Plant milk, is it for me? Plant milks you should try

So, thinking of changing up your diet in a small way. Why not consider starting with your milk? Most of us would have heard of coconut milk, and many will be familiar with soy or almond milk.

According to food awareness NGO ProVeg South Africa, our local plant-based milk options are a lot more diverse. They found 12 distinct types of plant-milk (plus a few blends), and well over 70 options when taking all the available brands into account. Almond, soy and oat milk were the most common varieties (with 21, 17 and 11 options respectively), but we can also choose from brown rice, cashew, coconut, hazelnut, hemp, macadamia, quinoa, rice and tiger nut milk.

The global growth in plant milk can be attributed to several key advantages that these options have over dairy milk, including health, environmental and ethical benefits. Recently, taste is also being included in the benefits, and with so many different options to choose from, people will be able to find at least a couple of options they like. It is also said that plant milks’ environmental benefits, include less greenhouse gas emissions, less land use and less water pollution.

Whilst other health benefits of plant milks are said to include significantly less saturated fat, no hormones or antibiotics, and no cholesterol. With a bevvy of different milks for you to try and possibly like, it can be daunting to set out in search of the great alternative milk for you. But, the joys of tasting and introducing your pallet to new tastes, one sip at a time makes this new milk adventure all the more fun!