can refer to anything that comes from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf—yes, we’re still going—meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or anything fermented from those foods, according to Food and Drug Administration spokesperson Deborah Kotz.

Look for Added Sugar

Most flavored nut milks are loaded with added sugars. Be sure to read the ingredients to see what sources the sugar is coming from and opt for unsweetened or natural sweetened options (like dates).

No to Added Vitamins and Minerals

When you see additional vitamins and minerals on the nutrition labels this is usually a sign that it was fortified or enriched. This means that a nutrient is lost during the chemical process of creating a food and then a synthetic version is added back in. Your body does not absorb the synthetic nutrients in the same way.

Look For organic

Nuts and oats are some of the most highly sprayed food items we have. When we are consuming nut milks we are being exposed to higher concentrations of the chemicals that we normally would by snacking on nuts/seeds, or eating oats. It’s very important to choose organic to avoid being exposed to pesticides, herbicides, glyphosate, and insecticides.

avoid Added Oils

Something I have seen a lot of is nutmilk and oat milk brands adding oils to their milks. The oils they are using (sunflower, and rapeseed aka canola) are the most inflammatory oils you can ingest. Nuts are naturally oily (fat!) and don’t need any oils added!

my top grocery store picks

So now that you know what to look for, I wanted to make this a little easier. Here are my go to brands for nut milks that follow all the rules above!

Three Trees

This tastes the most like fresh homemade almond milk of all the milks I’ve tried. The ingredients in the original are just water and almonds, but the vanilla flavor is my favorite.

It doesn’t contain any sugar like most brands and uses vanilla bean and extract for flavor!

Malk

I really love with this brand stands for. They use organic ingredients, no gums fillers, artificial sweeteners, or carrageenan. They also have a nice variety of milks that are pretty uncommon like pecan and cashew milk!

New Barn

New Barn is another almond milk that I think tastes really fresh. Although this brand has some gums it is Whole30 approved and one of the cleaner versions on the shelf.

I haven’t found an Oat Milk brand that I like, Oatly uses Rapeseed Oil, and Califia Sunflower Oil - if you know of a clean oatmilk brand let me know and I can update!

Make Your Own

If you want to try making your own nut milk visit my instagram page for an easy recipe that requires no soaking or nut bag!