What are the benefits of plant-based milk? How does regular milk affect the body?

Today, in almost every coffee shop, when ordering a drink, you will be asked what kind of milk to make it with: regular or alternative. And there can be several variants of the second: coconut milk, almond milk, oat milk – to suit any taste. What is the reason for such popularity and why do many people refuse from ordinary milk in favor of plant milk?

Innholdsfortegnelse

What is plant milk like?

The key difference between a plant-based drink and an ordinary one lies precisely in the composition. Familiar to most people milk, which is on the shelf in any store, is of animal origin. It is obtained, as a rule, from cows. Although you can find goat milk, and even camel milk.

While alternative milk, as the name suggests, is made exclusively from plant-based ingredients. Depending on which component is taken as a base, you can get different types of drink. Here are the approximate calories of some of them per 100 ml:

almond – 17 kcal;
oatmeal – 30 kcal;
soy – 54 kcal;
banana – 42 kcal;
coconut – 230 kcal;
rice – 47 kcal;
buckwheat – 42 kcal.

For comparison: the energy value of 100 ml of whole milk is not much more – about 42 kcal. Some vegetable alternatives even exceed the energy value of regular milk. But it’s not just that.

How does regular milk affect the skin and how does plant milk differ from it?

Dermatovenerologist Maria Vasilieva explained how the consumption of animal milk affects the skin. Although at the moment the role of dairy products in the development of acne is not fully understood, it is proven that it worsens the course of the disease.

The fact is that milk contains whey and casein proteins. They increase the production of insulin-like growth factor, which provokes the synthesis of steroid hormones: cortisol, the so-called stress hormone, as well as androgens and estrogens – male and female sex hormones. Normal milk also increases the sensitivity of androgen receptors in the skin and the secretion of sebum. It is these aspects that negatively affect the skin, aggravating acne.

Choosing a lactose-free beverage will not help either. Such milk, although deprived of “sugar” (actually, lactose), still contains whey protein and casein. But the situation is different with fermented milk products: due to fermentation, they are partially deprived of insulin-like growth factor, so the effect on the skin is insignificant.

As for plant milk, it is an extract from seeds, nuts, cereals or sprouts, so it has nothing in common with animal milk.

Nevertheless, giving up milk does not guarantee the solution of all dermatological problems, warns the doctor. Each case is different, and the causes of the disease may be different.

And if not acne: why else do many people switch to plant milk?

Potential skin problems are not the only reason why many people prefer plant milk to animal milk. For example, drinking conventional dairy increases many health risks, according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine website.

According to the organization, milk and dairy products are the main sources of saturated fats that clog arteries. Moreover, the latter also contain cholesterol. A diet that includes foods high in these substances increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.

In addition, many people today suffer from lactose intolerance. During childhood, the body produces special enzymes to break down the sugar contained in milk, but with age, some lose this ability. As a result, eating dairy products can cause stomach upset, gas and diarrhea.

The organization’s website also notes that many scientific studies support the link between the development of breast cancer and high fat and hormone content in milk and dairy products. For example, employees of Zhejiang University in China found that of 10 thousand participants in the experiment, the risk of recurrence is lower in those who adhere to a diet with a small amount of fats.