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Hello,
I wanted to ask a question about Almonds, and the statement:
“Propylene oxide is a toxic carcinogen that has been banned for use on food products in Canada, Mexico, and the European Union.”
How is it that you can buy food products (i.e. Almonds at Costco in Canada) that have this chemical on them if it has been banned?
Thanks,
Rob
Hello Rob,
The short answer is that not all almonds are pasteurized with propylene oxide.
In 2007 the FDA did make it mandatory to pasteurize all almonds in the US, Mexico and Canada, however, the almonds can be pasteurized through several methods, one of which is harmful propylene oxide fumigation. To be certified organic, propylene oxide fumigation is not allowed, and therefore other means of pateurization are used (high heat). And even though the almonds are pasteurized, they are still sold under the pretence that they are raw. This is why the only almonds we buy are truly raw, organic almonds from Europe.
Hope this answers your question. It should not have to be so tricky for consumers to know what they are purchasing, and hopefully we will one day see stronger labelling regulations enforced to protect the consumer.
How much calcium do you get from a cup of a homemade almond milk? Usually in comercial almond milks you get 30% of artificial calcium or calcium carbonate.
The amount of calcium in homemade almond milk depends on the almond to water ratio. We use just over a cup of whole almonds to produce 32 ounces of almond milk, and so a cup of our homemade almond milk contains approximately 100mg of calcium.
The Recommended Daily Intake for calcium is 1000mg, and so 100mg would be 10%. However, we should not take the RDIs of nutrients too seriously. RDIs are based on isolated or synthetic chemicals and not on naturally occurring nutrients from whole foods. Naturally occurring nutrients are better digested, absorbed and utilized by the human body. So if you supposedly need some gigantic amount of an isolated or synthetic nutrient, you are more than likely to require a smaller amount of this same nutrient if you are getting it from whole food in it’s complete form. Furthermore, the amount of a nutrient we can absorb depends on a variety of factors, one of which is the complexity of nutrient interactions. For example, there are many nutrients that either help or block the absorption of calcium- some of which we may not even know about yet. Another factor is that the body, at any given time, will absorb a different amount of a nutrient depending on what its needs are at that particular moment. It is therefore very safe to conclude that what our overall diet looks like is of much greater importance than the exaggerated focus that we place on individual nutrients.
In short, there are many variables to determine what the ideal amount of each nutrient is for every person, and everything we know today tells us that relying strictly on RDIs is a very foolish paradigm, one that negates facts about overall health, good nutrition, and the complexity of how the human body functions. Discussing nutrition with a calculator to see if we meet RDIs is a reductionist approach, and while it has helped to boost the sale of synthetic supplements, it has done very little to improve our overall health. In fact, more and more research is showing the foolishness and dangers of consuming mega doses of isolated nutrients, all in hopes of meeting the RDIs. This is why I tell my clients, for the most part, to ignore the RDIs as they are transitioning to a healthier overall diet and lifestyle. And when I do talk about individual nutrients, such as calcium, I do my best to paint a more complete picture.
For more info regarding calcium I recommended that you watch my video entitled “The End of Osteoporosis”, and also read my Q&A article entitled “Bone Loss Begins at 30- you CAN prevent it”. All the best.
Thank you for your reply, I live in Montreal too and I can’t find almond milk with natural calcium. So I’m starting to make my own almond milk and it was very hard to find information about how much calcium we get from almond milk and how much it was lost in the pulp.
So with a natural diet I guess it’s safe to say that we need around 500 mg of natural calcium per day.
You are welcome. Yes, I would say that an average person consuming a proper plant-based diet would do just fine with just over 500mg of calcium. However, as previously stated, these numbers do not mean as much as some would have you believe. In all, calcium intake is not high on my list of concerns. The main focus remains on helping clients transition to a healthier diet which, incidentally, naturally contains an abundance of nutrients in what we now understand to be ideal ratios. The moment we begin to pull away from such a diet we begin to notice imbalances and deficiencies.
And, just to be clear, supplementation in today’s enviroment is important- especially as our soil is becoming depleted, our stress levels are elevated, and our diets are less than ideal- but the supplements that should be recommended are those that are composed of 100% whole foods, and not isolated, synthetic nutrients.
As I am sitting here drinking my homemade almond milk, warmed with cinnamon and a rooibos chai teabag, I decided to find out if heating my milk was a bad thing and found your website. I use Trader Joe’s Raw Almonds and just recently found out about the stupid USA requirement of pasteurizing almonds, but thought the steam process was ok, which is what TJ’s uses. If that’s not ok, then can you give us the source of your European almonds? I would be interested in getting some myself. And also, is heating the almond milk destroying the nutrients? I heated gently on the stove, not the microwave. Thanks!
Hi Jane,
Glad you are enjoying your homemade almond milk, we do very similar recipes as well. Steaming almonds does effect their nutrient level as well as create potentially harmful chemicals that we would prefer to avoid. Unless you are buying very large quantities of organic European Almonds, your best bet is to find a local health store that sells them. This way you won’t have to pay a high price in shipping. And if you can’t find a store near you, then you would look at online options. We are in Montreal, Canada, so shipping to you would cost more in shipping than the actual almonds!
Gently warming up the milk as you are doing is fine, just let it get warm to the touch but not too hot. As far as heating goes in general, when we prepare raw snacks for our clients, we dehydrate/heat at a temperature lower than 118 F (48 C). This is not something that you have to get overly concerned about with every single item you consume, just as long as a large portion of your daily nutrition features fresh living foods. Of course, I’m more strict when it comes to clients suffering from health issues.
All the best.
Hi, Dr. Mark. I am very aware of the danger of bad nutrition and want to do something about that. I’ ve read your article about almond milk and I would like to ask you this question. What other alternative does some one who lives in the U.S. Have to access to real almond milk since you only deliver to local residents in your country? Thank you
Hello Milo,
the solution is to make the almond milk yourself at home. I sent you all the information you need via email.
A child who was breast fed and also lactose intolerant drinks a cup or so of Silk Chocolate or regular almond milk a day. He never appeared to have any negative reactions but now he’s getting increased bowel movements with pain and diarrhea. Could this be attributed to his intake of Almond Milk. and possibly the artificial additives and vitamins they add. He’s only 2 and his mother is very careful about everything he eats but may not know there are issues with Almond Milk. Please share your perspective.
Hello Joanne,
You would have to look at the child’s nutrition as a whole. Unfortunately, many products are fortified/enriched with synthetic supplements and toxicity is possible, especially for children under the age of 8. You just have to remind mothers that even when a package advertises a whole food (such as almonds) many times what they are buying is a mixture of some of the cheapest synthetic vitamins available on the market. You can start by eliminating all processed foods and supplements, and then begin a process of elimination with the foods he consumes.