10 Healthiest Milk And Milk Alternatives For Toddlers And Kids

10. Soy Milk

Serving Size – 243ml

Calories – 105

Fat – 4.3g

Protein – 6g

Carbs – 12g

Soy milk was probably the first milk alternative that swelled in popularity and helped create the growing alternative milk industry that we have today. Despite its popularity, soy milk has a number of detractors, who point to the drink’s elevated phytoestrogen (essentially plant-based estrogen) count as cause for concern, with one study showing that estrogen levels in toddlers drinking soy milk ballooned, and that said estrogen increase could lead to thyroid hormone problems in children.

Given that, it may not be the ideal milk alternative. There’s also the issue of soy allergies, which affect about 0.4% of children before the age of 3. In terms of nutrition, soy milk is higher than whole milk in iron, magnesium, and B-6, but is rather lacking in terms of calcium, which is important for young bones. Some of the leading producers of soy milk are WhiteWave Foods Co (NYSE:WWAV), SunOpta, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:STKL), and Hain Celestial Group Inc (NASDAQ:HAIN).

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