Pesticides and Chemicals in Nuts and Nut Milks

As a cancer and chemo survivor. It has become very important to me to make sure that what I put into my body is of the purest form, with the least amount of chemicals, toxins, pesticides, etc. I learn more about this every day and recently I started to do research on the process of nuts. The reason for this, is that I started to make recipes that require a lot of nuts, not to mention, both my husband and I ingest nut milks every day. The day I started my research was a day that someone on social media had mentioned that my favorite nut milk brand was not organic. Now, at first this didn't seem to bother me and I'm not sure why. 


The brand that I had fallen in love with is a brand called Elmhurst. The reason why I fell in love with the brand is that they have more than just one kind of nut milk. We had been drinking almond milk only for a while and I was excited to try other milks. The other reason I liked this product was that, by using a different method of extracting the milk/nutrients of the nut, they are able to get a creamier consistency with more nutrients than other nut milks. So I guess I kind of figured that the extra nutrients for the nuts made up for the fact that this product is not, in fact, organic. Plus the flavor of these milks is fantastic and they don't use any fillers or thickeners. They use two ingredients, water and nuts. There is a lot of good to say about these milks, but how important is organic vs fillers? (I contacted Elmhurst to ask if they planned on moving to organic any time soon, and they said no.)

If you can find an organic milk, made with organic nuts, would it be healthier because you are subjected to less toxins and chemicals going this route? The other option is buying organic and still having to deal with the fillers and thickeners and watch out for added salts, sugars and oils. So after doing some reading and digging. (I share all my sources at the bottom of the blog.) I realized that the nuts and seeds that are usually used for milks are highly processed with chemical and pesticides, including our precious almonds and many others. So after realizing this, I also looked into common thickeners and fillers found in nut milks, one article points out all of the common ones and what they are and how good/bad they are for us. They specifically mention a

controversial thickener called Carrageenan (comes from a red seaweed plant, pictured to the left) which was linked to cancer. The research isn't extensive on this, so it's hard to say, but at this point, if anything says it's linked to cancer, it's out for me. Lots of companies have been taking this thickener out of things, I've been seeing it less and less often which is good, but you HAVE to pay attention to ingredients labels. 

My conclusion after doing this research is that it is safer to consume a certified organic nut milk rather than drinking a milk that may be more nutrient rich. The antioxidants provided by nuts, isn't enough to veto the amount of pesticides and chemicals you are putting in your body by consuming the milk. However, if you drank it in tiny quantities along with a lot of other healthy antioxidant rich foods, your body might be able to overhaul the chemicals and pesticides you are taking in. Since I drink Golden Milk almost daily. I need a quality nut or seed milk that doesn't add any unneeded or unwanted things to my body that make it harder for it to operate. 

The absolute best option, although, can be time consuming and require certain kitchen gadgets is to make your own organic nut and seed milks at home. I've been doing research on this as well and trying to find the best nut and seed milks that won't break the bank, but are also easy to make. Below you find a link to a site that gives you recipes for 3 seed milks, it does mention needing a high speed blender to break up the seeds though. Otherwise you might need to soak the seeds so they break up easier. 

Making your own seed milks.

Making your own almond milk.

Making your own nut milk.

I've also heard about this machine called the Almond Cow. Have

you heard of it? It's been all over social media. I heard it can make milks out of any nuts, not just almonds, and without the straining. The problem is, it's a $200.00 investment. So it would just depend how much you want to invest on making your own organic nut milks. I also found similar items on amazon for half the price. So you might be able to try one of those instead, or if you already have a high speed blender, like me, maybe try out the organic seed milks first, especially since some seeds will be cheaper than nuts making them a more financially stable source. 

Sources:

https://www.ehow.com/list_5796861_list-seeds-should-buy-organically.html

https://nutritiouslife.com/drink-up/common-nut-milk-additives/

https://almondcow.co/products/almond-cow-milk-machine?gclid=Cj0KCQiA0ZHwBRCRARIsAK0Tr-qo7hA0sNjqjsyP6RURfertHEbyT334RCMptEaGke8JrrjHjs4-u3IaAvyUEALw_wcB

https://elmhurst1925.com/?cawelaid=120338840000000119&catrk=spfid-1&caagid=44624726075&catci=kwd-330261232039&capcid=203254575748&cadevice=c&gclid=Cj0KCQiA0ZHwBRCRARIsAK0Tr-qaLNfOD1B4NlQEjCQkiGISGvQkYB8L35kA1CDai9lyCEF-2nHFwlAaAsKrEALw_wcB

https://www.worldwellnesseducation.org/nuts-and-seeds/

https://nuts.com/tag/raw?query=hemp&refinementList%5BProduct.facets.value%5D%5B0%5D=raw