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If
you’ve walked down the milk aisle of the grocery store any time recently,
you’ve probably seen that there now seems to be almost as many types of plant-based
milk as cow’s milk on the market. While some of these plant-based products
(such as soy and almond milk) have been around for a long time and are familiar
to most people, it can sometimes seem like new plant-based milks are being
produced every day. As the selection of these products becomes even larger and
their popularity continues to grow, many consumers are becoming overwhelmed and
confused about which, if any, of these non-dairy products they should be
drinking. While some people might choose to consume plant-based milk products
for ethical reasons, there are multiple other factors that should be considered
the next time you’re browsing the milk aisle.
Historically,
many people have chosen to drink dairy milk for its nutritional value, especially
concerning protein. One cup of 2% milk typically contains 8.05 grams of
protein. Because many people do drink cow’s milk for its nutritional content,
it’s important to note that not all plant-based milk products have equivalent
protein content to cow’s milk. One such product is almond milk, which typically
only contains 1.44 grams of protein per cup. On the other hand, products like
soy milk and the highly trendy oat milk have higher protein contents,
containing 6.34 grams and 4.01 grams protein per cup respectively. So, while
both cow’s milk and each of these different plant-based alternatives can be
part of a healthy diet, it’s important to note that plant-based milk products
are not all nutritionally equivalent to each other or to cow’s milk.
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More recently, many people have become
concerned with the environmental impact of consuming cow’s milk and are opting
for plant-based alternatives for this reason. Cow’s milk typically produces
about 0.6 kg of greenhouse gas emissions and requires 125 L of water and 1.8 sq
m of land to produce 1 glass of milk. These large environmental tolls are
actively contributing to the larger issue of climate change that we’re
currently facing, especially with the high quantity of and high frequency at
which many people consume milk. Fortunately, plant-based milk products have
lower negative environmental impacts, although environmental impact does vary
between different dairy alternatives. Almond milk has the highest water
requirement of non-dairy alternatives by far, with 74 L of water required to
produce 1 glass of milk, although this is still significantly lower than the
water requirement for production of cow’s milk. Greenhouse gas emissions and
land use are similar for all plant-based milk products and are all much lower
than those of cow’s milk. In summary, choosing any non-dairy milk product over
cow’s milk will help you reduce your personal environmental impact, although
the extent of this will vary depending on the individual product you choose.
The
next time you’re choosing which kind of milk to drink, whether that’s while
walking down the aisle of your local grocery store or standing in line at a
coffee shop, you can be confident that you’ll be making a more informed
decision. Each of the products discussed has both pros and cons (whether these
be nutritional, environmental, or ethical) and the information discussed will
help you to make a personal decision that best fits your preferences and your
lifestyle. Drink up!
References
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46654042
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