Almomd Milk vs. Regular Milk vs. Soy Milk

etoiles_argentees

gah... repeat.

I suppose the starting point is to look at the nutrition facts of the main “milks” that people drink. I’m going to focus on plain ol’ “moo juice,” soy milk, almond milk, rice milk, and coconut milk. Note that there are other, lesser known, milk substitutes out there like oat milk, peanut milk, hemp milk, and milk made from other grains. Without further ado, the nutrition labels of the Big Five:

Grams Per 8oz Milk (Whole) Soy Almond Rice Coconut
Calories 146 105 60 120 552
Total Fat 8 4 2.5 2 57
Sat. Fat 5 0 0 0.1 51
Chol. 24 0 0 0 0
Sodium 98 114 150 86 36
Total CHO 13 12 8 25 13
Dietary Fiber 0 0 <1 0 5
Sugars 13 9 7 10 8
Protein 8 6 1 0.5 5
Vitamin A 5% 9% 10% 0% 0%
Vitamin C 0% 0% 0% 2% 11%
Calcium 28% 30% 20% 2% 4%
Iron 0% 6% 2% 1% 22%

You probably noticed that I have listed the fat content of whole milk. There are a couple big reasons for that. First, you all know my take on pasteurized milk vs. raw milk. But I can’t find a nutrition label for raw milk. As such, for comparison purposes, we need a standardized product and whole milk, at around 3.5%, fills the bill. Raw milk is typically 4-8%, depending on the time of year, so the calorie and fat information would be a bit different. I didn’t pick skim or low-fat milk for another very big reason. Milk is not naturally low in fat, nor should it be turned into that.

bumblebums

I drank almond milk for a while until I came to my senses and realized it had virtually no protein to speak of. Now it's back to regular milk or soymilk, depending on how I feel. Soymilk tends to be a little cheaper than organic milk (the only kind I buy). I still eat plenty of almonds, though.

ldrosophila

I also don't think almonds or soy are your species either. And I don't think those species try to drink Almond or Soy milk, either. I also don't think they ride bicycles or drive cars, so we better stop that too. Wings, they're for birds, we should stop flying also. My point is that's not a very good argument. It's certainly not factual. Ignoring the fact I've seen adult animals drink fresh cows milk when offered, what makes you think it's true?

I don't see any adult animals drinking milk?

To beat a dead horse that bird is an adult and it's not even mammalian!

ldrosophila

Another great thing about low fat dairy is there has been some implication that it helps reduce body fat and aids in weight loss. Some say it's the satiety of dairy and others point to dairy proteins some how acting as a modifier.

ldrosophila

Don't you agree though that the maternal inheritance matters?The egg you developed from , with half of your chromosomes, was created in your mother's ovaries while she was still in your grandmother's womb. New research shows that that when our grandmothers passed those epigenetic signals to your mother she was also passing those signals to the egg that would provide half of your DNA.

You don't think that the early nutrition influenced the establishing of epigenetic marks?

I'm curious, not arguing.

Woah, I never thought of that you are absolutely right! Thanks for the note eat right for future generations.

ldrosophila

gah... repeat.

I suppose the starting point is to look at the nutrition facts of the main “milks” that people drink. I’m going to focus on plain ol’ “moo juice,” soy milk, almond milk, rice milk, and coconut milk. Note that there are other, lesser known, milk substitutes out there like oat milk, peanut milk, hemp milk, and milk made from other grains. Without further ado, the nutrition labels of the Big Five:

Grams Per 8oz Milk (Whole) Soy Almond Rice Coconut
Calories 146 105 60 120 552
Total Fat 8 4 2.5 2 57
Sat. Fat 5 0 0 0.1 51
Chol. 24 0 0 0 0
Sodium 98 114 150 86 36
Total CHO 13 12 8 25 13
Dietary Fiber 0 0 <1 0 5
Sugars 13 9 7 10 8
Protein 8 6 1 0.5 5
Vitamin A 5% 9% 10% 0% 0%
Vitamin C 0% 0% 0% 2% 11%
Calcium 28% 30% 20% 2% 4%
Iron 0% 6% 2% 1% 22%

You probably noticed that I have listed the fat content of whole milk. There are a couple big reasons for that. First, you all know my take on pasteurized milk vs. raw milk. But I can’t find a nutrition label for raw milk. As such, for comparison purposes, we need a standardized product and whole milk, at around 3.5%, fills the bill. Raw milk is typically 4-8%, depending on the time of year, so the calorie and fat information would be a bit different. I didn’t pick skim or low-fat milk for another very big reason. Milk is not naturally low in fat, nor should it be turned into that.

I did a little comparison back too, but I used the fortified examples of almond and soy. Did you look at the fortification products or unfortified.

vienna_h

I find there is a lot of variability between brands and flavours of fortified almond milks, rice milks, etc.

Marll

All soy products are complete garbage and you find it in everything these days if you actually read the packages. I'd prefer not to chance even a bit of hormone disruption because of all this junk and just stay away from soy milk. Whole regular milk or almond milk for me.

bumblebums

All soy products are complete garbage and you find it in everything these days if you actually read the packages. I'd prefer not to chance even a bit of hormone disruption because of all this junk and just stay away from soy milk. Whole regular milk or almond milk for me.

Can you point us to any recent research that clearly establishes harmful effects from dietary soy consumption in humans? I have looked for such research and have not found any evidence that there is an effect.

p0kers0ph

I have almond milk in my protein shakes, but I use regular 1% cows milk for cereal/tea/coffee

CoderGal

All soy products are complete garbage and you find it in everything these days if you actually read the packages. I'd prefer not to chance even a bit of hormone disruption because of all this junk and just stay away from soy milk. Whole regular milk or almond milk for me.

Can you point us to any recent research that clearly establishes harmful effects from dietary soy consumption in humans? I have looked for such research and have not found any evidence that there is an effect.

There's plenty to be found on google scholar, but some of the studies are vague and when all taken into consideration I think what it gets at is excessive soy is bad...And they're right, it's pretty much in everything these days. But I'm sure excessive anythings can provide similar results.

Meanwhile I just had a couple fists full of nutrient rich soybeans If you eat it in moderation I'm willing to bet you'll be fine. I do know people with hormonal problems tho, and all of them drank a lot of soy milk and tofu etc. The key word being alot. If you ate a lot of vegetables things don't look so pretty in the bathroom either. It doesn't mean they're bad all together when combined with other things.

bumblebums

All soy products are complete garbage and you find it in everything these days if you actually read the packages. I'd prefer not to chance even a bit of hormone disruption because of all this junk and just stay away from soy milk. Whole regular milk or almond milk for me.

Can you point us to any recent research that clearly establishes harmful effects from dietary soy consumption in humans? I have looked for such research and have not found any evidence that there is an effect.

There's plenty to be found on google scholar, but some of the studies are vague and when all taken into consideration I think what it gets at is excessive soy is bad...And they're right, it's pretty much in everything these days. But I'm sure excessive anythings can provide similar results.

Meanwhile I just had a couple fists full of nutrient rich soybeans If you eat it in moderation I'm willing to bet you'll be fine. I do know people with hormonal problems tho, and all of them drank a lot of soy milk and tofu etc. The key word being alot. If you ate a lot of vegetables things don't look so pretty in the bathroom either. It doesn't mean they're bad all together when combined with other things.

I know my way around Google Scholar, thanks Can you point me to a specific study that in your opinion establishes a clear negative effect of soy consumption? I am willing to examine it critically.

CoderGal

All soy products are complete garbage and you find it in everything these days if you actually read the packages. I'd prefer not to chance even a bit of hormone disruption because of all this junk and just stay away from soy milk. Whole regular milk or almond milk for me.

Can you point us to any recent research that clearly establishes harmful effects from dietary soy consumption in humans? I have looked for such research and have not found any evidence that there is an effect.

There's plenty to be found on google scholar, but some of the studies are vague and when all taken into consideration I think what it gets at is excessive soy is bad...And they're right, it's pretty much in everything these days. But I'm sure excessive anythings can provide similar results.

Meanwhile I just had a couple fists full of nutrient rich soybeans If you eat it in moderation I'm willing to bet you'll be fine. I do know people with hormonal problems tho, and all of them drank a lot of soy milk and tofu etc. The key word being alot. If you ate a lot of vegetables things don't look so pretty in the bathroom either. It doesn't mean they're bad all together when combined with other things.

I know my way around Google Scholar, thanks Can you point me to a specific study that in your opinion establishes a clear negative effect of soy consumption? I am willing to examine it critically.

Sorry, I don't have any on hand anymore and I'm not about to go look. Like I said. Vague. The ones that did have clear negative effects were consumed in large quantities. Like I said. You're probably fine if you're not up to your eyeballs in it imo from what I have read. I would say as far as this topic goes though since of the articles out there were pretty interesting. There a large population that wants to blane soy for their problems which seems kind of off? One thing I don't like though is how it's added to many many many many foods. I'm half surprised when i see a apple with no sit added
Edit: excuse all the predictive txt fails they are hard to edit in this phone browser.

yarwell

Wiwanitkit V. Excessive consumption of soybean milk and unexplained hepatitis. J Postgrad Med [serial online] 2012 [cited 2013 Jul 3];58:226-7. Available from: http://www.jpgmonline.com/text.asp?2012/58/3/226/101648

"Excessive" = 2.5-3 litres per day for a year. N=1. "Unexplained".

lattyboo

I drink soya all the time in fact its actually helps with my hot flushes i don't get them at all Brought Almond milk & i was on it for whole week then became sick of it so now i alternate them ...

bumblebums

Wiwanitkit V. Excessive consumption of soybean milk and unexplained hepatitis. J Postgrad Med [serial online] 2012 [cited 2013 Jul 3];58:226-7. Available from: http://www.jpgmonline.com/text.asp?2012/58/3/226/101648

"Excessive" = 2.5-3 litres per day for a year. N=1. "Unexplained".

This isn't even an article reporting an experiment, it's a letter about a case study. If that's the best we can do as far as proof goes, I'll keep waiting.

CoderGal

SOY

Since there's a little soy debate going on I enjoyed reading these guys a while back:

Study: soys link to cognitive impairment and brain atrophy: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10763906?dopt=Abstract

"A variety of calcium-fortified nondairy beverages are now available. However, the bioavailability of calcium in these beverages may differ from that of milk. A study of calcium-fortified soy milk found that the calcium in it was absorbed at only 75% of the efficiency of the calcium in cow’s milk." - http://www.truestarhealth.com/Notes/2819007.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uIn2L90wA8&amp;feature=player_embedded

Pro Soy Cancer Doctor is even frightened by the facts: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/01/02/tofu.aspx

http://www.westonaprice.org/blogs/kdaniel/2012/02/02/thyroid-cancer-on-the-rise-is-soy-a-cause/

dangers of soy: http://www.naturalhealthstrategies.com/dangers-of-soy.html

Soy info, Brain Damage and breast cancer: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/09/18/soy-can-damage-your-health.aspx

How to prevent thyroid disease: http://www.ehow.com/how_5678448_prevent-thyroid-disease.html

I suggest people do research before they start believing all of the above. Some of those links are not from the most reliable sources, but interesting reads none the less. And I'll just put here again that I eat/drink soy occasionally and don't see anything wrong with it so I'm not trying to scare you off.

And for those that are wondering how much and what kind of things contain soy, it's in things such as breads, crackers, cakes, rolls, or pastries containing peanuts, peanut oil, soy flour, processed and "natural" cereals, pasta, soy beans, soybean sprouts, sauces, fruit drink mixes, fruit toppings, coffee substitutes instant coffee, hot cocoa mixes, malt beverages, pork link sausage, deli/luncheon meats, commercially prepared meats (used as a meat extender), cheese substitutes, tofu, bean curd, natto, miso, textured vegetable protein, canned soups, commercial entrees, and combination foods, baked goods, such as cakes or cookies which contain soy flour, commercial ice creams and other frozen desserts, Hard candies, nut candies, fudge, and caramels, protein powders (even ones that are not soy protein based), margarine and butter substitutes salad dressings, mayonnaise, sauces, or gravies, Commercial vegetarian products and meat substitutes Heinz® Worcestershire sauce, Lea & Perrins® sauce, fermented soybean pastes (miso and natto), soy sauce, tamari sauce, granola, breakfast bars, Imitation bacon bits, Roasted soybeans or "soy nuts" etc

And that stuff is from an old link I found, didn't bother searching for studies. Though if anyone has any I think it would be interesting to pick apart.

kellehbeans

Almond milk is awful to drink alone. Ok in porridge. Soy milk is lovely in tea, breakfast but awful to drink alone. Therefore, regular milk wins in my case. Beautiful in a milkshake!

Sylvitryinghard

I love almond soya milk. goes good with my protein shake. lovely taste less calories.
another good thing 0,0 % fat milk

LaurenCatherineFoley

I'm lactose intolerant ... I think almond milk is much tastier than soy. I can drink a glass of almond milk. Soy has too much chalky residue. I'm an almond milk convert.