Cow versus plant-based milk: Which offers the most nutrition?

Plant-based milk alternatives contain just a fraction of the nutrition of cows’ milk, and are more expensive, a Riddet Institute study shows.

The study done at Massey University compared the nutritional profiles of a range of plant-based drinks like soy, oat, coconut, almond or rice drinks, to standard cow milk.

For the study, 103 plant-based products were bought from supermarkets in Palmerston North. The plant based drinks had lower quantities of 20 nutrients measured, such as calcium and protein. They were also more expensive than cows’ milk, the study showed.

The institutes’ nutritional sciences professor, Warren McNabb, said plant-based beverages were often marketed as alternatives to cows’ milk, and consumers could easily believe they were nutritionally interchangeable.

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The research showed they were not the same, and it was nutritionally risky for consumers with high nutrient demands, like pregnant women and young children, to replace cows’ milk with plant-based products, McNabb said.

The study looked at the prices and nutrition labels of the products. It then analysed the nutritional content in an external accredited laboratory. Almond, coconut, oat, rice and soy products were tested for their macronutrient​ and mineral content.

The protein content of cows’ milk was in the range of 3.3 grams to 3.9g per 100g. Only soy drinks had a comparable content to cows’ milk, with all other plant-based beverages containing less than 1.1g/100ml on average, McNabb said.

Most plant products were ultra-processed and fortified with calcium and minerals with additives like sugar, fats, hydrogenated oils, hydrolysed proteins, flavours or thickeners. Oat and almond beverages contained as little as the equivalent of half a cup of oats or six almonds in 250g of product, he said.

The plant-based beverages were often promoted as having no added sugar, but milk also did not have added sugar, McNabb said.

“Lactose (in milk) is also poorly converted to glucose in the body which means milk is quite low in what we commonly call sugar,” McNabb said.

Plant-based drinks had plant equivalents to sugar that did convert to glucose in the body. “Plant-based could not be considered low in sugar,” he said.

The argument that alternatives were more environmentally sustainable was not true considering how much product would need to be consumed for the same nutritional benefits as milk, McNabb said.

“With some plant-based beverages you would need to have 18 servings to get the same amount of protein, for example, from a single serve of milk. This comes at a much higher cost to the environment and the wallet.”

Plant-based drinks did contain some nutrients that milk did not, such as fibre, he said.

“Plant-based beverages and bovine milk were not nutritionally similar in any way. They are completely different foods. If you want to use alternatives, do so, but do not consume them with the belief that they are nutritionally similar substitutes for cows’ milk,” McNabb said.

The Massey University research was funded by Fonterra and the International Dairy Federation New Zealand branch.

A previous study found red meat had nutritional advantage over plant based alternatives.

Brothers Green co-founder Brad Lake, who grows hemp as an alternative protein, said the way cows’ milk was produced was the reason many consumers chose alternative milks.

Large commercial systems created animal welfare issues, compared to, for example, a single cow that was milked for a single family’s needs, Lake said.

There were many parts of the population who were lactose intolerant and could not consume cows’ milk. A product without lactose in it was better for them than cows’ milk, he said.

Alternative milks often contained canola oil as an ingredient which negated the health benefits, and cause inflammation, Lake said.

Just because a product was plant-based did not mean it was healthy, he said.

Lake said he drank coconut milk because in most cases it did not have any additives such as seed oil, except some salt and water, he said.

He did not use alterative milks as a nutritional product and did not base his daily nutrition on them, he said.

Many cafes were now serving alternative milk options to consumers. This trend would only increase, Lake said.