Soy Milk

Name: Soy milk, also called soya milk — a creamy, off-white drink made by soaking, grinding and straining soybeans in water. It is the original plant-based milk, and the nutritionally closest to cow's milk.

Description

The soybean (Glycine max) was domesticated in China around 3,000 years ago or more, and spread across East and Southeast Asia, then to the West in the 18th to 20th centuries. It is now one of the world's biggest crops, with Brazil, the United States and Argentina the largest producers, and most of it is used for animal feed and oil.

Soy milk has been made in China for hundreds of years, and is a traditional breakfast drink, drunk warm and sweet or savoury, in China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea. It reached the West in the 20th century, and became the best-selling plant milk until the arrival of oat and almond milks.

Plain soy milk has a distinctive beany flavour, which many people grow to like, and is high in protein, comparable to cow's milk. It is sold plain, sweetened, flavoured and fortified with calcium and vitamins B12 and D, and it is also the starting material for tofu.

Main nutrition value

Soy milk is notable among plant milks for being high in protein (similar to cow's milk), and, when fortified, provides calcium, vitamin D and vitamin B12, with less saturated fat than whole milk.

How best to be consumed

Soy milk is drunk, cooked with and made into other foods.

1. Drink chilled, or use in tea, coffee, cereal, porridge and smoothies.
2. Use in baking, sauces and soups in place of dairy milk, noting that it can curdle in hot acidic drinks.
3. Choose unsweetened soy milk fortified with calcium and vitamins, to match dairy.
4. Shake well before use, and keep in the fridge once opened.
5. Make at home by blending soaked soybeans with water, straining, and boiling for at least 10 minutes.

Overconsumption could cause…

Soy milk is healthy in food amounts.

1. Soy allergy, which can be serious in some people, particularly children, so anyone allergic must avoid soy and check labels.
2. Possible effects on thyroid medicine absorption, so people taking levothyroxine should leave several hours between it and soy foods, and soy can matter for people with low iodine intake or an underactive thyroid.
3. Isoflavones, plant compounds in soy that weakly mimic oestrogen, which research suggests are safe in food amounts for most people, including those with a history of breast cancer, although very high supplement doses are not advised.
4. Added sugar in sweetened and flavoured soy milks.
5. Low calcium and vitamin B12 in unfortified soy milks, which means they are not a like-for-like swap for dairy.
6. Not suitable as a replacement for infant formula, unless it is specifically a soy-based infant formula recommended by a doctor.

GroupsPlant-Based Dairy AlternativesSoy FoodsLegume familyLow fatLow sodium

Made fromSoybeans

Made intoSoy Yogurt

Related foodsSoy SauceTamariExtra-Firm TofuEdamameFermented TofuFirm Tofu

Wikipedia — Soy milk, used for origin, naming and history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soy_milk