When You Drink Oat Milk Every Day, This Is What Happens To You
Gone are the days of oat milk being a niche product. These days, oat milk, along with other plant-based milk alternatives, are everywhere, and sometimes seem to rival the popularity of classic cow’s milk. This isn’t just something which can be seen in the U.S. In the United Kingdom, for example, the amount that people spent on oat milk almost doubled in the space of a single year, according to Mintel, with the global oat milk market projected to reach a value of well over $2 billion by 2026 (per Global Newswire).
What’s causing the explosion in popularity? A few reasons — an increasing shift to plant-based diets, the desire to buy more environmentally friendly food products, and the fact that it’s just very tasty — all seem to be contributing to people reaching for cartons of oat milk with ever-increasing frequency. But there’s also the fact that oat milk brings with it a range of health benefits, with the drink containing excellent amounts of vitamin B, fiber, and a good amount of protein, according to Well+Good.
However, as with most things in life, you can get too much of a good thing, which raises the question: If you’re making the switch to a daily glass of oat milk, what will happen to your body?
Drinking oat milk every day could help your food move through a little easier
If you find that you’re having a little trouble when you go to the bathroom, a daily glass of oat milk could be just the ticket. Oat milk is an excellent source of fiber, particularly for a drink. The Cleveland Clinic notes that you’ll typically consume around 2 to 3 grams of fiber per serving. As functional medicine dietitian Jorden Edinger told the Clinic, this fiber content compares favorably to other milk alternatives — it’s "a bit more than most almond milks but less than a bowl of oatmeal."
That fiber can do wonders for your digestive system. According to WebMD, the fiber in our diet interacts with our food and stool, helping our bodies slow digestion, absorb nutrients, and add bulk to the stool. This helps stool move through the digestive system faster and with more ease, reducing the likelihood of constipation. As UCSF Health explains, adults should be looking to get around 25 to 30 grams of fiber from their diets daily, but most Americans average out at about 15 grams a day. So, if you’re looking to increase your fiber content and ease your life in the bathroom, oat milk could be a good way to go.
You’ll get good protein from drinking oat milk every day
If you’re a budding bodybuilder, you don’t need to slam cow’s milk all day anymore to get your protein -– enter oat milk. While not as high in protein as cow’s milk, oat milk still contains — as registered dietitian Lauren Hoover states to Eat This, Not That! – "about 4 grams of protein per serving." We’ve gotta be honest, this isn’t a bad amount for a drink –- and it gets even better when Hoover points out that this is "higher than some other popular milk alternatives, including almond milk, cashew milk, and coconut milk."
It’s important to note that a boost of protein every day isn’t going to necessarily get you ripped, but it will help your body go through a huge amount of necessary functions and keep it ticking along healthily. As MedlinePlus states, we are quite literally made of proteins –- they are the "building blocks" of our bodies. Without getting enough protein, the body isn’t able to make new cells or repair damaged ones, and this is vital both while we’re growing as children and teenagers, and in later life to help maintain good health.
