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What are the Health Benefits of Soy Milk?

Diane Goettel
Diane Goettel
Diane Goettel
Diane Goettel

There are a number of health benefits of soy milk, which is also sometimes referred to as "soya milk," a drink that is made from soy beans and is regularly used as an alternative to cow's milk. Some of the health benefits of soy milk are specific to a certain population. For example, people who are lactose intolerant often used soy milk as a substitute for cow's milk because soy milk does not contain lactose. Therefore, anyone who cannot consume lactose or anyone who has an allergy to regular cow's milk can usually use soy milk as an alternative.

Another one of the health benefits of soy milk is that it contains no cholesterol and is also very low in fat. Although cow's milk can be purchased in low-fat and fat-free versions, it does contain cholesterol as all animal products do. As such, some people drink soy milk instead of cow's milk in order to reduce the amount of fat in their diet or to reduce the amount of cholesterol in their diet.

Soy milk.
Soy milk.

One of the most commonly recognized health benefits of soy milk is that it contains about the same amount of protein as cow's milk. Protein is a very important part of a healthy diet and many doctors and nutritionists agree that soy milk is a healthy source of protein. Also, people who like to drink milk but need to avoid some element unique to cow's milk can get one of their daily doses of protein in the form of soy milk.

Much like cow's milk, soy milk can come in an organic form. This is important to people who try to consume only or mainly organic products. Although this is one of the health benefits of soy milk, this benefit is not unique to soy milk.

Soybeans.
Soybeans.

For some people, it takes a while to make the switch from cow's milk to soy milk because there is a difference in taste. People who are searching for a type of soy milk they like should try a number of different brands of soy milk, and also try various flavored versions of soy milk. Much as with cow's milk, there are chocolate and strawberry flavored versions of soy milk.

Diane Goettel
Diane Goettel

In addition to her work as a freelance writer for WiseGEEK, Diane is the executive editor of Black Lawrence Press, an independent publishing company based in upstate New York. She has also edited several anthologies, the e-newsletter Sapling, and The Adirondack Review. Diane has a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and an M.A. from Brooklyn College.

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Diane Goettel
Diane Goettel

In addition to her work as a freelance writer for WiseGEEK, Diane is the executive editor of Black Lawrence Press, an independent publishing company based in upstate New York. She has also edited several anthologies, the e-newsletter Sapling, and The Adirondack Review. Diane has a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and an M.A. from Brooklyn College.

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    • Soy milk.
      By: Win Nondakowit
      Soy milk.
    • Soybeans.
      By: terumin
      Soybeans.
    • Soy milk contains no cholesterol and is very low in fat.
      By: 3dsguru
      Soy milk contains no cholesterol and is very low in fat.
    • People with an intolerance to cow's milk can substitute soy milk.
      By: Andrey Kuzmin
      People with an intolerance to cow's milk can substitute soy milk.
    • Drinking soy milk instead of cow's milk can reduce the amount of fat and cholesterol in a person's diet.
      By: vgstudio
      Drinking soy milk instead of cow's milk can reduce the amount of fat and cholesterol in a person's diet.