I came across a post on Facebook of a popular doctor saying that whole milk is better for you than oat milk. I obviously disagree with that, but found this comment interesting. I eat overnight oats multiple times a week and use oat milk as a milk substitute in many dishes. I buy oat milk that is just made of oats and water, no added sugars, oils, or anything else. I always thought oats were healthy because they’re whole grain with a ton of fiber. Can anyone explain why people are saying they are unhealthy?
by cediirna
15 Comments
Oats often have high pesticide usage, which could be mitigated by buying organic oat milk. But for what its worth the mortality improvement by buying organic your whole life vs non-organic was something like a few minutes of lifetime. That’s overall, not just oats, but point being don’t let the pesticide use sway you. The seed oil topic is controversial but not necessarily worth dwelling on either.
Bigger worry is high amounts of estrogen in cow milk and saturated fat. Your 100% better off with oat milk.
Blending the oats into milk reduces the size and efficacy of the fiber
Dr Gregor is pro-oatmeal
[https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/oats/](https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/oats/)
“Oatmeal isn’t a health food” is something I have primarily heard from influencers / grifters on Instagram
Oats have been shown to have higher levels of glyphosphate than other grains/vegetables, which is a carcinogen. However, it is accepted that there is not enough on the oats to be harmful. Eating organic oats is one way to avoid this if you feel concerned because you eat a lot of oats. You will also find that many oatmilks and other plant milks also have other ingredients in them to stabilize and add flavor. It is possible to buy plant milks that are very few ingredients though, one example is Oatly! Super Basic oatmilk. You can make your own oatmilk too. Many oatmilks you see on the shelves do contain oils though. They also have less protein than whole milk typically but that doesn’t make it unhealthy, whatever “unhealthy” means.
I’ve heard that the healthiest plant milk is unflavored, plain soy milk, but I like oat milk better.
My eyes are crazy with allergies right now, and I read this as CAT milk and sadly wasn’t even shocked that someone was drinking cat milk
Oat milk is typically high carb and very low fibre which is a total insulin spike. Personally I’ve shifted away from oat milk even though I like it the best.
Transitioned to soy milk which has better macros which is what is more important to me.
I think generally oat milk you buy at the store has added sugar, which might be what they’re referencing (or contributes to what they’re referencing).
Blending oats and straining them removes the fiber as well. So while you get some vitamins and minerals, it’s not as great as consuming the grain whole. As well, it’s relatively devoid of protein (compared to soy milk).
Compared to what. Oat milk is a lot healthier than cows milk, but not quite as healthy as soy milk. If you plan to consume oats, you should consider organic. Most oats these days are sprayed with roundup just days before harvesting.
Personally I wouldn’t buy non-organic oats if I can avoid it (due to glyphosate, chlormequate), but tbf I don’t buy anything non-organic, which luckily is possible where I live, except occasionally eating out or takeaway.
Otherwise I eat oats often and use mainly oat milk (with the occasional almond milk). The thing about commercial oat milk is that it’s “fermented”/processed by enzymes that give it a sweet taste – that’s why commercial oat milk tastes nice and if you just blend oats with water it’s .. a choice. Now the grade of sweetness depends on how long the manufacturer lets that process run. This is why different brand of oat milks can have different carbohydrate content. Personally I like to choose “zero sugar” oat milk, which is still not zero carbs, but in a more moderate area of 4-5 g per 100 ml, whereas some sweeter “no added sugar” oat milks can have 7-8 g per 100 ml. Commercial rice milk is even sweeter, often having 9-10 g per 100 ml.
I don’t have anything against carbs per se, they taste great, make my brain happy etc. However having one glass of plant milk containing up to 15-17 g of simple carbs (instead of 8-10 g), with hardly any fibre, protein or fat to slow absorption, that can create blood sugar spikes. So personally I rather opt for the lower carb varieties. If you like to keep carbs even lower, then almond milk might be better, but comes with higher fat content.
Speaking of fats: most oat milks here have “seed oils” added (usually sunflower oil). I recently learned that this is a *heated* topic in American health-conscious circles. Apart from oils not being approved on a WFPB diet (which I’m only inspired by, but don’t follow myself), *personally* I have nothing against moderate use of high-quality oils, including seed oils. I feel a large amount of criticism about seed oils applies to refined and/or (partially) hydrogenated oils – the oils you get for deep frying and cooking and such. And yes, they are garbage imho. Refining oils is a [complicated, industrialised process](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edible_oil_refining) and you can imagine the outcome. Hydrogenated oils are way more heat stable, but also contain trans fats. However personally I never consciously bought that stuff, all my seed oils are organic, cold-pressed and used in moderate amounts in cold dishes (for cooking I use extra virgin olive oil). The only “problem” with that is keeping your omega 6 vs omega 3 balance and e.g. sunflower oil has a very high omega 6 content. Seed oils like canola, hemp or flax (with flax being the least stable) have high omega 3 content though.
Now the big question is: What kind of oil is in your average oat milk? Hydrogenated oils are not allowed in organic products here, so I can rule that out for my oat milk. I can’t know if the sunflower oil listed is refined, but to me the oat milks I used retain a slight sunflower oil taste, so possibly not. But who knows. It might be hot-pressed though, since that yields much more than cold-pressing. In the context of plant milk it wouldn’t matter though, since the plant milk itself is ultra-heat treated to be shelf stable. If this is okay or not, everyone has to decide for themselves.
Last, but not least: I’ve only seen a few brands list thickeners in oat milk. I encounter it much more often in almond milk, and here I avoid carrageenan, I’m unsure about xanthan gum and gellan and I’m fine with guar gum, but apart from carrageenan that’s kind of arbitrary. But you can also find almond milk without any, so I like to chose those brands. The only difference is that it might separate, so it might look and taste not as nice if you don’t shake it well.
All plant milks have hardly any protein (except soy) and usually less nutrients than cow milk though. So personally I rather see it as a condiment instead of something that has significant nutritional value for my diet. If you buy a brand with added nutrients (usually not organic), that might change ofc.
Dietary fiber is the most anti-inflammatory thing you can eat. Dairy milk has zero fiber. Oats may be grown with herbicides and pesticides, it’s true. But animal feed is drenched in it (e.g. Roundup Ready crops). Guess where it accumulates. The ingredients for [Oatly](https://us.oatly.com/products/oatmilk) are:
>Oat base (water, oats). Contains 2% or less of: low erucic acid rapeseed oil, dipotassium phosphate, calcium carbonate, tricalcium phosphate, sea salt, dicalcium phosphate, riboflavin, vitamin A, vitamin D2, vitamin B12.
Vegetable oil is not a whole food, but the small amount of canola/rapeseed oil here is hardly cause for concern. It’s certainly better than the cholesterol and saturated fat you would get from dairy.
Unsweetened oat milk is not unhealthy no matter which way someone tries to spin it.
It’s not a good choice for people on low carb diets obviously because it has carbs. Low carb diets are rarely healthy anyway.
” causes inflammation , has seed oil & pesticides , no one should eat it ” , Right , like Oatmeal milk is such s Health Fright now while People chump on junk Food that has wayyy more worse pointers
> Can anyone explain why people are saying they are unhealthy?
Nut milks aren’t unhealthy but they’re wasted calories. They don’t contribute much to health other than maybe fortified calcium and vitamin d.
The different kinds of *milk* have little in common besides all having the word “milk” in their names and being liquids.
* Cow’s milk – dairy – protein/lipids
* Almond milk – nut – lipids
* Soy milk – legume – protein
* Oat milk – cereal – carbs
Watch the ingredients and choose whichever fits your nutrition goals best. I don’t trust American dairy products, but I may be biased. I currently live in Asia and have access to quality soy and oats, so these two are my *milk* products of choice.
But I definitely wouldn’t say that cow’s milk is a healthy choice for most people, due to lactose intolerance, diets heavy in saturated fat or fat in general, use of hormones/antibiotics/etc in the industry (depending on where you live.)