Replacement foods like oat milk and plant-based protein are becoming increasingly trendy, but are they better for us?
Across the UK, supermarket milk aisles have become filled with an increasing array of plant-based alternatives. It began with oat, coconut, rice, and soy, but now almond, hazelnut, hemp and even pea milk are becoming increasingly trendy options. So much so that in the last two decades, the UK’s dairy milk consumption has dropped by 20 per cent.
But while these replacements are often branded as being healthier, is that really the case? Not always, according to a new study from the University of Minnesota, led by epidemiologist Abigail Johnson.
When Johnson and her colleagues analysed the nutritional labels of 237 milk alternatives made using either almonds, oats, rice, or soya, they found that just 19 per cent of them matched up to ordinary milk when it came to protein content. A third were found to be lower in calcium and vitamin D. Previous research has shown that plant-based milks are also lower in minerals such as magnesium, zinc and selenium.
“Some plant-based milks contain added sugars, which cow’s milk does not,” says Johnson. “We saw that some plant-based milks had added sugars in levels that were more similar to flavoured milk products like chocolate milk.”