The soy story

Soy milk is considered to be the healthiest milk alternative for growing children, writes Dr Ushakiran Sisodia

Sometimes an ice cream treat or a delicious glass of milkshake can leave a child complaining of a stomach ache and leave the parent wondering how to deal with it. In such a case, lactose intolerance is to blame. Lactose intolerance in children means that their bodies do not produce an adequate amount of lactase, which is a natural enzyme in the digestive tract required to break down lactose.

Lactose is made up of glucose and galactose and it is a sugar found in foods that many children love including milk, ice cream, cheese, and more. The signs of lactose intolerance in children often go unnoticed, which is why parents must look out for symptoms including gas, watery diarrhoea, stomach bloating, loose stools, nausea, skin rash, frequent colds, abdominal pain and cramping in their lactose-intolerant children to avoid them from being affected by it.

We’ve often heard that toddlers and growing children need milk in their staple diet. However, the truth is that kids do not need milk, they need the key nutrients that milk contains. Dairy milk contains nutrients such as Vitamin D, protein, calcium and fat that are essential for a kid’s growth and development. However, there are plenty of milk alternatives in the form of plant-based milk that provide the same nutrients as dairy milk to aid in the development of a growing child.

Plant-based milk should provide adequate nutrients just like dairy milk including protein, carbohydrates, fats, and calories, and it must be loaded with key nutrients like Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, and calcium. This is why soy milk is a preferred and recommended plant-based milk for growing children due to its properties and nutrients and as a milk alternative for children who may be lactose intolerant.

One cup of unsweetened soy milk contains 5-6 g of protein per cup, which is a comparable amount to cow’s milk. It also offers 3 gm carbohydrates, 4 gm fat, and 80 calories per serving. Although the fat content is relatively low as compared to cow’s milk, it has the closest fat content to all other plant-based alternatives. Soy milk is preferred as it doesn’t have lactose.

Along with soy milk, children require a balanced diet that has enough cereals, pulses, fruits and vegetables, fats and oilseeds. Other substitutes like almond milk, oat milk, rice milk, and coconut milk are more suitable for different purposes and are fortified with variants of key nutrition.

Soy milk contains vitamin D and calcium carbonate making it a healthy plant-based milk alternative for toddlers and growing children.

(The author is a Mumbai-based dietitian.)