Plant-based beverages lack same benefits as cow’s milk
New food products are being developed daily, and some definitely find their way to supermarket shelves. Over the last decade, plant-based milks have become increasingly popular as a substitution for cow’s milk.
Key nutrients provided by cow’s milk include protein, calcium and, if pasteurized, added vitamin D that assists the absorption of calcium. But, have you ever wondered whether these plant-based “milk” beverages offer the same nutrition as cow’s milk?
Marissa Madeira, a student in the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences Department, had the same question and presented her research last week at the university’s 28th College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources and College of Engineering Student Research Symposium.
Madeira went to 12 retail food stores in Honolulu and found 14 general types of plant-based “milk” products. These included five nut and nut blends (almond, cashew, coconut, hazelnut and various nut blends), seeds (flax and hemp), grains (oats, rice, and grain blends) and soy. There were more than 100 unique “milk” choices.
Question: Are all these plant-based “milk” products nutritionally similar to cow’s milk or to each other?
Answer: Based on the information provided on food labels, Madeira found that only properly fortified soy milk served as a reasonable source of the nutrients provided by milk. Although many of these plant-based “milk” products were lower in calories than 2 percent reduced-fat cow’s milk, they also were commonly much lower in key nutrients.
Q: What plant-based “milks” were lowest in calories?
A: Each milk type offered a range of calories, but overall, cashew, coconut and flax “milks” tended to have the lowest-calorie options.
Q: What nutrients were generally the lowest in plant-based “milks”?
A: Most of the plant-based options provided little protein — commonly well below half the protein in cow’s milk. However, a few types were better than others. For example, among the 52 different options for almond milk, most had little protein (equivalent to about 4 almonds per 8-ounce serving), but information on one almond “milk” option indicated that it was equivalent in protein to cow’s milk. Most soy “milks” provided protein amounts comparable to cow’s milk.
Q: Were calcium and vitamin D in adequate amounts?
A: Most of the plant-based “milks” had added calcium and vitamin D to make their levels similar to cow’s milk. However, the added calcium in these products tends to settle to the bottom of the carton, making it important to vigorously shake plant-based “milks” so that most of the calcium is not left in the bottom of the container.
Q: Do plant-based “milks” contain much sugar?
A: Cow’s milk has about 10 grams of naturally occurring sugar (lactose) per serving, but most of the almond milks have added sugar, with at least one brand containing almost twice as much sugar as cow’s milk. Rather high added-sugar options also were found in hemp, rice and soy milks.
Overall, the plant-based “milks” are generally low in protein but have added calcium and vitamin D at levels similar to milk. However, the body is likely to absorb a bit less of the calcium in these products compared with cow’s milk. Due to the nutritional non-equivalency of most plant “milks,” some have claimed that use of the term “milk” on these products is deceptive marketing.
Alan Titchenal, Ph.D., C.N.S., and Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S., are nutritionists in the Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii-Manoa. Dobbs also works with University Health Services.
12 responses to “Plant-based beverages lack same benefits as cow’s milk”
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LOL. As soon as I saw the article title, I already knew it was more misinformation by these so called ‘nutritionists.’ At best, they are living and teaching in the 20th century. At worst, they are paid and funded researchers, that only harm the reputation of UHM as a modern, progressive educational institution.
Get a clue.
March 26, 2016
The first US dietary guidelines were issued in 1980 and recommended a reduction in saturated fat intake (found primarily in dairy), which was protested by the dairy industry (see also here, here, and here). The dairy industry has sponsored groups that minimize the potential health risks of dairy, using studies designed to mislead many people into thinking saturated fat intake is not harmful (see also here). Dairy industry funding appears to have a significant effect on study outcomes.
Dairy products are not only high in saturated fat, but they are low in a number of beneficial dietary components such antioxidants (see also here, here, and here); ergothioneine, an amino acid that may help protect our cells; and fiber, a nutrient that 97% of Americans are deficient in. Along with saturated fat, dairy products also contain cholesterol, trans fats (see also here), endotoxins, Neu5Gc, choline, all of which may raise the risk of inflammation, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
The hormones (see also here and here) in dairy products may not only promote acne (see also here, here and here), but also contribute to risk of premature puberty, multiple pregnancies (which are riskier to both mother and children), breast cancer, prostate cancer, other hormone-dependent cancers (see also here), declining sperm counts, excess estrogen, and heart disease.
Industrial toxins (see also here, here, here, here, here, and here) in the dairy supply may in part account for the relationship between dairy intake and increased risk of cancer, Parkinson’s disease, lower testosterone levels, and obesity. Pesticides (see also here and here), antibiotics, and flame retardant chemicals can also build up in dairy fat. An analysis of the diets of California children found the top food source of lead as well as banned pesticides and dioxins to be dairy products. Intake of dairy appears linked to higher mortality rates.
Overall, then, the health conditions dairy intake appears associated with is wide-ranging, including accelerated aging (see also here, here, and here), being overweight, canker sores, kidney stones (see also here), childhood asthma, constipation (see also here), diabetes (see also here, here, and here), different cancers (see also here, here, here, here), heart disease (see also here), hormonal imbalance, mucus, Parkinson’s disease (see also here), rheumatoid arthritis, rising blood pressure (see also here), skin wrinkling, sudden infant death syndrome, ulcerative colitis, bacterial vaginosis, and multiple sclerosis. Dairy production may also adversely impact climate change.
http://nutritionfacts.org/topics/milk/
“LOL.” Point to one instance of misinformation in this entire article–oops, you can’t. The only one tarnishing reputations is you. Posts like this make citizens of Hawaii and the US look unintelligent. Try educating yourself.
http://nutritionfacts.org/topics/milk/
It’s sad that people like you think a website like this is a source of accurate information. You probably believe everything Dr. Oz says too.
After reading yet another article touting the benefits of cow’s milk by these two, it makes me wonder who is funding the department that they work in. Intense lobbying by the Dairy Industry has resulted in misleading information and dietary recommendations that have been at odds with nutritional science for decades.
Dairy products are a significant source of saturated fat, cholesterol, sugar, excess protein, pesticides, dioxin, growth hormones, blood, pus, viruses, bacteria, antibiotics, etc.
Consuming cow’s milk has been shown to contribute to cancer, heart disease, obesity, allergies, asthma, diabetes, osteoporosis, colitis, constipation, etc.
Please do your own research and read what medical doctors like Michael Klaper, Dean Ornish, John McDougall, Joel Fuhrman, T. Colin Campbell and many others have to say about the problems associated with consuming meat and dairy products.
The first two names you listed that I looked up are alternative medicine doctors who promote alternative diets through their books and other moneymaking ventures. The information they provide is not always thoroughly researched and often given without thorough representation of the facts.
It’s laughable that you think Drs. Dobbs and Titchenal are in any way influenced by the dairy industry. The article simply addresses an issue, which is that many people (often misled by poor sources of information) choose to use plant-based “milks” as a substitute for cow milk without understanding the nutritional differences. The authors clearly outlined the differences in macro and micronutrients without casting judgement on any one product.
It’s funny that you don’t trust tenured researchers who work for a public institution serving the people of Hawaii, yet you trust doctors who do research for private corporations and get rich selling books and endorsing products. They have vested financial and personal reasons to spread misinformation or biased information. Keeping people in fear of various food products helps them sell their books and endorsed products.
I bet you drink, smoke, and BBQ. So that’s fine.
Every article that I have read by Titchenal and Dobbs over the years has been about the benefits of meat and dairy products without any mention of the adverse health effects.
Perhaps you and they are not aware of the copious amount of research done by medical doctors who are part of non profit organizations, and who have, yes, published books to inform the public of their findings that meat and dairy products are hazardous to our health.
You might want to visit http://www.nutritionstudies.org T. Colin Campbell’s Center for Nutrition Studies, a non profit organization whose mission is to promote optimal nutrition through science-based education, advocacy, and research, and advocates a vegan diet.
T. Colin Campbell, PhD, is the project director of the China-Oxford-Cornell Diet and Health Project (the China Study), a 20-year study of nutrition and health. He is the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of nutritional biochemistry at Cornell University. In more than 40 years of research he has received more than 70 grant-years of peer-reviewed research funding and authored more than 300 research papers.
You might also visit pcrm.org Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine headed by Dr Neal Barnard is a nonprofit group of 2,000 doctors that promotes a vegan diet and preventive medicine and alternatives to animal research.
Even Dr Walter Willet, chair of the Dept of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, advises people to limit red meat and dairy.
Quote from Dr Benjamin Spock’s seventh edition of his world famous book, ”Baby and Child Care,” ”We now know that there are harmful effects of a meaty diet,” the book says. ”Children can get plenty of protein and iron from vegetables, beans and other plant foods that avoid the fat and cholesterol that are in animal products.” As for dairy foods, Dr. Spock says, ”I no longer recommend dairy products after the age of 2 years. Other calcium sources offer many advantages that dairy products do not have.”
Not sure who the braver man was – the first to drink milk (think: “I’m going to drink whatever comes out of that animal.”), or the first to eat an oyster (“Im going to eat whatever’s inside this rock-like object”).
Let’s not talk about all the pollution created by the dairy industry,