With all of the hullabaloo going on about non-dairy milk, deciding on the type that might best suit your needs can sometimes be a bit tricky. People choose non-dairy milk over cow’s milk for numerous reasons, including being lactose-intolerant, wanting to enjoy a vegan lifestyle, and wishing to reduce their carbon footprint. But whatever the reason, once you decide that you prefer non-dairy milk over dairy milk, you’ll certainly have a lot of options available to you, including milk made out of oats, cashews, soy, coconut, almonds, peanuts, and most recently – potatoes.
The Many Advantages of Non-Dairy Milk
Non-dairy milk offers tons of advantages over dairy milk, especially when it comes to sustainability. On average, dairy milk produces a whopping 3.0 kgs of CO2 per liter produced as compared to the 0.9 kg of CO2 per liter for oat milk. This is quite a difference, so if you’re interested in choosing a product that greatly reduces its carbon footprint, oat and other nut milks are the way to go. That being said, what if you’re allergic to nuts? Having a serious allergy like this is nothing to play around with, so if you have this type of allergy, potato milk is preferable over the nut milk types.
But what if you’re not allergic to nuts and you’re trying to decide between oat milk and potato milk? Are these two milk products just alike, or are their differences enough to help you choose one over the other? Both potato milk and oat milk have great nutritional value and a great texture and taste, so if you’re trying to decide between these two types of non-dairy milk, it might be good to compare some of the stats of each so that you can make the right decision in the end.
If you’re wondering why it looks like we’re trying to single out oat milk, there’s a reason. Of all of the plant-based milk types, oat milk seems to be the most sustainable. Why? Although almond milk’s advantage of low water usage is admirable, its carbon footprint increases when it’s shipped all over the world. At the same time, soy milk has the disadvantage of causing lots of areas of the Amazon rainforest to be destroyed, in part because its primary use is currently the feeding of dairy farms and other livestock. Oat milk, by contrast, doesn’t have these problems.
In fact, although oat milk has its pros and cons, it uses less land and a lot less water than most other non-dairy milk. Up until now, it’s been considered the best type of sustainable non-dairy milk to consume. But if you think that’s about to change, you’re probably right. The newest kid on the block when it comes to non-dairy milk – namely, potato milk – seems to be giving even oat milk a run for its money. Let’s take a look at some of the differences and similarities between these two awesome milk types.
Which Type of Non-Dairy Milk Should You Choose?
If you’re trying to narrow it down between potato milk and oat milk, the best thing to do is look at the contents in each type of milk to see which one works best for you. The first thing you should know is that growing potatoes is twice as efficient as growing oats. Why? Potato milk produces only 0.27 kg of CO2 per liter, compared to oat milk’s 0.9 kg, although both numbers are extremely low. Here are a few other comparisons of these two non-dairy milks.
- Protein. Although plant-based milk generally contains only a fraction of the protein found in the food it’s derived from, you can still compare the protein of oat milk and potato milk to get some comparison. For every 100 ml of milk, you’ll find 1 g of protein in oat milk and around .5 g of protein in potato milk. But since potato milk often adds pea protein, the protein content can go up to 1.3 g per 100 ml serving.
- Fat. Potatoes are naturally low in fat, so extra fat is sometimes added to potato milk to improve the texture. On average, the fat content for both potato milk and oat milk is around 1.5 g per 100 ml serving. But when compared to other plant-based milks, potato milk is higher in monounsaturated fats, or fats that are better for your heart. If you choose a “barista” version of potato milk, it will have a little more fat added for the milk to foam.
- Vitamins and minerals. Both potato milk and oat milk usually have vitamins and minerals added to them. Potato milk usually has added vitamins such as D and B12, calcium, and riboflavin. Some organic non-dairy milk has no vitamins added to it simply because of the rules associated with organic foods. If a certain vitamin or mineral is important to you, read the labels carefully to decide which non-dairy milk is best for your needs.
- Sugar. All plant-based milk can have added sugars. If you choose a sweetened version of potato milk, it usually has about 1.8 g of sugar per 100 ml serving. But other plant-based milk, including oat milk, can have anywhere from 2 to 3.5 g of sugar per 100 ml serving. This means that in this category at least, it’s best to choose potato milk over oat milk.
Conclusion
Up until recently, oat milk has been the clear winner when it comes to choosing the best type of non-dairy milk, but that might be about to change. Potato milk has taken the world by storm, and even though it is currently only available in Europe and the United Kingdom, it is definitely getting one step closer to arriving in other parts of the world, including North America. DUG potato milk is currently the only brand of this type of milk, and it is available in original, unsweetened, and barista versions. You can also make your own potato milk, but regardless of which one you choose, if you’re trying to decide between potato milk and oat milk, the task just became much easier for you.