Description:
If you go to the store in search of milk, there are a dizzying number of products
to choose from. There¡¯s dairy milk, but also plant-based products such as almond,
soy, and oat milks. So which milk is actually best for you? And which uses the
fewest resources and produces the least pollution?
Transcription:
If you go to the store in search of milk, there are a dizzying number of products
to choose from. There¡¯s dairy milk, but also plant-based products.
To turn a plant into something resembling milk, it must be either soaked, drained,
rinsed, and milled into a thick paste, or dried, and milled into flour.
The plant paste or flour is then fortified with vitamins and minerals, flavoured,
and diluted with water.The result is a barrage of options that share many of the
qualities of animal milk.So which milk is actually best for you? Let¡¯s dive into
some of the most popular milks: dairy, almond, soy, or oat? A 250 ml glass
of cow¡¯s milk contains 8 grams of protein, 12 grams of carbohydrates,
and 2 to 8 grams of fat depending on if it¡¯s skim, reduced fat, or whole.
That¡¯s approximately 15% the daily protein an average adult needs, roughly
10% the carbohydrates and 2 to 15% the fat.Most plant-based milks have
less carbohydrates than dairy milk. They also have less fat, but more of
what¡¯s often called ¡°good fats.¡± Meanwhile, the healthy nutrients vitamin D
and calcium found in dairy milk don¡¯t occur naturally in most plant-based milks.
Looking more closely at our plant-based milks, both almond and oat are low
in protein compared to dairy. But while almond milk has the least
nutrients of the four, oat milk is full of beta-glucans, a healthy type of fibre.
It also has a lot of carbohydrates compared to other plant milks— sometimes as
much as dairy milk. Soy milk, meanwhile, has as much protein as cow¡¯s milk and
is also a great source of potassium. Soybeans contain isoflavone, which people
used to think might trigger hormonal imbalances by mimicking the function of
estrogen.But ultimately, soy milk contains very small amounts of isoflavones,
which have a much weaker effect on our bodies than estrogen.
Depending on individual circumstances, one of these milks may be the clear
winner: if you¡¯re lactose intolerant, then the plant-based milks pull ahead,
while if you¡¯re allergic to nuts,almond milk is out. For people who don¡¯t have
access to a wide and varied diet,dairy milk can be the most efficient way to get
these nutrients. But all else being equal, any one of these four milks is nutritious
enough to be part of a balanced diet.That¡¯s why for many people, the milk that¡¯s
best for you is actually the milk that¡¯s best for the planet. So which uses the
fewest resources and produces the least pollution? It takes almost 4 square
kilometers to produce just one glass of cow¡¯s milk,land use that drives
deforestation and habitat destruction. Most of that is land the cows live on,
and some is used to grow their feed. Many cows eat soy beans and oats.
It takes much less land to grow the oats or soybeans for milk than it does to
feed a dairy cow— only about a quarter square kilometer per glass. Almond milk
has similar land use. But where that land is also matters— soybean farms are a
major driver of deforestation, while oat and almond farms aren¡¯t. Making milk
uses water every step of the way, but it¡¯s the farming stage where big differences
emerge.Dairy milk uses the most water— about 120 liters per glass, mostly to
water cows and grow their food. Almonds take second place, at more than
70 liters of water per glass. Most of that water is used to grow almond trees,
which take years of watering before they start producing almonds.
The trees must be watered consistently, or they die, while many other crops
can be left fallow and still produce later. All told, soy and oats require less water
to grow: only about 5 to 10 liters per glass of milk. Milk production generates
some greenhouse gas emissions—about 0.1 to 0.2 kilograms per glass for the
plant-based milks. But for dairy milk,the cows themselves also produce emissions
by burping and farting out large quantities of the gas methane. Overall, each
glass of dairy milk contributes over half a kilogram of greenhouse gas emissions.
So while depending on your dietary needs, any one of these milks may be a good
fit, in terms of the health of our planet there¡¯s a strong case for choosing
plant-based milks, particularly oat or soy milk.
Questions:
1. What are the two kinds of milk?
2. Enumerate the most popular milks.
3, Differentiate the four milks. Which is one is the the best and which uses the
fewest resources and produces the least pollution?