Talk about science claims...

I drink almond milk for various reasons, among them that I think drinking dairy excessively isn't beneficial, I like the taste of the almond milk, and it's a little lower calorie than even skim milk.  (Note: I do eat other dairy and often order a cappuccino made with milk, and I generally drink my morning coffee with half-and-half, so I'm not adverse to milk or milk fat. Just in reasonable quantities.)

For me, it's primarily preference: I could drink soy milk or other dairy alternatives if it was all about being "healthy," but I think almond milk is pretty delicious and will drink it willingly and happily.

Diamond, the company who puts out this brand of almond milk, are clearly aware that some of their customers might be swayed for health reasons.  It what almost seems like parody after our discussions, Diamond has loaded the back of the carton with claim after claim after claim.  Let's look at all the buzz words: dairy-free, soy-free, lactose-free, cholesterol, and so on.  All natural! Calcium! Vitamins and minerals! REAL almonds! Low GI! Vegan!

It's almost as if they thought up every concern we have about milk and tacked it on the box and sprinkled some magic words like "all natural" and "low glycemic index" to give it a glow of health, all supported by those scientific studies we hear so much about.

How valid are these claims?  Most of them are simply marketing ploys.  Many consumers have  vague notion that vegans are healthy and that all natural and real almonds are good things, so perhaps almond milk is "healthier" than real milk.  To paraphrase on of my favorite nutritionists, Marion Nestle, food is food.  Almond milk may have nutritional advantages, but it is also heavily processed and fortified and made of more than almonds, where real milk is, well, just milk.  Drinking almond milk won't suddenly make me super fit and immune to diseases, just as drinking milk won't turn me into an overweight person who gets sick all the time.

Which is better?  That's not for me to say, but I'll keep drinking both because I can easily digest the lactose in my necessary-to-my-full-mental-functioning coffee (a science claim for another day), and I like drinking almond milk too.  But I'm on to you, Diamond, with your flashy health claims.  I'm on to you.