The PrimaFoodie Guide to Alternative Milk

Alternative milks, or “alt” milks, are seeing an unprecedented boon in popularity. Over the next several years, plant-based and nut-based milks are expected to triple in market size, reaching nearly $70 million by 2028. The reasoning is layered: Many are interested in learning toward a way of eating that is more focused on plants and less on animals, be it for ethical, wellness, or environmental reasons. Others find the dairy alternatives to be tastier. Wherever your interest may fall, the alt milk options today are vast, so we offer this breakdown of the popular—and quirkier—ones on the shelf.

Plus, keep reading for a breakdown of the most common additives to look out for.

 
Almond Milk

The longtime alt milk star, almond milk boasts a distinct nutty flavor. It is made by blending soaked almonds with water and sometimes sea salt. It is a beverage that requires nearly the most water (or the most, according to some experts) to produce.

Coconut Milk

There are two schools of coconut milk: The kind you find in a can and the kind you find in a carton or gallon in the refrigerated section. While both are made from the coconut, coconut milk is made from squeezing the liquid from the fruit’s internal meat. This results in a creamy liquid that is used in cooking, smoothies, lattes, and more. What is found in the can is a bit different: This is usually coconut water, the liquid found sloshing around the middle of a coconut, with a thick layer of natural coconut cream, the fattiest part of the coconut milk, on top. This canned coconut milk is generally meant to be mixed before using and is best for baking and cooking.

Pea Milk

Small yellow peas and water provide the basis for pea milk, which has been garnering great attention as of late. With a taste that is mildly earthy and chalky, it’s often touted by nutritionists for having a higher protein content compared to other plant-based milks. Pea milk tends to be a popular pick for those avoiding nuts.

Oat Milk

We’re seeing this alt milk pop up in cafés everywhere these days. Its thicker consistency and milder creamy flavor is believed to mimic the taste of real dairy. Oat milk is created by soaking rolled or steel-cut oats (recipes vary) with water, blending, then straining the mix. For those with gluten allergies, it is critical to make sure the oat milk you choose is made of certified gluten-free oats. 

Cashew Milk

Similar to its almond sister, cashew milk is made of soaking cashews in water and then blending it to a creamy consistency. (Oftentimes people will strain the blended mixture to rid any sediment.)  Cashew milk has a nuttiness that is milder than that of almond.

Brazil Nut Milk

A PrimaFavorite. Brazil Nut Milk is another sister to almond and cashew milks in terms of how it’s made: by soaking and blending the combination. But we have to say, Brazil Nut Milk is the creamiest of all nut milks. It’s high in antioxidant-rich mineral selenium, which helps to regulate body functions. 

Hemp Milk

Hemp milk is created by blending cannabis sativa, also known as hemp, seeds with water. Contrary to popular beliefs, there is no CBD in hemp milk. That’s because CBD is only present in the cannabis flowers and buds and not the seeds. 

Flax Milk

Flax Milk is made from grinding whole flax seeds and mixing them with water. Nutty and creamy, flax tends to be a favorite among people seeking an alt milk high in omega-3 fatty acids. 

 
Know Your Additives

It’s common to see the words alternative, plant-based, and dairy-free and automatically think healthy. But just like any food, alt milks fall victim to copious additives, nebulous labeling, and added sugars. Our suggestion? Make your own nut or plant-based milk, which is surprisingly easy and results in the creamiest consistency. (Watch our tutorial on how to make homemade Brazil Nut Milk.) But if you’re looking to grab one ready-made, it’s best to know the most common additives. 

Guar gum

You’ll find guar gum in everything from alt milks to sauces to dressings. It’s a common additive used as a thickening and binding agent to make for a creamier consistency. High in soluble fiber, guar gum has been linked to digestive issues.

Pea protein

Manufacturers have been incorporating pea protein to up the protein content in certain alt milks. (Since many nut- and plant-based milks are strained, the protein content is lower than when eating the full plant or nut.)

 
Tapioca starch

A long-time popular thickening agent, tapioca starch is made from turning tapioca into a chalky powder, which is then added to drinks, soups, desserts, and more.

Carrageenan

Derived from red seaweed, carrageenan is added to copious alt milks and other liquid foods for its ability to emulsify and thicken. It sounds innocuous, but carrageenan has been a topic of controversy for some time as experts link it to digestive ailments, inflammation, and other health concerns.

PrimaFoodie-Approved Alt Milks*

Malk Organics

Three Trees Original Unsweetened varieties

Elmhurst Unsweetened

Milkadamia Unsweetened

*At PrimaFoodie, we steer clear of oat milk, pea milk, and also rice milk, all of which tend to cause blood glucose spikes (and also commonly come laden with added sugar).

What Is “Inclusive Beauty”? Meet the Iconoclastic Beauty Founder Fighting for Greater Ethics and Kindness in the World of Self Care

A new wave of beauty pioneers are fighting back. They’re challenging the toxic and exclusive pillars that have forever pervaded the beauty industry and, instead, creating products that encourage a more mindful, clean, inclusive approach to self-care.

One such pioneer is Jennifer Norman. Founder of Humanist Beauty, a B Corporation Certified skincare collection focused on breaking the conventional beauty standards, and The Human Beauty Movement, a positivity-focused social impact effort, Norman wants to encourage a new wellness and self-care industry—one that invites every individual to define beauty for themselves. Norman and her team call this “inclusive beauty.”

Before we investigate what inclusive beauty is, we’ll first take a look at what it is not. Household makeup and skincare brands have long used tactics that reinform ageism, binary gender expectations, racism, sexism, and ableism. Expectations around what someone should look like have sold billions upon billions worth of products. Yet, these arbitrary beauty standards have led to wide swaths of consumers falling victim to anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, eating disorders, and other mental and emotional health issues. 

In tandem with these issues is the continued widespread inclusion of harmful chemicals in makeup and personal care items. A 2021 study found high levels of hazardous industrial compounds—all of which linked to grave health conditions—present in more than half of the cosmetics sold in the US.  

In short, the things created to make us feel beautiful have excluded, marginalized, and sickened consumers. Norman, along with her team behind Humanist Beauty, is flipping this script. Her focus is on ingredient purity, supply chain ethics, and care for every stakeholder involved, from her employees to consumers to the planet. “I wanted to develop a brand that went above and beyond to appreciate kindness, diversity, and well-being,” the founder says. 

When we asked how she is doing this, and what exactly she means by “inclusive beauty,” Norman is incredibly forthright. “Inclusive beauty is so much more than showing tokenistic images of women with different skin tones and hair types,” she tells us. “It extends to understanding the thoughts, feelings, frustrations, and opportunities of those who have previously been marginalized and under-represented in society. It is letting people know that we see them, hear them, and care about them deeply.”

A Conversation with Jennifer Norman

Let’s start off with the genesis of your company, Humanist Beauty. 

When I started developing the Humanist Beauty brand, I reflected on my own life experiences of being an adopted Asian American girl, and also on being the single mom of a mixed-race child living with chronic illness and disability. I wanted to develop a brand that went above and beyond to appreciate kindness, diversity, and well-being. 

How do you honor “inclusive beauty” via your brand?

Humanist Beauty stands for all races, backgrounds, skin tones, ages, abilities, gender identities, and beliefs. It lets all people know that they have value, and they matter. Some of the ways Humanist Beauty honors that is by working with diverse talent like trans model Gracie Cartier, prosthetic queer dancer Kima Dima, and unconventional curvy beauty Leah Abramson. We also support those with visual impairment or blindness by offering braille ID bands for our skincare products, Herban Wisdom Facial Oil and Herban Wisdom Eye Cream. We will continue innovating for ways to serve the abilities community even more going forward. 

What changes in the skincare and beauty industry are you most dedicated to seeing and being part of? 

More and more, beauty is being defined as wellness. It’s so much more than skin-deep. It’s about living truthfully, healthfully, and connected to everyone else in a positive way. The organization that I founded, The Human Beauty Movement, is all about embracing an ethos of beauty positivity. It’s about every human being coming to know their own true self and embracing the beauty that lives within. That way, they can then manifest that beauty out into the world as they desire rather than worrying about anyone else’s definition of beauty. 

I [recently] attended Natural Products Expo West, and I was blown away by the spirit of community and togetherness that was pervasive throughout the show. There is an enhanced focus on well-being across all categories, which is a likely response to living through an isolating pandemic such as we all did. 

Humanist has obtained B Corp status, which means you must prioritize the wellbeing of your employees, customers, and of the Planet. It’s worth noting that this is not an easy certification to obtain and maintain. Will you walk us through how Humanist makes this a priority?

I absolutely founded my business knowing that B Corp Certification was a priority, and I’m proud to say that The Human Beauty Movement was certified after 1 year of being in business. 

Being a B Corp is the gold standard of proving social and environmental impact. Given that ‘clean beauty’ means a lot of things to a lot of different people (and to some, it means nothing at all), having third-party validation such as B Corp Certification elevates brands in the marketplace as representing the best for people and the planet. Rather than putting all focus on shareholder value, which prioritizes profits, we put all our focus on stakeholder value, which is the positive benefit we’re creating for the entire ecosystem which encompasses our employees, suppliers, customers, communities, governance, and the environment. We put programs, policies, and procedures in place to ask questions like, “Do our suppliers exemplify diversity and fair wages? Are we supporting a regenerative economy? Do our products deliver holistic wellness through organic content, safety, and quality testing? How are we prioritizing community engagement and transparency?” And so on. 

B Corp Certification goes far beyond the realm of just being “clean.” It helps us assess and track our progress as a benefit company and hold ourselves accountable for living out our purpose-driven values. 

Ingredients are a critical part of your brand. How do you ensure the ingredients you use and the sources you tap into are ethical, pure, and conscious? Are there practices that a consumer can follow for vetting their own products? 

The truth of the matter is that consumers love to research ingredients yet doing so can be time-consuming. And there is a whole lot of contradictory information out there. That’s why it’s good to know there are brands, retailers, and organizations that help do the vetting for them. Clean retailer Credo Beauty allows you to click on any product’s ingredients to learn about their definitions. The EWG Skin Deep database is a good source for ingredient information. While not perfect, it’s perhaps the most comprehensive source for product safety data, and the EWG Verified seal is the strongest third-party indicator of best-in-class safety. 

I have extremely high standards when it comes to the ingredients that go into Humanist Beauty formulas. Not only do I screen for cleanliness, but I also do background checks on suppliers to vet their harvesting, processing, and manufacturing processes. I also require test results to ensure all raw bulk is clean and safe. 

[We] maintain an Ingredient Glossary where anyone can research any ingredient in our formulas to learn more about its function and safety. Transparency is an important aspect of our core values. 

To learn more about Norman and her inclusive beauty approach, visit humanistbeauty.com and the-hbm.com. 

—By Stacey Lindsay

The PrimaFoodie Guide to Amazon Alternatives

Choosing to support smaller brands and companies can be harder than expected. It requires determination and the time to research and vet alternative options. Making such a change can be particularly daunting when you’re aiming to forgo the services of one of the world’s largest online retailers: Amazon. 

Since its inception, Amazon has seen its share of employee and customer boycotts. Some people withdraw from Amazon due to reports of poor employee working conditions. Others aim to support channels that encourage and help to sustain small brands and companies. 

Whatever the case may be, a growing swell of interest to exit the services and goods of Amazon continues. If this is of interest, there are alternative shopping platforms—thankfully, an increasing number. We’ve rounded up the top six to consider when purchasing clean, local, sustainably sourced foods, self-care items, and home goods. 

Thrive Market

We’ve applauded this community-focused online marketplace many times before. With a giant curated selection of organic, non-GMO, and sustainably made foods, pantry items, and home and personal goods, Thrive offers a clean e-commerce selection that is hard to beat. The site is easy to shop, with items divided into obvious market sections and dietary and lifestyle needs. The company creates its own line of products and offers carbon-neutral shipping in recyclable packaging.

Package Free Shop

Lauren Singer, the founder of this Brooklyn-based online shop, is a true plastic-free pioneer. With the founding of Package Free Shop she and her team have helped to offer a fun, convenient way to shop for personal, pet, and home goods free of unnecessary plastics and coverings. The range, which is all from independently owned brands. (We absolutely love the kitchen section.)

World Market

This online marketplace, which also has stores across the country, continues to surprise us in the food and kitchen department. With a strong emphasis on global, fair-trade, and niche, the specialty spices, nuts, and jarred goods here are varied and hard to find. While this retailer is by no means perfect (there is still a wide range of mass-produced items, including furniture, here) it does provide a solid default option for finding smaller brands that value sustainability and ethics. 

Etsy

When Etsy sprouted out of Brooklyn in 2005, no one ever expected it to have the impact that it does today. This global online hub allows small artisans to sell their goods and has grown to be a premier go-to resource for supporting local, small and consciously made products. Etsy now has B Corporation status, which means it must consider the welfare of its employees and the environment in all that it does. With an assortment from personal care to furniture to jewelry, this company offers a giant selection. (It is also the first online shop to offset all its carbon emissions from shipping.) In this time of uncertainty, many have turned to support Ukrainian Etsy makers as an alternative means of helping those in need.

Bookshop

It’s common to look to Amazon as the default option for buying books online. Thankfully, Bookshop.org has sprouted and made both buying books and supporting small, independently owned bookstores easy.  Another certified B Corporation, Bookshop partners with small shops across the nation to offer essentially any and every book title. This company is generous with its profits, giving away more than 75 percent of its margin to the authors and shops. This is the PrimaFoodie go-to for all new cookbook releases.

Grove Collaborative

Grove Collaborative, which launched only a few years ago, aims to be completely plastic-free by 2025. An online retailer, it offers an assortment of personal, beauty, and household items, all of which have been vetted by their very strict set of standards that includes ingredient transparency (including no items that include artificial “fragrances”), no animal testing, and item that comes from ethical supply chains.