They use mushrooms to create protein similar to cow's milk 0:47
(CNN) --
When it comes to knowing which milk is better for the planet, animal-based or plant-based, environmentalists will say there's no question: Plant-based beverages always win.
Advances in major dairy-producing countries ––such as China, Italy, New Zealand, and the United States–– have led to a dramatic increase in modern animal milk production: an American cow now produces four times as much milk as a US cow. India, while also reducing the environmental impact of the animal.
There's even a cow in Wisconsin, named Selz-Pralle Aftershock 3918, that holds the world record for milk production from a Holstein: 78,170 pounds (35,457 kg) of milk in 365 days.
Yet the global demand for natural resources to feed and sustain dairy cows remains enormous, according to a widely cited 2018 meta-analysis on the issue.
Vegetable drinks offer a variety of options.
Oat milk, pictured above, has between 1 and 3 grams of protein per serving, compared to 8 grams for cow's milk.
Credit: alvarez/E+/Getty Images
The dairy industry uses about 10 times more land and two to 20 times more water than the production of plant-based beverages made from soy, oats, almonds or rice, according to an analysis of a 2018 study by the nonprofit organization Global Change. Data Lab and the University of Oxford in the UK.
Dairy also generates about three times more greenhouse gas emissions, according to the analysis.
The burps and excrement of ruminant animals such as cattle, sheep and goats generate methane, a greenhouse gas 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in warming the planet over 20 years , noted the United Nations Environment Program.
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Still, people drink milk for nutritional reasons, and it is an essential source of protein and nutrients in some parts of the world.
That could complicate the answer about which milk is better for the planet
and
for you and your children.
This is what science says.
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Do you have milk?
The ad showing a white cow's milk mustache over a smiley face sends an oft-repeated message in households: milk is good for you.
It has calcium, protein, and other nutrients that help you grow tall and strong.
"Milk is pretty amazing nutritionally, because a young mammal can live on milk for many months and grow," leading nutrition researcher Dr. Walter Willett told CNN.
"But that doesn't necessarily mean it's an optimal food for life."
Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and his Harvard colleague, endocrinologist and pediatrician Dr. David Ludwig, addressed the topic of milk. and human health in a 2020 review for
The New England Journal of Medicine
.
Strong Bones:
Professors took a hard look at the belief that drinking milk strengthens healthy bones that are less likely to break.
This is one of the main justifications, according to Willett, for the current US nutritional recommendations of 3 cups a day of skim milk or other dairy for children ages 9 to 18 and adults, and 2.5 cups a day for children from 2 to 8 years old.
Interestingly, meta-analysis reviews of studies evaluating consumption of up to 4 cups of milk per day found no definitive benefit for fracture prevention, even in minor ones, Willett said.
A study he and his colleagues conducted in 2014 found a 9% increased risk of subsequent hip fracture for each additional glass of milk per day consumed by teenage boys, but not girls.
And in a cross-country comparison, Willett and Ludwig found higher rates of hip fractures in nations that consumed the highest amounts of milk and calcium.
Height:
Milk helps children grow taller, much taller, Willett said.
What's wrong with that?
Tall people have more broken bones, she said, because "mechanically, if you have a long stick, it's easier to break than a short stick."
Studies have also shown an association between height and an increased risk of many cancers and lung problems.
Tall people seem to have less heart disease, but they are at higher risk of atrial fibrillation, or irregular heartbeat, and varicose veins.
Lactose intolerance:
Human infants can only consume dairy from 12 months of age due to the overabundance of protein and minerals it contains, Willett explained.
Dairy products given before the first year can cause intestinal bleeding and affect the kidneys of babies, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (CDC, for its acronym in English).
But unless your ancestors came from a part of the world where it was genetically advantageous to consume dairy, your body will stop producing the enzyme lactase in early childhood.
Without that enzyme, the body has a hard time breaking down the sugars in milk.
Studies have estimated that 68% of the world's population may be sensitive to milk, leading to abdominal bloating, cramping, and pain.
"Milk and dairy products were mainly consumed in northern European countries," says Willett.
"Most of the world's population does not consume milk after infancy," she added.
Hormones and antibiotics:
Dairy cows are almost always pregnant, Willett said.
Which naturally increases the levels of progestins, estrogens and other hormones in the milk.
With the goal of increasing milk production, she said, today's cows are also bred to produce higher levels of insulin-like growth factor 1, or IGF-1.
Excess IGF-1 in humans has been linked to cancer and insulin resistance, and may play a role in age-related decline.
Cattle can also be given antibiotics to keep infections at bay.
Consumer concerns about the impact of hormones and antibiotic resistance have been on the rise.
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Weight Loss:
Low-fat or fat-free milk is obviously a healthier beverage choice than sugary or diet sodas, teas, and other processed beverages on the market.
But studies on dairy products have shown that only yogurt is associated with less weight gain, Willett said.
The available evidence also finds no clear advantage in consuming low-fat milk over whole milk for weight control for adults or children, he said.
A 2020 meta-analysis review even found that whole milk may contribute to lower childhood obesity.
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The verdict?
"We have to look at everything we do through an environmental lens," Willett said.
"The answer is not simply zero dairy for everyone, but three servings a day is not necessary for health and is a disaster for the environment," she said.
Willett points to the goal of 250 grams or 1 cup of dairy per day set by the EAT-Lancet Commission, which is trying to create a universal diet that is healthy and sustainable.
"That serving a day is probably best as unsweetened yogurt or maybe cheese, and then if you want you can add some plant-based dairy alternatives," Willett said.
"I think from a health and environmental standpoint, it's a reasonable starting point."
The best vegetable drink
The market for "milks" of plant origin is booming.
"Almost all nuts, as well as legumes and grains, are becoming options for plant-based beverages. The most recent alternative I've found is banana 'milk,'" said nutrition expert Christopher Gardner. , a professor of medicine at the Prevention Research Center in Stanford, California, who is writing a book chapter on the subject of milk.
So far, Gardner has found beverages made from legumes (soy, pea, peanut, lupine, and cowpea), tree nuts (almond, coconut, hazelnut, pistachio, walnut, macadamia, and cashew), seeds (sesame, flax, hemp and sunflower), cereals (oats, rice, corn, spelt, quinoa, teff and amaranth) and a potato milk.
Impact on the environment:
Science has yet to analyze the environmental impact of each new alternative dairy drink entering the market, but rice, soy, almond and oat drinks can be compared.
The winner?
According to analysis by the Global Change Data Lab, it depends.
Rice has the least impact on land use, almonds have the least impact on greenhouse emissions, and soybeans have the least impact on freshwater use and eutrophication, which is the pollution of a mass of water with nutrients that cause excessive growth of plants and algae.
Oat drinks fall somewhere in the middle.
From a nutritional standpoint, each category of alternative beverages has its advantages and disadvantages compared to dairy, Gardner said.
And he added that he hasn't been able to review all the brands on the market, which are "too numerous to realistically cover."
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Calcium:
Dairy is the winner here, but manufacturers of plant "milk" have solved that problem by adding calcium so that their beverages reach at least 300 milligrams, which is the calcium level for dairy, Gardner said.
"The exceptions I found were coconut milk and rice milk, for which some brands have levels of 130 milligrams of calcium per serving or less," he said.
Protein:
Soy and pea milk, for example, have as much protein as dairy: about 8 grams of protein in each 8-ounce glass, Gardner said.
Other legume-based milks are also good options.
However, coconut and rice drinks have very low levels of protein;
Almond has less than a gram of protein per serving, and oats range from 1 to 3 grams per serving, he said.
Fat, Sodium, and Cholesterol:
Compared to the dietary cholesterol from full-fat dairy, most plant-based drinks are good choices.
Plant foods never have dietary cholesterol, Gardner said.
Sodium levels are relatively equal between plant drinks and dairy, with about 100 milligrams of sodium.
Saturated fats are low, with the exception of coconut "milk," a tropical plant that often has high levels, he added.
"There's no need to fear the fat in most plant-based beverages: Unsaturated fats are considered healthy in the modest amounts found in plant-based milks," Gardner said.
Vitamins A, D and B12:
The only reason dairy is a good source of vitamins A and D is because it's fortified with those vitamins during the manufacturing process, Gardner said.
Vegetable drinks do the same.
Vitamin B12 is found naturally in dairy in very small amounts, as cows obtain the vitamin from bacteria on grazing grass.
Some plant milks are fortified with B12, according to Gardner, but not all.
To find out, he says you have to look on the label for cobalamin, its technical name.
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Added sweeteners:
Dairy has its own built-in sweetener, lactose, the sugar that many people find sick to their stomachs.
"In the case of cow's milk, lactose is a natural milk sugar and is therefore included as part of the total sugar content, but not considered added sugar," Gardner explains.
Plant-based drinks don't have that advantage, and this is where nutrition can stumble, Gardner said.
In general, the original versions of the almond, soy and coconut drinks have cane sugar added to achieve the sweetness level of dairy products.
The vanilla options have even more added sugars, and the chocolate one even more.
However, many alternative milk brands offer an unsweetened version.
"There's no added cane or other sugar, total carbs tend to be less, total sugar tends to be less, and added sugars tend to be zero," says Gardner.
"Try the sugar-free versions. They tend to be just as tasty as the original version, but with fewer calories, fewer carbs, less sugar and less added sugar," she said.
MilkAlternative milkNutrition