Is Almond Milk Good for You? We Asked a Nutritionist to Crack This Nut

You may have heard that oat milk is the new almond milk, but for those of us who keep to a low-carb diet, nut milks will always have our heart. Almond milk was there for us when we discovered dairy was making our skin freak out, and it gently weaned us off traditional milk in everything from our morning coffee to Grandma’s lemon loaf cake recipe. But, hold on, is almond milk good for you? We know how we wanted this one to go, but to find out for sure, we asked a nutritionist to weigh in.

“Almond milk isn’t bad for you, but it’s not particularly healthy,” says nutritionist Lisa Young, Ph.D., who explains that almond milk is mostly water and a few almonds so it’s not necessarily bad for you. But, she continues, you’re also not going to reap the same health benefits by drinking almond milk as you would by eating a handful of actual almonds. Almonds are rich in healthy fats and vitamin E and are a good source of fiber—which makes them great for your gut too. Almond milk, on the other hand, is a whole lotta nothing. Young advises sticking to the unsweetened kind to avoid added sugars.

This answer varies depending on your own unique nutritional needs. While old-fashioned whole cow’s milk has 150 calories per cup, five grams of saturated fat and 12 grams of carbs, it’s also a great source of calcium and protein. One cup of unsweetened almond milk, on the other hand, has only 30 calories, just under three grams of healthy fats and not even a carb to speak of. Since it’s also lacking in calcium, Young says to look for brands that enrich their almond milk by adding calcium—like Blue Diamond’s Almond Breeze.

For developing kids who need calcium, cow’s milk looks like the best way to go, but for those of us who are over cows (and aren’t allergic to nuts), our vote is for almond milk.