Low Carb Milk Substitutes: The Best Carb Free Milk Options to Dairy Milk

Coconut milk is one of the most popular food items in the keto world. It is quite high in calories and contains almost no carbohydrates.

The milk is made by grating the white part of coconut (coconut flesh) and soaking it in hot water, then extracting the milk by skimming off the coconut cream (at the top) and squeezing the resultant liquid through a cheesecloth.

Commercially made coconut milk is typically sold in cartons (often on the milk isle in your regular food store) or in cans. While the two types of coconut milk (sold in cartons and cans) differ in consistency, they virtually have the same taste; a creamy texture and a mildly sweet, subtle coconut flavor.

Among different products I recommend to try Thai Kitchen Organic Unsweetened Coconut Milk. It can be stored for many months on your shelves.

The milk is used for cooking curries and soups, but also goes well with smoothies, baked keto goodies, non-dairy cheese.

Coconut milk offers great support to the body’s immunity and helps prevent disease. It also contains medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) such as lauric acid that are easily absorbed to provide the body with quick energy.

According to an animal study of coconut fats, taking coconut milk can help normalize your glucose metabolism and decrease inflammation. The antimicrobial properties of the MCTs in the milk has also been found, in an in vitro study, to kill harmful bacteria in the gut.

Canned coconut milk may often contain additives and chemicals like Bisphenol-A (BPA), which might cause digestive issues and hormone disruption respectively. Nonetheless, you could avoid these side effects by making your coconut milk at home.

Almond milk is one of the most popular low carb milks with only 1g of net carbs and between 30 and 50 calories per cup.

While unsweetened almond milk is available for buying in most food stores, you can actually make yours at home by soaking almonds and grinding them in a blender with water, then straining out the fresh almond pulp with a cheesecloth or strainer.

Alternatively, you could buy almond butter from the food store and add water to it to form almond milk.

Almond milk has a characteristic light almond-like taste. It is mildly sweet with a hint of nuttiness and the almond flavor. It goes well with tea or coffee but can as well be added to smoothies or used in the place of regular whole milk in baked foods and desserts.

Almond milk is a rich natural source of vitamin E having up to 10 mg per cup, or 50% of the daily value for adults.

Nut milks are often highly diluted with water due to the way they are made. Unless  almond milk is fortified it will be missing most B vitamins, essential fatty acids, zinc and copper found in almonds.

Since almonds contain phytic acid, there are concerns that taking almond milk over time could lead to mineral deficiencies as phytic acid is known to impair the absorption of calcium, iron and zinc.

Unlike nut milks, pea milk is made by first grinding yellow peas into a flour, followed by extracting pea protein from the resulting flour. The protein is then blended with water, essential nutrients and sunflower oil after purifying it, to create the pea milk.

Pea milk has a taste and consistency that is very close to cow’s milk among all low carb milks. Ripple Unsweetened Original is a good product to try.

The keto friendly milk has more calcium than dairy milk, making it great for bone and overall health. It is also low in calories, which makes it ideal for weight loss. It can also help support a ketogenic diet since it contains just about the same amount of protein as regular cow’s milk, in addition to its healthy fats.

One animal study of the properties of pea protein provided evidence supporting that the protein could lower blood cholesterol. Based on the study of some 161 males aged between 18 and 35 years, it was established that pea protein helps promote muscle thickness similar to whey protein.

There is little research around pea milk, since it is a new entrant in the low carb milk marketplace. However, some evidence indicates that the milk contains less of the essential amino acids required in the body.

Pea milk has a much lower water footprint than almond milk and a much smaller carbon footprint than cow’s milk. Yellow peas from which its made are easy and inexpensive to grow which causes such a positive environmental impact.

Flax milk is made by blending raw whole flax seeds with water in a high-speed blender and filtering out the solid broken pieces before extracting the liquid and blending it again with spices or supplements.

The milk is low cost, hands down. Being high in fat and low carb, the milk can help you achieve ketosis on your low carb regimen. Flax seeds are also packed with omega-3 fatty acids, so the milk can help with managing blood pressure and contribute to the prevention of cardiovascular disease and other life-threatening conditions like atherosclerosis, cancer, diabetes and arthritis.

Various studies on the role of omega 3 fatty acids in cancer prevention also hint to the fact that flax seeds could help reduce inflammation, support normal brain functioning and reduce the risk of breast cancer.

Milk from flax seeds contains no protein. Since it requires preservatives because it contains high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, some of the preservatives and sweeteners may have negative effects on your blood sugar levels.

Flax contains a high amount of phytoestrogens but not much known on how much remains in the oil after the seeds are pressed. Also the potential positive and negative health effects of these compounds are under extensive research.

Cashew milk is made from a blend of cashew butter and water or blending water-soaked cashew nuts with water.

The milk is creamy with a rich, nutty and subtle sweet flavor.

Cashew milk is low in calories at just about 25–50 calories a cup. As such, unsweetened cashew milk can be making it perfect for someone who is looking to shed off some weight by reducing their daily intake of calories.

If you want to lower your carb intake however, cashew milk can be such a great option with just 1-2 gram of carbs in 1 cup.  given its significantly low sugar count.

The pulp that makes cashew milk contains just about half the fat content in cow’s milk and much less protein, making it unideal for persons who are looking to up their protein intake. The milk also contains much less fiber, vitamins and minerals compared to the original whole cashew.

Like most nut milks, macadamia milk is made from blending soaked macadamia nuts with water, resulting in about 3% macadamia nuts with the rest being water.

The milk has a characteristic rich, smooth and creamy flavor. It also tastes great too, with its characteristics being slightly greater than most nut dairy milk alternatives.

Like most flavorful nut milks, you can use macadamia milk on your morning coffee to enhance the taste or add it to smoothies. With the great taste and pleasant flavor, you could as well just drink it on its own directly out of the jar.

Macadamia milk is quite low in calories which might be a huge is a plus if your aim is to cut the total count of calories in your diet. Being very low in carbs also means it can support the achievement of nutritional ketosis.

The low carb  content also means that it should be perfect for people with diabetes and other conditions that require them to lower their consumption of sugar.

Macadamia milk has little protein, which makes it non-ideal for diets that require a lot of protein. Though low carb, it doesn’t make a strong case for a ketogenic diet.

At the moment there is only one brand that sells macadamia milk – Milkadamia. Their products are good and I recommend to try the unsweetened version.

Soy milk is often made from soaked, blended soybeans and water or soy protein isolate and water. The milk is often loaded with vegetable oils and thickeners to help improve its taste and consistency.

Soy milk has a characteristic mild, creamy flavor – which normally varies depending on the thickeners and vegetable oils added to it. You can add soy milk in savory dishes, cereals and deserts as a substitute for cow’s milk.

Soy milk is one of the low carb milk options that contain the highest-quality proteins, offering all the essential amino acids, making it ideal food for someone on keto. It also boasts high calorie count, so it can be a good source of energy for people on a power workout plan.

There is mixed information and controversy surrounding soy, with people around the world now concerned about what its potential effects in the body may be. One argument is that soy might have some adverse effects on estrogen receptors and impact the function of this hormone and.