Almond Milk side-effects?

[CathyA]

I've been drinking Almond Breeze for quite awhile, but not much of it. Lately, I started using it more. I've also developed really bad diarrhea, along with alot of G.I. symptoms. I have IBS and GERD, so I thought I was just going through a flare-up of that.
But I searched online, and it looks like alot of people get bad diarrhea from it.
Also, it might be the carrageenan in it. Looks like that additive might even cause some colon cancers.
Just curious if some of you others who drink Almond milk, have these problems too?
Thanks.

[Mrs-M]

Cathy. I'm not an ideal person to ask Re: however, the one and only time I tried almond milk, I had no problems digesting it.

I've read that having a half dozen (or so) spoon-fulls of yogurt before eating or drinking (mealtime), apparently helps condition your stomach and digestive system to more easily accept whatever you're taking in.

[CathyA]

Hi Mrs. M., I've tried to do yogurt, but I can't seem to tolerate that either. :( I think the present state of my GI tract, I have over-use of antibiotics in the past to thank. :(

[Mrs-M]

Sigh... I'm sorry to hear that, Cathy.

How about other varieties of milk, such as rice milk and soy milk? I tried rice milk, but didn't like it. Too thin... almost like drinking water, but soy milk I really liked.

Have you visited a health food store to see what other supplemental option may be available to you? As in a replacement for almond milk?

[Rosemary]

I use unsweetened almond milk in small quantities (e.g. in chai) and have not had any issues with it. I have chronic GERD as well, but the almond milk does not seem to make a difference. I occasionally switch off with unsweetened soy milk.

[Fawn]

I drink Almond milk with the free whey protein my trainer gave me, so about 1 cup/day for past month or so with no ill effects. I also use/cook with coconut milk.

In general I avoid milk and dairy products, so the whey powder is something I would not ordinarily use.

But I would say, if the almond milk gives you ​diarrhea, it doesn't matter what it does for us. Right?

[Kestrel]

I use almond and coconut milk, but I don't drink them. I use them in cooking when dairy is called for. No reactions. So no help from me ...

[Dhiana]

We drink & cook quite a bit of Almond milk in both the original and vanilla flavor and happily report no ill effects. But there are several milk alternatives out there so move on to one that works for you. Soy milk has a lot of really ugly side effects for me. So I just stay away from soy as much as possible.

[CathyA]

Thanks everyone. Soy milk has too many carbs, and rice milk just tastes awful. (plus, I think they all have carrageenan). My problem could just come down to my IBS and GERD. I would love to find out it isn't related to the almond milk, because I love it so much.

[larknm]

I just looked and Silk's Pure Almond Milk Original doesn't list carrageenan. I've been drinking it for a couple of years because it has more calcium than any other almond milke I've found (45%) and no digestive problems. Of course, I don't know if carrageenan is something they list or if you find out some other way.

[CathyA]

Thanks larknm...........I'll check that out. It should say right under ingredients if it has carrageenan. Thanks for that!

[creaker]

I just looked and Silk's Pure Almond Milk Original doesn't list carrageenan. I've been drinking it for a couple of years because it has more calcium than any other almond milke I've found (45%) and no digestive problems. Of course, I don't know if carrageenan is something they list or if you find out some other way.

It is a listed ingredient - it's also in a lot of products. I have unsweetened Blue Almond almond milk and it has carrageenan.

From wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrageenan#Health_concerns A study published in 2006 indicates that carrageenan induces inflammation in human intestinal epithelial cells in tissue culture through a BCL10-mediated pathway that leads to activation of NFkappaB and IL-8.[22] Carrageenan may be immunogenic due to its unusual alpha-1,3-galactosidic link, which is part of its disaccharide unit structure. Consumption of carrageenan may have a role in intestinal inflammation and possibly, inflammatory bowel disease, since BCL10 resembles NOD2, mutations of which are associated with genetic proclivity to Crohn's Disease.