Best Milk Alternative

Introduction

What are milk alternatives?

They are plant-based milk substitutes that can be consumed as alternatives to regular milk. They can be derived from nuts, legumes, grains, fruits, or a combination of them. Although these alternatives don’t naturally have the same amounts of nutrients as regular milk, they can be fortified with essential minerals and vitamins in order to provide consumers with approximately the same amount of nutrients as regular milk.²

The importance of milk

Milk is a fundamental food in life; it’s the first food infants consume when they are born, providing them with all the nutrients they need. Milk is also an essential part of children’s nutrition throughout their lives, as it contains numerous important nutrients that the body needs. 

• Milk contains a mix of several critical and essential nutrients for the body, which are proteins (casein and whey proteins), fats (lecithin and cholesterol), carbohydrates (lactose), minerals (calcium, phosphorus, potassium, iron, and copper), and vitamins (D, A, B₁, B₂, B₆, B₇, B₁₂, and C).¹
• Based on numerous studies, regular consumption of milk is beneficial for the bones and teeth, blood pressure, eliminating the risk of cardiovascular disease, growth and recovery of muscle tissue, brain and nerve tissue development, regulation of body temperature, bowel movement, bile acid reduction, good vision, resistance to infections of various kinds, and it can prevent the development of colon cancer.¹

 Nevertheless, many people aren’t able to consume milk for various reasons, and they substitute it with other alternatives. So, do these alternatives replace traditional milk?

Types of milk alternatives

Best milk alternative

Several people don’t consume milk for different reasons. 

• One reason is that they are lactose intolerant, which means that their bodies can’t digest the lactose in the milk, which leads to some symptoms such as bloating and diarrhoea, or they are allergic to the protein in cow’s milk. 
• Another reason is some people follow a vegan diet; therefore, they don’t consume milk. 
• However, these people can consume milk alternatives instead.

What is the best milk alternative?

It was discovered, in a recent study, that soy beverage is the most similar milk alternative to cow’s milk in terms of macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, and fats) in addition to polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals. Moreover, it has been estimated that calcium-fortified soy milk is the most similar plant-based milk to cow’s milk.³ Soy milk is rich in isoflavones, which are remarkable substances that provide various health benefits, such as reduction of cholesterol, easing of menopause symptoms, prevention of osteoporosis, and reduction of risk for certain cancers (prostate cancer and breast cancer).⁵

Examples of milk alternatives

Some of the most common plant-based milks come from seeds, cereals, Nuts, flesh and legumes etc., some of them are:

Cereals: rice milk

Rice in general is a great source of energy, and it has substantial amounts of proteins, starch, minerals, and vitamins, yet it’s low in lipids. It’s also low-allergenic because it’s gluten-free. However, its water-soluble extract, which is used as a milk alternative, is rich in carbohydrates and low in proteins, lipids, minerals, and vitamins. Moreover, rice milk alternatives are commonly supplemented with flavour enhancers to be similar to cow's milk.³

Cereals: oat milk

Oats are rich in several substances and nutrients in addition to functional proteins, lipids, vitamins, minerals, fibre, and others. A specific fibre in oats plays a significant role in lowering cholesterol, blood lipids, and blood sugar. Moreover, there is a substance in oats that has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-allergic, and anti-cancer properties. In addition to that, oat milk is lower in fat than cow’s milk. Nevertheless, oat milk is poor in calcium, vitamin A, and certain amino acids, and that makes it non-preferable for children under five years old. Also, nutrients in oats can be destroyed when undergoing the process of making oat milk. Furthermore, the protein and amino acid content of oat milk is lower than that of cow’s milk.⁴

Legumes: chickpea milk

Chickpea is one of the richest sources of proteins and carbohydrates (around 80% of the total composition), and it contains minerals (such as iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, and manganese), vitamins (such as vitamin A, folic acid, vitamins B₁, B₂, and B₃), and fibres as well. It helps in reducing the levels of cholesterol and LDL, and chickpea milk has a significant role in reducing chronic diarrhoea; it also helps in improving the nutritional status of children, especially in developing countries. However, there are three factors that affect the nutritional quality of chickpea products, which are temperature, processing time, and moisture level, whereas it has been noticed that processing chickpea above 120 °C for more than 10 minutes leads to considerable damage to the proteins.³

Nuts: almond milk

Almonds are one of the best nutritional sources, whereas the content of saturated fats and cholesterol is low and the content of protein, fibre, unsaturated fats, tocopherols, minerals, and vitamins is high, in addition to their content of antioxidants. Moreover, it has been estimated that consuming almonds reduces the risk of heart disease and colon cancer and decreases the mean weight and body mass index, which means that almonds help in weight loss. Almond milk contains almost the same nutrients as almonds and it’s one of the most popular plant-based milks.⁶

Nuts: hazelnut milk

Hazelnuts contain proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, fibres, minerals, vitamins, tocopherols, phenolic compounds, phytosterols, and squalene, which are very beneficial to human health.³

Nuts: cashew milk

Cashew nuts are also rich in proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, fibres, vitamins, and minerals.³

Coconut milk

The nutritional content of coconut milk depends on the method of production, whether it’s a thick or a thin product. However, it contains carbohydrates, fats, proteins, fatty acids, minerals, and electrolytes. It has antioxidant properties, improves cognition, and stabilises blood pressure.

Seeds: sesame milk

Sesame seeds are considered a valid source of protein, lipids, minerals (rich amounts of calcium, iron, copper, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc), vitamins, and oil, in addition to their antioxidant activity. Sesame seeds have a cholesterol-reducing effect as well.³

Pseudocereals: quinoa milk

Quinoa is a high source of good-quality protein (it has essential amino acids), carbohydrates, and lipids, in addition to unsaturated fatty acids. It’s also rich in minerals (potassium, iron, magnesium, copper, calcium, and manganese) and vitamins (vitamins E, C, folic acid, and B complex). Quinoa milk has an additional benefit, which is that it can be used as a raw material for several products such as coffee, pasta, and candies.³

A comparison between cow’s milk and plant-based milks

They differ in their nutrient content:⁷

• Energy: Cow’s milk has more calories than most of the plant-based milks.
• Carbohydrates: Only about 28% of plant-based milks are higher in carbohydrates than cow’s milk.
• Protein: Cow’s milk has a higher amount of protein than around 84% of plant-based milk alternatives. Moreover, the protein quality of cow’s milk is better.
• Lipid: Cow’s milk is higher in lipids than most of the plant-based milk alternatives.
• Dietary fibre: It’s beneficial for intestinal regulation and the reduction of blood cholesterol and glucose, and it is also associated with a lower incidence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal disorders, and colon cancer. Cow’s milk is lower in dietary fibre than most of the plant-based milk alternatives.
• Micronutrients: Calcium is an essential mineral for health and it’s abundant in cow’s milk. The main problem with plant-based milk is that they don’t have calcium or has little amounts of calcium; therefore, it needs to be fortified. On the other hand, most plant-based milk alternatives have higher amounts of magnesium than cow’s milk. However, both types of milk have good amounts of iron, and about half of plant-based milk alternatives have a higher sodium level than cow’s milk, and that could be harmful sometimes. 

Summary

Milk is an essential part of our nutrition, and it is critical for our health. It must be a permanent and constant aspect of our diet because of its unique and rich components that the body needs to stay healthy and function optimally. Regardless of the great benefits of milk, a lot of people can’t consume it due to various reasons, and as a result, the era of milk alternatives started, and a lot of people replaced cow’s milk with them even if they didn’t suffer from any problems with it. However, these milk alternatives don’t provide us with the exact nutrients that milk does unless they are fortified; therefore, it’s critical to acknowledge the contents of the milk alternatives that we’re consuming.