There is also some research to show that drinking cow’s milk actually has some negative effects on health, although more objective research is needed to determine the long-term effects of cow’s milk on humans.

The benefits of soy milk is also controversial. It is accepted that it does contain some healthy compounds. It is high in protein, contains more fiber than cow’s milk and doesn’t contain the animal fats that cow’s milk does.

Soy milk is actually made from the very versatile soy bean. A simplified version of the process is the beans are cleaned and soaked for 12 hours. The are then pureed and the solids are strained out. The resulting liquid is boiled for 10 minutes and it’s done. There are several products on the market today that enable to actually make the soy milk at home.

One of the negative effects of soy milk is that it only contains 25% of the calcium that cow’s milk does. Many manufacturers are currently adding calcium to the product but studies are showing the added calcium isn’t as healthful as the naturally occurring calcium. However, the because the soy milk is plant based the calcium also has less of a loss through excretion through the kidneys.

The benefits of soy milk appear to come directly from isoflavones, chemicals that are similar in nature to estrogen. The theory is that this chemical will help to prevent cancers, heart disease and osteoporosis. And the isoflavones are antioxidants.

Another benefit to the soy milk is that they contain pre-biotic sugars that have additional benefits to boost immunity and help to detoxify other substances in the body. Soy milk also contains no hormones that often appears in cow’s milk since farmers often use hormones to mimic the presence of a pregnancy so the cow’s will begin and continue to give milk.

The benefits of soy milk appear to be numerous, although the name ‘milk’ only refers to the appearance of the product since it isn’t truly a milk. As the product has become more popular manufacturers are also discovering ways of making the product more palatable and taste better.

While there are benefits to soy milk, you can get some of the same benefits from eating some fruits and vegetables that you enjoy. Whether you drink soy milk or not is a personal choice you make depending upon your nutritional needs.