Adding soy milk to your cup of tea lowers the risk of high blood pressure, scientists say
It might not be the most obvious choice when it comes to making a cup of tea in the morning. But using soy milk instead of standard cow’s milk could lead to better blood pressure and less inflammation, a study suggests.
Soy milk – made from soybeans – became popular in the 1990s as an alternative to drinking traditional cow’s milk.
However, sales have declined recently after it was classified as an ‘ultra-processed food’ due to the frequent addition of sugar. Dairy alternatives such as almond or oat milk also appear to be more popular overall.
Researchers from the University of Toronto investigated the health effects of replacing cow’s milk with soy milk by conducting a large-scale analysis of 17 previous studies involving more than 500 people.
The average duration of each study was four weeks and participants drank an average of 500 ml of milk – dairy or soy – per day.
Soy milk – made from soybeans – became popular in the 1990s as an alternative to drinking traditional dairy milk (file image)
Researchers found that in all studies, replacing cow’s milk with soy milk was linked to lower cholesterol levels, as well as lower blood pressure and lower markers of inflammation (file image)
The team found that across all studies, replacing cow’s milk with soy milk led to lower cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure and fewer inflammatory markers.
The authors therefore advise policymakers to exclude fortified soy milk from the classification as ultra-processed food, because this classification can be ‘misleading’.
They added that the total sugar content of soy milk was, on average, about 60 percent lower than that of cow’s milk.
The Canadian team wrote in the journal BMC Medicine: ‘Current evidence strongly suggests that replacing cow’s milk with soy milk… may provide benefits for blood lipids (fats), blood pressure and inflammation in adults.’
Previous studies have shown that pea milk is the only vegan option that even comes close to matching the nutrient content of cow’s milk.
Scientists looked at the amount of essential nutrients in cow’s milk and 85 samples of pea, soy, almond, cashew, coconut, hemp, oat and rice milk.
Pea milk had the highest levels of phosphorus, zinc and selenium, while soy had the most magnesium. All plant milks were inferior to cow’s milk.
Vegetable milk is created when a crop is ground and soaked in water with emulsifiers and stabilizers.