There are actually several reasons. Some are just looking for new tastes. Many people are allergic to lactose, cow protein, or milk intolerance. In addition, modern people are increasingly abandoning milk for the sake of their convictions and for the sake of health care: all new scientific data speaks about the dangers of cow's milk for humans. For example, Colin Campbell convincingly showed this in his "China Study", written as a result of a long-term international scientific project and received a great response. In scientific periodicals, the results of clinical studies and experiments regularly appear, which give scientists reason to associate the consumption of cow's milk with a number of diseases, including acne, constipation, high cholesterol, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, type I diabetes and several types of cancer. Moreover,the mortality rate among women drinking at least 3 glasses of milk per day has doubled in 20 years compared to women who consume less than one glass of milk per day. This was demonstrated by a large cohort observational study conducted in Sweden. And the widespread claim that milk makes bones healthy and strong contradicts a number of scientific data (in particular, the already mentioned Swedish study).
There are more and more options for plant-based alternatives to milk: coke and almond, soy and rice, linseed and hemp, cashews and sunflower seeds.
Each of these options has its own characteristics and is useful in its own way. For example, nut milk is rich in healthy monounsaturated fat, while coconut milk is rich in saturated fat. Cashew milk contains iron, while sunflower seeds contain vitamin E. But vegetable milk contains less protein than cow's milk.
In addition, such milk is low in vitamin D and calcium, and it is often fortified with these elements. In general, they are useful, but they should not be "abused": "more" does not mean "better" when it comes to vitamins and minerals.
Alternative milk is not difficult to buy: you will surely find it in any large supermarket (for some reason in Moscow it is most often found in the section for diabetics) or in online stores, but it is better to prepare it yourself. Indeed, often sugar, flavorings, flavor enhancers and other unwanted ingredients are added to store-bought vegetable milk, as to other industrially produced products.
Try making homemade plant-based milk: it's very simple and enjoyable. For example, milk from almonds. You need to soak a glass of nuts in water overnight, and in the morning drain the water and thoroughly grind the almonds with a glass of fresh water in a blender, add a pinch of salt, a couple more glasses of water - and mix again with a blender. The resulting milk should be filtered through a very fine sieve or cheesecloth. By adding more water, you can adjust the fat content of the milk. And to sweeten it, you should use stevia or honey.
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