Oat milk is incredibly trendy with people looking to include more plant-based beverage options in their diets. But is oat milk good for you? That depends on several factors and why you are choosing to include it in your diet.
Is oat milk healthy? Compare the most popular brands.
Ok, I finally caved and set out to purchase a carton of oat milk to play around with for some recipe testing. After being asked, “Is oat milk good for you?” by several clients, I decided to investigate the various brands on the market.
On a recent trip to Costco, I discovered a shelf stable box of Kirkland Signature Organic Non-Dairy Oat Beverage. Upon looking at the label, I noticed that the nutrition facts panel included 7 grams of added sugar, however, the ingredient list did not include any obvious source of sugar. Perplexed, I had to investigate.
Kirkland Signature Organic Non-Dairy Oat Beverage label
Oat Milk Nutrition 101:
It turns out, unlike almond, coconut, or cashew milk, the nutrition facts of oat milk vary considerably based on several factors.
Calories in oat beverages:
While there are many varieties of oat milk including unsweetened plain, unsweetened vanilla, and sweetened plain/vanilla, I’m only going to compare the ones that do not contain “declared” added sugars in the ingredient list (more on that later). If calories are your focus, the unsweetened options range from 45 to 130 calories per cup. That’s a pretty wide range.
Added fats:
While oats contain a small amount of naturally occurring unsaturated fat, most brands of oat milk add oil for flavor and texture. This can vary from none (Planet Oat, Oatly- lowfat, Trader Joe’s) to rapeseed oil (Chobani), or Sunflower oil (Califia, Silk, Kirkland, Whole Foods 365).
Added sugars:
Here’s where it gets interesting. None of these “unsweetened” varieties have ingredients that are obvious sources of added sugar.
The simplest example is Trader Joe’s Non-Dairy Oat Beverage. It contains only two ingredients: hydrolyzed oats and water. Yet, the label declares 4 grams of added sugar!
How can that be??? That’s what I thought. Stay with me…
How oat milk is made:
When it comes to added sugars, it all comes down to how the oats are processed to make “milk”. When the FDA updated the Nutrition Facts Panel to include a separate line item for added sugars, they needed to decide what qualifies.
Each brand has its own method of processing the oats to create their oat beverage. Here’s where it gets a little tricky:
According to the FDA, “Sugars created through the controlled hydrolysis of starch or other complex carbohydrates in the production of plant-based beverages (e.g. beverages made from oats and rice) or other foods need to be declared as Added Sugars on the Nutrition Facts label because the sugars created through controlled hydrolysis add empty calories to the diet.”
This is because, “If a manufacturer purposely employs a hydrolysis step as part of a food manufacturing process to increase the sugar content of a food product (e.g. enzymatic hydrolysis of corn starch to make corn syrup in the same facility as part of the cookie-making process), we would consider the sugar generated from the hydrolysis step to be added sugars, because the manufacturer purposely used hydrolysis to increase the product’s sugar content.”
In other words, when oat starch is enzymatically broken down for the purpose of increasing the sweetness of a product, the resulting simple sugars (mono and disaccharides) are considered “added sugars”, even though no separate source of sugar was actually added to the product.
Why don’t all oat beverages have added sugars from oat starch hydrolysis?
It turns out, it’s a little complicated. The FDA also states, “A manufacturer might use hydrolysis to reduce a product’s viscosity (thickness). When we issued the proposed rule to amend the Nutrition Facts label requirements, some comments to the proposed rule said that we should exclude certain ingredients from the definition of added sugars because the ingredients are not added to the product for the intended purpose of sweetening.”
Look beyond the ingredient list.
So, ultimately, unlike most other products, looking at the ingredient list doesn’t tell you much about the sugar content of oat milk. The process used by each manufacturer will determine the nutrient content of the final product.
To help you out, I created a chart including the most popular brands of oat milk beverages with everything you need to know including calories, fat, carbs, fiber, total sugar, added sugar and protein to help you choose a product that suits your nutritional needs and preferences. (Scroll down for the chart).
Is oat milk good for you? Which are the best #oatmilk brands? Why do unsweetened varieties have added sugar? Find out all the details in my deep dive. Share on XBut wait, there’s more to consider.
I evaluated these oat milk beverages based on total calories per cup and added sugars because my general focus with readers and clients is weight management and prediabetes/diabetes.
Many people have different priorities such as minimal ingredients, additives or allergens, choosing only organic products or choosing certain oils or fats. Each one of these beverages varies pretty significantly based on these factors.
Oat milk is typically free of dairy, nuts, and soy and usually gluten-free as well so it’s a great choice for those with food intolerances and sensitivities. Plus, oats are more environmentally friendly and sustainable with a lower carbon footprint than nuts if that’s important to you.
My advice is to read labels carefully and do your homework.
Oat milk vs. Almond milk
Almond milk is super popular and I’m often asked which is healthier. Unsweetened almond milk is lower in calories and carbohydrates, oat milk is higher in fiber and protein. Again, nutrient content and ingredients will vary by the brand.
I like both for different reasons. Oat milk is a good plant-based option for those with nut allergies. I like to switch up what I use for interest, nutrient content and culinary purposes.
Both almond milk and oat milk are now available at Starbucks (Oatly) and Dunkin (Planet Oat). The Starbucks option contains 7 grams of added sugar per cup, Dunkin’s contains 5 grams.
Warning: At the time of posting this, the nutrition info on Dunkin’s website for beverages including oat milk is INCORRECT!
Dunkin uses the Planet Oat Extra Creamy variety. As you can see (I took a picture of the label in the store), a 1 cup serving has 4 grams of added sugar. The Dunkin nutrition info shows ZERO grams of added sugar in the oat milk coffee drinks (made without any additional syrups or flavorings). 4 grams per cup isn’t huge, but you should have all the info when making purchasing decisions 🙂
Planet Oat Extra Creamy Oatmilk – Dunkin Donuts
Planet Oat Extra Creamy Oatmilk Nutrition Facts – Dunkin Donuts
What’s my favorite?
My personal preference is to choose oat milk with the fewest calories and added sugars (assuming the taste is enjoyable as well). Based on these criteria, Planet Oat unsweetened vanilla oat milk fits the bill for me.
Silk Oat Yeah (the zero sugar one) and Chobani Oat (zero sugar plain) are the next best regarding total calories and added sugars. The Silk option is the winner for calcium (35% daily value) and Vitamin D (100% daily value) which is a major consideration if you follow a vegan or 100% plant-based diet.
Remember that oat milk has very little protein compared to 8 grams per cup of dairy milk. And the fortification of vitamins and minerals will vary significantly between brands.
I hope this helps clear up questions you have regarding oat milk. Ultimately, you do you.
Do you have a favorite brand?
OAT MILK NUTRITION IN THE MOST POPULAR BRANDS
Oat beverage nutrition chart comparing the most popular brands.
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Is oat milk healthy? Compare the most popular brands.
Loved this article, thanks for all the info!
Glad it was helpful!
Plant milks are not a health food. It’s all about harm reduction. They are far less bad for you than animal milk.
Also, I have had problems with Costco oat milk in which the pouring spouts fall off. I have stopped buying it.
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The info about the added sugars due to processing is so interesting. Thank you for the detailed info in this post.
Thanks! Glad it’s helpful!
Hello! Thank you for sharing! I literally just decided to partake in Oat Milk this past week; I’ve been on Almond for about 4 years now and I wanted to try other non-dairy milk sources. I am not into Soy milk though. tried that in college for a little while; didn’t work out for me in the long run. so I drink Almond, Cashew, and Oat now. And I think it’s great that oat milk is easy to produce at home with some good organic oats. It’s less expensive than cows milk when prepared at home. I use a small amount of cashews with the oats for the oil part that Oatley has.
I’m so glad you found what works for you!
And even more importantly here in CA where water is becoming a major issue, oats require a substantially less amount of water to grow the crop as compared to almonds. We switched to oat milk from almond milk for that very reason. We drink only organic and unsweetened/unflavored versions of either ‘milk’ product. Actually find the Kirkland brand very good but prefer to use the lower calorie versions
Animal milk is NOT bad for you. Do you remember when the only substitute for cow’s milk was considered soy? Yikes. Soy is estrogenic in nature. That’s good news if you’re transitioning. Not all cow milk is made the same. Regarding casein, there are two types of milk, A1 and A2. Studies have shown that milk containing A2 casein is relatively easy to digest. However, dairy cows are far from the only source of dairy milk. Camel milk on the shelves of a grocery store near Los Angeles got people wet with enthusiasm. Some examples of animals that are milk producers are goats, sheep, buffalos, camels, giraffes, mares, zebus, reindeers, and yaks. Research suggests that camel’s milk is pretty much the closest you can get to a human mother’s milk. Particularly in terms of immune-boosting proteins like lactoferrin and immunoglobulins, it is the same. Goat milk is one of the primarily acknowledged superfoods. Goat milk usually contains very low or no inflammatory A1 casein. Goat milk has a much higher content of short-chain and medium-chain fatty acids. However, like camel milk, goat milk is expensive. Yak milk contains more protein than milk from the cow, goats, and even human milk, and is high in individual and total amino acids. Buffalo milk is relatively common. Buffalo Milk is rich in protein and has a higher calcium content than cow milk. It’s also a source of iron, magnesium, and zinc. Horse milk is used in Europe as an alternative to cow milk because of its health benefits. A study was published on the benefits of horse milk in the “Functional Foods in Health and Disease” magazine . It has been suggested that mare’s milk is rich in albumin, which helps in regulating blood pressure, and has anti-inflammatory properties that can reduce the risk of cancer because of casein protein, which is toxic to breast cancer cells. Young W. Park, Ph.D., who is editor of the Handbook of Milk of Non-Bovine Mammals, said that sheep’s milk is healthy as compared to cow’s milk in many ways. Its high solids content is higher than goat milk, making it particularly palatable, which contains a high concentration of all ten amino acids as compared to cow milk. Sheep milk is among the highest nutritious milk in the world currently. Compared with goats and cattle, the main component of sheep milk is its composition, especially important nutrients such as protein, magnesium, iron, calcium, thiamine, zinc, riboflavin, D, vitamin B6, and B12 moreover medium chain amino acids, linoleic acid and including all essential amino acids. Reindeer milk is nutritious. One liter is sufficient to meet the daily protein needs of adults.
If you are investigating this for people with diabetes/pre-diabetes you should be investigating the fat as well as the sugars because FAT, not sugar, is the cause of insulin resistance! After a person becomes insulin resistance, they develop diabetes.
Good question. Increased body fat, particularly visceral fat, causes insulin resistance, not the fat we consume. Fat does have 9 calories per gram vs 4 in carbohydrates and protein so it’s easier to take in excess calories from higher fat foods. Though the fat in oat milk is probably less of a concern, it’s important to understand how to balance out protein, carbs, and fat for the best blood sugar control.
Appreciate this article, thanks!