Easy Homemade Almond Milk

Almond milk has become such a staple in many diets recently.  Many studies show the benefits of almond milk vs cows milk.  There is no doubt that Almond Milk can have just as many nutritional properties as regular cows milk; as a chemist though, I always look at the ingredients in my foods.  That is when I noticed one small thing that concerned me.  Carrageenan which is an additive derived from seaweed  is used as a stabilizer and thickener in most Almond Milk varieties.  In a study published in the Environmental Health Perspectives, it was stated that  "Although the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 1982 identified sufficient evidence for the carcinogenicity of degraded carrageenan in animals to regard it as posing a carcinogenic risk to humans, carrageenan is still used widely as a thickener, stabilizer, and texturizer in a variety of processed foods prevalent in the Western diet (Tobacman, 2001)".

Of course, there are some version of cow's milk that contain harmful antibiotics, growth hormones and pesticides so lets not assume all milk is the same.  For that reason, I have found a way to make my own Almond milk free of pesticides, hormones, thickeners and preservatives.

1 cup organic raw almonds

4 cups purified water

1 nut milk bag or cheese cloth.

food processor or blender

Recipe:

Soak 1 cup of almonds overnight in water just covering the top.

After the almonds are done soaking, put them in a food processor with 4 cups of purified water and blend until you get a milky consistency.

Strain the milk through a nut milk bag or a cheesecloth

Store in sealed container (lasts about 6 days)

During the blending process you can add pure vanilla extract or organic dates to sweeten and flavor!

Take a look at the short 15 second video below showing you the easy process!

References: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1242073/

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