Almond milk is a popular milk alternative for vegans. It contains calcium, magnesium, vitamin D and E, and other essential nutrients. People are associating almond milk with estrogen hormones that are responsible for regulating fertility and menstruation in females. So, does almond milk have estrogen?
This article will answer what estrogen is, whether almond milk contains estrogen, the effect almond milk impacts our bodies, and what almond milk has besides the almonds. So before we dig into these questions, understand that almond milk is plant-based milk and doesn’t contain any hormones.
Best Almond milk to buy
If you’re looking for a healthier alternative to milk and would like to try almond milk, then you should check out this list of brands. The list includes some of the most popular and best-selling almond milk in the market today. So whether you are looking for a healthier option or something which is easier on your stomach, this list can help you decide which brand is best for you.
What is estrogen?
Estrogen is a hormone that has many purposes in our bodies. It affects the reproductive health of females. This hormone is inclusive of estrone, estriol, and estradiol. Among other effects estrogen has in our bodies are the general health of the skin, breasts, muscles, bones, heart, and blood vessels, to mention a few.
Estrogen is produced in a woman’s ovaries, but small amounts are made in the fat tissues and the adrenal glands. It is, however, not dominant in women alone. Men also have lower levels of estrogen production in their testes and are responsible for their male characteristics.
What is in almonds besides almonds?
Almond milk’s main ingredient is almond nuts. The milk also contains other ingredients that include:
Emulsifiers
The most common emulsifier is sunflower lecithin that improves memory health, cardiovascular health, and stress-related disorders.
Vitamins
Almond milk contains many vitamins such as vitamin E, D2, and A palmitate. Vitamin E maintains hair and skin health, while calcium maintains bone health.
Calcium carbonate is used to give products like tofu and other foods a smooth texture, thicken them up and act as an anti-caking agent that regulates or slows down spoilage by absorbing water or humidity found in the air.
Flavors and sweeteners
Some store-bought almond milk varieties are flavored with different flavors like vanilla and chocolate. Still, you can get unflavored varieties. Potassium citrate is often used as a flavor enhancer in almond milk. Common sweeteners might include sugarcane sugars that are either pure or evaporated. If you are making homemade almond milk, then you can use granulated sugar or honey to add sweetness.
Proteins
Almond milk contains no proteins, but manufacturers have used amino, folic acid, and selenium ingredients to build protein. Others use rice protein, pea protein, or whey to make protein.
Almonds milk is rich in antioxidant properties that help fight cancer-causing radicals in the body; magnesium works incredibly well at regulating blood pressure. The fiber, a non-estrogenic ingredient present in the milk, keeps the digestibility down and allows it to pass through your body quickly without being broken up chemically from enzymes that encourage estrogen production.
Does almond milk have estrogen?
Almond milk is not filled with estrogen because ingredients in almond milk are either anti-estrogenic or non-estrogenic, which means they do not affect your hormone levels. Almond produces phytoestrogen, which is plant-based estrogen. This plant-based hormone can also be found in soybeans, flaxseeds, sprouts, and peanuts.
The phytoestrogen present in almond milk can act like estrogen in the body. Still, it cannot do so on its own because almond milk has no cholesterol (the hormone must attach itself to a lipoprotein). Upon entering our bodies, the phytoestrogens are either used, excreted, or broken down by the liver, meaning that they have no estrogen-like activity once they are inside the body.
So, while estrogens from almond milk may have a similar chemical structure to our own estrogen, these phytoestrogens do not attach themselves to the same receptor sites on cells as estrogen and therefore will offer no health benefits or detriment when consumed.
Does almond milk affect hormones?
Almond milk does not affect hormones in our bodies either way since its phytoestrogens are not the same as our natural estrogen. The almond milk might contain some naturally occurring estrogens in small quantities, but it is still relatively low and should not affect your hormone levels once consumed.
Studies have shown that almond milk can actually be beneficial to those with estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancers because of its ability to act as an anti-estrogen in the body or block out some of our own estrogens from attaching themselves where they shouldn’t.
Frequently asked questions(FAQS)
How much almond milk is too much?
About how much almond milk is too much, the answer really depends on what you are using the almond milk for. Of course, if you’re drinking gallons of it daily, then that might not be a good idea. This is because when consumed in excess, it can have a laxative effect on the body.
Does coconut milk have estrogen?
Coconut milk does not contain estrogen since it is derived from coconuts, which is classified as fruit. Although there could be estrogen in small amounts like many foods have, it does not affect hormones when consumed as a beverage.
Conclusion
The question of whether almond milk has estrogen in it is now answered. There is no estrogen hormone in almond milk. What the milk contains is plant-based estrogen- phytoestrogen that does not interact like the human estrogen hormone upon reaching our bodies.