Is oat milk really that healthy?

1. Oat drink, oat drink or oat milk: whatever you want to call the drink, it is in any case popular. But is it also that healthy? And is oat drink more sustainable than cow's milk? Five Questions and Answers About Oat Drink.

1. What is oat drink or oat milk made of?

1. Oat drink  consists of a combination of water and oat flakes. The oat flakes are soaked in the water. Then these are mashed and sieved. The white liquid that remains is the oat drink. Often calcium, an acidity regulator, a stabilizer and vitamins D and B12 are added to this. While no sugars are usually added to the drink, oat drink generally contains more sugars than cow's milk. Oat drink does not contain lactose.

2. Is oat drink more sustainable than cow's milk?

1. It is difficult to measure the sustainability and environmental impact of a product, because several factors play a role. Among other things, land use, water use and CO2 emissions must be considered. Several studies have shown that more land is needed for cow's milk than for oat milk. This is not only because a cow uses land, but also needs feed to be grown on the land. For the same reason, more water is needed for cow's milk. Water is also needed to produce the cow's food. CO2 emissions also appear to be higher when making cow's milk. Because methane, a gas found in cow dung and fart, is also included, the emissions are twice as high as when producing oat milk. Another factor is transport. If the cow's milk comes from the Netherlands and the oat milk from another continent, the cow's milk is of course less harmful to the environment. Oat milk often does not come from far, because oats can be grown on European land.

3. Is oat drink or oat milk healthy?

1. If you make your own oat drink, it will not be as nutritious as cow's milk. This is because the vitamins and minerals that you find in cow's milk are not in oat flakes. You should then get these vitamins and minerals, mainly vitamin D, B12 and calcium, from other foods. These vitamins and minerals have been added to the oat drink in the supermarket. However, these are only an enrichment of the product. If you are getting little or nothing else in the vitamins and minerals, supplements should be considered.

4. Is oat drink gluten free?

1. Oats are naturally gluten-free, so oat drinks should be. Still, oat products often contain gluten. This is because oats often become contaminated with gluten from wheat, barley and rye during production. This does not mean that gluten-free oat products cannot be found. When an oat product, including oat drink, is gluten-free, it will explicitly state â € gluten-freeâ € ™ on the packaging.

5. How do I make my own oat drink?

1. Oat drink is very easy to make yourself. To do this, add one part oats to nine parts water. Let this soak for 15 minutes and then puree it with a hand blender or in a blender. Run the oat drink through a sieve, tea towel or nut milk bag. With the pulp that remains, you can bake cookies and make granola, but you can also just eat it with some (vegetable) yogurt, fruit and other toppings.