Plant milk vs Dairy milk

Almond and macadamia plant milks

"Eat less from a box and more from earth." 

Plant "milks" are all the rage - oat milk seems to have taken over coffee shops, and there are a plethora of other plant milks to choose from at the store: soy, rice, almond, cashew, macadamia, sesame, pistachio, et al. There can be a halo effect for plant milks since they are vegan, but are they really healthier than good old dairy milks? Let's investigate.

Small aside: why are they called plant milks anyway? When I liquify a plant of any type - apple, carrot, beets - to drink, I call it a juice. Isn't milk from a breast? Do they call it milk because you are only supposed to use these plant milks as a dairy milk substitute? In Taiwan there is a history of drinking soy milk but not dairy milk, so it's not called a milk or used as a substitute but as a drink of its own. Anyhow, I digress.

Like Impossible Burgers or other plant-based meats, commercial plant milks are much more processed than the original dairy milk. Let's look at some ingredients lists:

Ingredient list for Organic Valley Whole Milk:

 

Ingredient list for Oatly Original Oatmilk

 

Ingredient list for Silk Original Soymilk

Notice anything? Yup, the plant milks are much more processed. Manufacturers often add additional ingredients to the oats, soy, cashews, almonds, what have you, to improve taste and mouthfeel so it is more similar to dairy milk. Nutritionally, some of the plant milks are close to dairy in terms of protein and calcium, while others fall short. At MIndfulEats, we advocate eating natural and unprocessed foods, so we would choose to eat a handful of nuts over a commercially made nut milk. But, there are other factors.

So what's the bottom line? 

What to do - choose plant or dairy milk?

1. Determine what you are looking for in a milk. If you love milk, but are avoiding it for health or ethical reasons, then dairy is not an option for you. If you are fine with dairy products, we recommend dairy milk since it is a less processed, cleaner food which makes it more nutritionally bioavailable.
2. If you don't consume dairy products, determine why you want a plant milk.
   1. Is it to replace milk? Is it because the plant milk is delicious? If you want a milk substitute, we recommend you just wean yourself off of it and drink more water. Maybe have your coffee black instead. Similar to plant-based "meat", we recommend just not eating it. There are lots of other unprocessed foods and drinks in this wide world.
   2. If you think it's delicious or really want a milk substitute, have it as an occasional treat, the way you might have another processed food (like cookies). Look at the ingredients list and try to choose one without added sugars. Contrary to myth, soy is not a cause for health concerns, so if you like the taste, go for it. I like to use oat milk sometimes when I go to the coffee shop, and sometimes I will make a Golden Milk with a plant milk (recipe in next post).
3. Make your own plant milk. This is a great option - if you make your own plant milk, you control any additional additives (like sugar) and won't put any gums or preservatives in it.

Want to learn more?

• Plant milk or cow's milk: Which is better for you?, Harvard Medical School