Forty percent of Australian households now have plant-based milks in the fridge, (1) but are they the better option? As someone who has been largely dairy-free for a decade, I’ve had time to consider the question carefully and read beyond the health-claims on the carton.

Hidden Ingredients in Plant Based Milks

The worst offender in plant-based milks are seed oils. These oils are added to create a ‘creaminess’ and to ensure the milk doesn’t separate.

Unfortunately, rather than using a healthy oil like olive oil to do this, the large majority of companies use cheap seed oils like sunflower (rapeseed) or canola oil.

To what effect?

Research has suggested seed oils are fuelling the rise in colon cancer in young people (2). A recent study from the University of California found that seed oils drive inflammation,damage DNA and interfere with the natural repair mechanisms that prevent the formation of tumours.

We also know that seed oils contain a high proportion of omega-6 fatty acids.While we need some omega-6 in our diet, when we consume excess omega-6 fats, and insufficient omega 3, it propels our body into a state of low-grade inflammation.

Our hunter-gatherer ancestors consumed omega-6 and omega-3 fats in a ratio of roughly 1:1 (3). In today’s Western diet the average ratio is estimated to be anywhere from 10:1 to 25:1.

The bad news is that almost all processed and packaged foods contain these oils – from muesli and ‘healthy’ crackers to spreadable cheese and most plant- based milks.

These are all tipping the scale towards too much omega 6 and inflammation.

Other Ingredients To Avoid

‘Don’t eat anything your great-great grandmother wouldn’t recognise as a food’ has been endlessly requoted from food journalist Michael Pollan. But it’s true.

You might have seen the word ‘Dipotassium Phosphate’ on your plant-based milk, which is used as a preservative and flavour-enhancer. A swift google search assures you it’s ‘considered safe by the FDA’ but further digging shows links to intestinal inflammation 4 and anecdotal accounts of allergies (5). Convenient to overlook – but better to avoid.

The Healthiest Plant-Based Milks

Nutty Bruce Unsweetened Almond Milk. This milk is one I always recommend to clients. It’s available at most leading supermarkets and it contains filtered water, organic almonds, organic brown rice and sea salt. It tastes great in smoothies or on porridge and yes it does separate in tea; but that’s seems a small price to pay to not have emulsified vegetable oil swilling around your stomach.

Oatly Organic Oat Milk. Water, organic oats and sea salt are all you will find in this milk, which does blend a bit better with hot drinks. On the environmental side, oats require far less water than almonds to grow (win) however this product still comes in a non-recyclable Tetra Pak. Note: This is the only product in the Oatly line I would recommend.

BONSOY Soy Milk. If you like soya milk this is your best option with the ingredient list as follows: Filtered Water, Organic Whole Soybeans, Tapioca Syrup, Sea Salt, Job’s Tears (a plant), Calcium Carbonate. I do not recommend soya milk to children due to its oestrogenic qualities – although I do add in some organic tofu and tempeh to meal plans if the child is vegan/pescatarian.

Final Word

Many commercial plant-based milks are fortified with vitamins in their cheaper, less easily absorbable forms. These including calcium carbonate as well as Vitamin D2 and cyanocobalamin B12 – the latter two are man-made synthetic forms of these vitamins which are a lot harder for the body to assimilate.

If you are following a dairy-free diet, I always recommend the best forms of supplements which are going to be gentle on sensitive stomachs as well as effective.

I hope this information on the healthiest non-dairy milks has been useful to you.