A lot of discussion has been going on lately about the controversies of soy and how overly processed it has become.  Most especially, soy products available in America verses soy products in Asian countries.  The point being brought up is that soy products in America are severely overly processed and not any better for you than other processed foods. While the soy products available in Asian countries are not as processed providing better healthier options.

Another point that has been brought to light is the amount of hidden soy in products.  When you take the time to read ingredients, you’ll notice the hidden soy.  Soy shows up a lot as either straight soy, soybean oil, and soy protein isolate for example.  It’s very interesting and when you are invested in your health and well-being, it’s paramount that you know what you’re putting into your body.

Hidden soy is new to me and something that I’m currently researching and trying to get a better handle on.  Other than soymilk, my soy intake is pretty low.  However, with hidden soy, that leaves me feeling less in control of what I’m ingesting.  I want to be in charge of how much soy I take in and not leave it up to companies to hide in their products.

I decided to test out some almond milk.  I know others who use it and like it and while I didn’t think it would replace soymilk in our house, I was willing to check it out.  I’m open to new options and products.

I bought some Almond Breeze Vanilla Almond Milk to give it a try and to compare to my current staple, Silk Vanilla Soymilk.  First I did a comparison of nutritional info and ingredients.

Almond milk nutritional info

Almond milk ingredients

Soymilk Ingredients and Nutritional Info

Please click on the pictures to see the lists more clearly.  Looking at the nutritional info and comparing:

Calories: Almond milk 90 vs. Soymilk 100

Fat: Almond milk 2.5g vs. Soymik 3.5g

Saturated Fat: Almond milk 0g vs. Soymilk 0.5g

Polyunsaturated Fat: Almond milk No Listing vs. Soymilk 2g

Monounsaturated Fat: Almond milk No Listing vs. Soymilk 1g

Sodium: Almond milk 150mg vs. Soymilk 95mg

Sugars: Almond milk 15g vs. Soymilk 7g

Protein: Almond milk 1g vs. Soymilk 6g

Calcium: Almond milk 30% vs. Soymilk 30%

Both have their good and bad points.  What I’m personally looking for in a drink is good fats, low sugars, calcium, and a decent amount of protein.  Almond milk is not delivering that to me.  Almond milk scores low in those areas and the fact that it doesn’t even list mono or polyunsaturated fats at all is a little disconcerting.  And check out that sodium content per serving.  Yikes!  The only thing that is even is the calcium percentage but that’s not enough to sway me.

I don’t care for the saturated fat content of the soymilk.  Even at .5g that’s per serving, so more than a cup and you’re taking in a good bit of saturated fat.  While I don’t drink much in one day, my husband has two full glasses (not servings, but glasses) with dinner almost everyday.  That’s more saturated fat than I’d like him to be taking in.  I’m not sure how to combat this just yet.

Rice milk is out because I think it tastes nasty and it makes me gag.  Almond milk is just not a viable option for us because it’s not bringing anything to the table that I’m looking for other than calcium.  That’s lovely but what about protein and good fats? Right now almond milk seems like empty calories to me.

This means I need to keep researching and finding out what my choices are.  I’d like to not have to go back to cow’s milk even if we bought organic because that doesn’t mean a whole lot.  I would want free range, hormone and antibiotic, grass-fed cow’s milk.  Can I find any around here?  Maybe.  The search goes on.

These are just my thoughts and observations on these two products.  If you like almond milk then drink it!  I thought it would be interesting to compare the two and thought that you might be interested in the results.  If I can find some cow’s milk that fits my requirements, I’ll compare that to soymilk as well.