Best Healthy Alternatives to Regular Cow's Milk

While milk has long been a staple of the human diet, many people are concerned about the industrialized food system and the over-use of antibiotics or in some cases hormones in the typical gallons of milk you'll find on supermarket shelves.

The search for healthier milk alternatives has led in many different directions, but which kinds are the best for you and your family?

Different milks provide different nutrition and tastes, and all milks are obviously not created equal.

Here is a list of the best healthy alternatives to regular cow's milk on store shelves:

Almond milk- This healthy milk has long been a staple of the natural health community as an alternative to regular milk. It provides a good amount of healthy unsaturated fats and a decent amount of protein as well as fiber and other minerals such as magnesium. Many kinds are also infused with calcium as well that you may be missing from regular milk, although it's much better to get calcium from a natural source such as leafy greens as opposed to the kind added to food products.

Coconut milk- Coconut-based foods are among the healthiest in the world according to numerous recent studies. While they had been demonized for a while because of high saturated fat content, coconuts actually contain a unique type of medium-chain fatty acid that is much more readily used as energy and infinitely healthier than the truly bad oils such as ones that have been partially hydrogenated.

Coconut milk like almond milk comes in a variety of flavors and it also has anti-viral properties making it ideal for overall health and one of the best healthy alternatives to regular cow's milk.

Hemp milk- While it may not sound too appetizing, hemp milk is loaded with minerals and is one of the healthiest products on most supermarket shelves. It also has a mild taste, good texture and a little bit of sweetness as well and is one of the better-tasting milks out there, believe it or not.

Hazelnut milk- This is a tough one to find but another quality, healthy milk in the same vein as almond milk. Much like almond milk or walnut milk, nut milks like these can be made at home using a special type of bag or a slow juicer such as the Omega VRT or Hurom Slow Juicer.

This is perhaps the best-tasting healthy milk alternative on the market although it can be tough to find at times.

While it can be tempting to continue drinking cow's milk because of how popular it has always been, the fact is that the milk we find on store shelves today is not nearly the same as the pure, clean milk from year's past derived from healthy cows grazing on farms and eating grass instead of industrialized feed in factories pumped with antibiotics and other substances.

Check out these health alternatives to regular cow's milk today and you just might find a delightful new healthy food to add to your kitchen, as many health conscious consumers already know.

Sources: Global Healing Center- http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/benefits-of-hemp-milk

Almond Milk Benefits- http://almondmilkbenefits.org/

Alternative Health.ie- http://www.alternativehealth.ie/coconut-milk-and-its-benefits