What to choose? Cow's milk or vegetable milks?

Abstract

Milk for human consumption comes from cattle, while those considered as vegetable milks called "vegetable drinks" are products that come mainly from oilseeds, cereals, such as oats and rice. The objective of the present work was to establish a comparison of the nutritional composition of vegetable drinks and cow's milk. The caloric, protein, lipid and saturated fatty acid content was higher in cow's milk than in vegetable drinks, while the latter have a better lipid profile due to the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids and only in the soy drink the protein intake was similar to that of cow's milk. Regarding the concentration of vitamins A and D, there was no significant difference between the two. Finally, cow's milk is a fundamental food in the diet due to the quality of its nutritional composition, but vegetable drinks can be an alternative for specific groups of the population; however, some have excess added sugars, so their consumption should be moderate.