Comprehensive Study Reveals Nutritional Variances Between Plant-Based Drinks and Milk

In the past decade, the global plant-based beverage market has witnessed significant growth, with oat, almond, soy, and other plant-based drinks gradually becoming popular alternatives to dairy milk. Millions of liters of plant-based beverages find their way into consumers' shopping baskets each year, partly due to their generally lower carbon footprint compared to milk. However, if consumers believe that plant-based drinks are inherently healthier than milk, they may be mistaken. A recent study conducted by the University of Copenhagen in Denmark in collaboration with the University of Brescia in Italy sheds light on this issue.

In this study, researchers analyzed how chemical reactions during processing affect the nutritional quality of ten different plant-based drinks and compared them to milk.

Milk is essentially a finished product when it is extracted from cows, while plant-based drinks such as oat, rice, and almond require extensive processing to become consumable. Furthermore, all plant-based drinks tested underwent Ultra-High Temperature (UHT) treatment, a method widely used globally for the long-term preservation of milk. In many countries, milk is typically sold in the refrigerated section of supermarkets and undergoes a milder pasteurization process at lower temperatures.

UHT treatment can trigger the Maillard reaction, a chemical reaction between proteins and sugars that occurs at high temperatures, similar to when food is fried or baked. This reaction reduces the nutritional quality of proteins in the product.

In contrast, UHT-treated milk contains 3.4 grams of protein per liter, while eight out of the ten tested plant-based drinks had protein content ranging from 0.4 to 1.1 grams per liter. Additionally, essential amino acid levels in all plant-based drinks were significantly lower than in milk, with seven out of the ten plant-based drinks having higher sugar content than milk.

Heat treatment not only diminishes the nutritional value of plant-based drinks but may also lead to the formation of new compounds. Researchers detected acrylamide, a carcinogenic substance also found in products like bread, cookies, coffee beans, and fried potatoes (such as French fries), in four plant-based drinks made from almonds and oats.