Almond milk: quite good for you – very bad for the planet

Sales of the non-dairy milk alternative are on the rise. But the super-healthy nuts - mostly grown in drought-hit California - need millions of litres of water to be produced. Think twice before you pour it on your cereal

Snoop around the contents of an "eat clean" aficionado's grocery basket and chances are, among the organic cauliflower and mountain of avocados, you will come across a carton of almond milk. A few years ago, those avoiding cow's milk because of lactose intolerance or for ethical reasons were drinking soya, but health scares have seen a rising demand for alternative plant "milks", including rice, hemp and - most popular - almond. This week, Waitrose said almond milk had overtaken soya as its customers' preferred dairy alternative.

Almonds are one of the healthiest foods you can eat. The nuts (or seeds, if you are a botanical pedant) are packed full of vitamins, minerals and beneficial plant chemicals, as well as protein, healthy fats and fibre, and eating almonds is associated with a lowered risk of heart disease and Alzheimer's, among other conditions.