The overwhelming majority of the way you may take pleasure in a potato make it essentially the most excellent meals in existence, IMHO. Baked, mashed, tots, hash browns, Air Fryer French fries…it is scrumptious in each type. However potato milk? Even potato lovers would increase an eyebrow at that one.
Properly, it is occurring. Dug is a Swedish model that is, as they put it, “harnessing the ability of potatoes” by launching the world’s first potato milk. Their potato milk is already accessible to buy in choose supermarkets and on-line if you happen to reside in Europe, and in keeping with Dug, the model is on its means Stateside inside the subsequent few months. What precisely is the profit to a milk made with spuds when there are already so many various milks available on the market? Do we actually want one other one? Let’s get into it.
How potato milk stacks up nutritionally in comparison with different alt-milks
Poor spuds aren’t revered fairly the identical means cauliflower and kale (or within the milk class, almonds and oats) are, however let’s get one thing straight proper now: Potatoes are, in fact, healthy. One giant potato has 9 grams of fiber, 1,502 mg of potassium (3 times as a lot as a banana), and 34 mg of vitamin C. Potatoes even have magnesium, vitamin B6, phosphorus, niacin, and folate.
After all simply because potatoes are wholesome would not essentially imply it interprets to a nutrient-rich different milk. As dietitians preach on the reg, vegan milks are primarily made with water and only a small quantity of the “milk” supply. What’s extra, some manufacturers add sugar and synthetic elements to sweeten the style and assist with texture and ingredient mixing.
Associated Tales
Six p.c of Dug milk is sourced from potatoes—a fairly excessive proportion so far as different milks go. The model additionally added pea protein to reinforce the dietary profile and fortified it with vitamin D, vitamin B12, folic acid, and riboflavin. The other ingredients are chicory fiber, rapeseed oil, sucrose, acidity regulator (particularly di-and mono-sodium phosphate), calcium carbonate, sunflower lecithin, and pure flavors. Apart from this “unique” model, Dug additionally has an unsweetened potato milk and a barista one, crafted particularly for warm drinks.
A nutrient that was notably essential to the builders of Dug to incorporate? Omega-3 fatty acids, which is discovered within the rapeseed oil used within the potato milk. “[Vegans] can have a tough time getting the very important fats omega-3, which is usually present in fatty fish,” mentioned Eva Tornberg, a Lund College professor whose analysis contributed to the event of Dug, said in a statement. “For them and others, the product can function a substitute for flaxseed and rapeseed oil or well being dietary supplements.”
When requested how she thought this potato milk stacked up nutritionally, registered dietitian and California Vegan ($20) creator Sharon Palmer, RD, factors to each professionals and cons. On the professional facet, she likes that it is fortified, offering a full 15 p.c of the every day worth for calcium and vitamin D. She additionally likes that it’s not loaded with added sugar.
What the potato milk is missing in, Palmer says, is protein—even with the pea protein added. “It is nonetheless low with only one gram per serving,” she says. To compare, soy milk has eight grams of protein per cup, oat milk has three grams, and almond milk has two. So long as you are getting your protein elsewhere in your eating regimen, this is not an enormous deal. However if you wish to purchase essentially the most nutrient-rich alt-milk there’s, it is value understanding the way it compares on the protein entrance to the others. Equally, the potato milk solely has one gram of fiber; nonetheless one thing, however not precisely a powerhouse supply.
Typically, the potato milk is fairly impartial when it comes to dietary profit. There’s nothing in it that is unhealthy and it does include a variety of useful vitamins, though it solely has these vitamins in small quantities. However there’s one other space the place potato milk earns an A+: sustainability.
Which different milk is essentially the most nutrient-rich of all? Watch the video beneath to seek out out:
Why potato milk is a sustainable selection
Palmer says that the place potato milk comes out forward in comparison with nut milk—and even cow’s milk—is that it is extra sustainable. “Greens have a considerably decrease footprint than dairy meals and use far much less water than nuts, too,” she says. Dug claims that rising potatoes are twice as environment friendly as rising oats, from a land-use perspective. The model additionally drives residence Palmer’s level about nuts requiring a considerable amount of water, stating that rising potatoes require 56 occasions much less water than an equal acreage of almonds.
The model additionally says Dug is a win over cow’s milk when it comes to sustainability. “If you happen to examine dairy milk to a potato-based different, the local weather footprint of the potato drink is considerably decrease. The truth is, switching to a potato-based different reduces the local weather affect by about 75 p.c,” their web site reads, citing information from Carbon Cloud AB.
Potatoes aren’t the one plant-based ingredient wholesome meals entrepreneurs are turning to in an effort to create a sustainable different milk. Peas, barley, and sesame seeds are additionally being milked for comparable causes (amongst others).
After all, style can be a key issue when selecting something you are consuming—a brilliant essential one, truly. It is one which will make or break Dug’s success, particularly with the alt-milk house getting so crowded. (Vegan milk, so scorching proper now.) However contemplating the combo of French fries in a Wendy’s frostee is already broadly beloved, there’s an opportunity it would, the truth is, style pleasant. It actually could be a disgrace if milk from a spud turned out to be a dud.
Oh hello! You seem like somebody who loves free exercises, reductions for cutting-edge wellness manufacturers, and unique Properly+Good content material. Join Properly+, our on-line neighborhood of wellness insiders, and unlock your rewards immediately.
Our editors independently choose these merchandise. Making a purchase order by means of our hyperlinks could earn Properly+Good a fee.
