It might not be the obvious choice when it comes to making a morning cuppa. But using soy milk instead of standard cow’s milk could lead to improved blood pressure and lower levels of inflammation, a study suggests.
Soy milk – made from soybeans – became popular in the 1990s as an alternative to drinking traditional dairy milk.
However, sales have declined in recent times after it was classed as an ‘ultra-processed food’, due to the frequent addition of sugar. Dairy alternatives such as almond or oat milk have also proved to be generally more popular.
Researchers at the University of Toronto investigated the health effects of substituting cow’s milk with soy milk by conducting a large analysis of 17 previous trials involving more than 500 people.
The average duration of each trial was four weeks and participants drank an average of 500ml of milk – either dairy or soy – a day.
Soy milk – made from soybeans – became popular in the 1990s as an alternative to drinking traditional dairy milk (file image)
Researchers discovered that across all studies, substituting cow’s milk with soy milk was linked to reductions in cholesterol levels, as well as lowered blood pressure and lower markers of inflammation (file image)
The team discovered that across all studies, substituting cow’s milk with soy milk was linked to reductions in cholesterol levels, as well as lowered blood pressure and lower markers of inflammation.
As a result, the authors recommend that policy makers consider exempting fortified soy milk from being classed as an ultra-processed food as this ranking ‘may be misleading’.
They added that on average, across the studies, the total sugar content of soy milk was around 60 per cent less than that of cow’s.
Writing in the journal BMC Medicine, the Canadian team said: ‘Current evidence provides a good indication that replacing cow’s milk with soy milk… may result in advantages for blood lipids [fats], blood pressure and inflammation in adults.’
Previous studies have suggested that pea milk is the only vegan option that provides anything close to as many nutrients as cow’s milk.
Scientists looked at the amount of vital nutrients in cow’s milk, as well as 85 samples of pea, soy, almond, cashew, coconut, hemp, oat and rice milk.
Pea milk had the highest levels of phosphorus, zinc and selenium, while soy had the most magnesium. All the plant milks were inferior to cow’s milk.
Plant milks are produced when a crop is ground down and soaked in water with emulsifiers and stabilisers.