Wendyl wants to know: Oat milk offers tasty alternative to dairy

Vitasoy Oat Milk. $4.19 per litre.

Natural ingredients are a healthy choice for allergy sufferers, aid digestion and lower cholesterol too

A lot of people prefer not to drink milk these days because they are allergic to dairy products. You can get soy, almond, oat and rice milks on the shelves at supermarkets.

But as I found when I looked at soy milk, many of them can be highly processed foods with added oils, sugar, protein and flavourings.

This one caught my eye because it had refreshingly few ingredients: a total of eight, and all of them natural.

Filtered water
This is water that has had any additives, such as fluoride or chloride, filtered out of it.

Whole oats (min 15%)
Oats are a great health food. They are anti-inflammatory and very good for anyone with digestive problems as they form a gel-like substance in the gut that encourages beneficial bacteria. They are a great choice for people who are convalescing, and in Nana's day they would often make oat water which acts as an internal antiseptic and strengthens immunity.

Oats are also high in soluble fibre called beta-glucan which helps reduce cholesterol, which is why this product can claim that drinking it "actively lowers cholesterol".

Oats are also rich in B vitamins, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorous and potassium.

Oat flour
This will probably be in here to thicken the milk and also add nutritional benefits.

Tapioca flour
This is like cornflour but made from tapioca, which is made from cassava root.

Oat bran
This is the outer husk of the whole oat grain. It is a good source of both of the two types of fibre, soluble and insoluble fibre.

Calcium phosphate
This is probably in here to increase the calcium in this milk.

Sea salt
You will get 113mg of sodium per 250ml serve of this milk.

Vitamin D
This will be added in here to provide the vitamin. It is thought that many of us, especially older people, are deficient in vitamin D, which your body makes from sunlight.

My recommendations

This tastes like milky porridge to me, which isn't that bad and better than soy in my opinion.

I don't think you'd want to drink a glass of it but on cereal it would blend in with the flavour of muesli or porridge.

It has very few additives so you are getting 2.3g of fibre, 3.8g of sugar and 2.5g of fat, and 2.5g of protein simply from the oats.

If you are looking for an alternative to milk then this would be a great choice for your cereal.

Highlights
• Only eight natural ingredients.
• Lowers cholesterol.
• Low in sugar and fat.

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