h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Soy has a high concentration of phytic acid. Phytic acid inhibits absorption of calcium. So how does soy milk work?

hmmm, dunno.
I do know (the dad of my best friend worked at Alpro, during the development of the soy milk) that that was the greatest challenge: getting the calcium dissolved in the watery sollution. The other componest, typical for milk (not the lactose, of course) were no problem, just the calcium.
He (my best friend) once brought a prototype of that milk with him and you had to shake it vigerously before pouring and drinking it.
It was quite funny.

I always thought that soy milk was simply a substitute for people with lactose intolerance to have a milk-like product they could use instead. To pour on their cereal, use in their coffee, etc.

I never thought about it being a milk substitute in the sense of providing all the same things that milk provides, especially in terms of calcium.

az

Vegans and a lot of veggies use it.

is there actually a difference between Soy milk and Soya Milk

Soya in the UK = Soy in the US

They are Soy beans, so I'm not actually sure why "Soya" is used at all

Never, I repeat NEVER, attempt to make a cappuccino using soy milk. It is grim

Going back to my question in post 3 ... is soy milk actually supposed to provide what genuine milk products provide, or is it simply a 'milky-type product' that acts as a substitute for things that lactose-intolerant people can use?

az

I think it's aim is to be a milk substitute, hence why vegans use it.

Yeah, but in what sense is it meant to be a milk substitute?

Just as something that has a milky quality to it or something that actually has all the stuff that milk provides?


az

Soya milk goes back centuries az - it originated in the far east when they were still counting the years backwards (ie, BC). Who knows what the original purpose for making it was. Whether manufacturers push it as being able to provide what 'genuine' milk provides, I've no idea, but I know a lot of people, including me, use it as a milk substitute.

Soya milk is called 'soya' and not 'soy' because they're called 'soya' beans in the UK, Ste.

Whether it's soy or soya, I use it instead of cow juice for almost everything nowadays. I'm not sure why I began using soya milk (I'm not vegan or vegetarian, and as far as I know I don't have any heart problems) but I know I started by putting it in my tea, and now I really don't care for the taste of tea with cows milk. Soya milk doesn't make good pancakes though.

Most (if not all) animals don't drink milk at all after they're weaned, except for human beings, and many people can't drink milk because of lactose intolerance. I also understand that yoghurt made with cows milk is more digestible than milk itself.

As for the original question, I'm interested to hear the answer, but I get calcium from other sources too so I'm not currently dashing down to the healthfood shop to buy calcium supplements.

You're right kelli. I often have to make cappucinos and lattes at work with soya milk. It doesn't foam properly and it's a pain in the fundament. If a ticket comes through saying 'Cappucino: Soy milk, decaf' I wonder to myself 'Why bother having a coffee at all?'.

There's a coffee shop I sometimes go to that has an old sign on the wall which says 'If you slip me decaf I'll rip your damn head off'.

My brother was allergic to cows milk until he was about 7 and had to use soya milk - it didn't do him *much* harm .

Am i right in saying that it isn't a good idea to give babies cows milk anyway?

(and yes soya milk doen't make good cappucinos at all)

I forget which phase of diet I was in at the time but I'd given up caffeine and dairy products, but missed my morning so much I thought anything was worth a try.

I was wrong.

It's supposed to have all the important stuff in it that milk does - hence why vegans use it in their diets.

I didn't know the beans were called soya too back in blighty. We don't say "soya sauce" though, surely?

Ste

No, soy sauce - but that is funny furrin food so it is ok to give it a funny name

Makes perfect sense.

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Yeah, I know that Gosho. I also know that most mammals (other than humans) don't tend to drink milk products after they are weaned. For example, the myth of cats happily lapping up a dish of milk or cream. Well, they might like it but it's actually very unhealthy for them. My adult cats get plenty of fresh water and I would never consider giving them dairy products.

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Likewise goat's milk and cheese is often totally digestable by people with lactose intolerance.

Nog and I don't ever drink milk here (as in drinking a big glass of the stuff) but we still use it in our morning coffee. And occasionally I'll use it in a sauce.

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Well quite. There are plenty of ways to get calcium in our daily diets that doesn't have to include cow milk products.

I was just curious about the concept that soy milk should also be considered to be providing calcium - is it just the name?

az

Just as milk suppliers add vitamin D to their product and OJ producers add calcium, soya milk producers also add vitamins and minerals. I'd go and look at the carton in my fridge but it's 2,000 miles away.

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Infant formulas are generally based on cow's milk, though they then add some things to try to mimic human milk as much as possible. Giving babies some form of milk, whether human or other, is absolutely essential. Not only does milk contain a high concentration of vital nutrients, but it also happens to be one of the best sources of concentrated fats. Tiny baby stomachs can't hold as much food as they need, so the calories they ingest need to be concentrated, and milk fats represent their healthiest and most readily digestible source of concentrated calories. Plus, various fatty acids are essential for brain development and other critical functions.

There are several reasons why breast milk is better than cow's milk for babies (easier to digest, less gas, reduces colic, etc.), but there are also a lot of reasons why breast milk may not be available. In our case we had two reasons at the same time to switch my daughter to formula as an infant... the wife was taking antibiotics to fight an infection, and the kid had had so many problems latching on properly that breast-feeding and pumping had become intolerably painful for my wife.

My wife is lactose intolerant, and she passed that on to our daughter. She finds soy milk to be a terrible substitute in pretty much every application. Luckily they make a lactose-free cow's milk that tastes reasonably close to the real thing, and the wife and daughter both use that.