Milk vs plant drinks: how much protein and calcium you get

You are standing at the chiller picking between cow's milk and five plant drinks that all look equally healthy on the carton. The useful question is narrow: which of them actually carries protein and calcium, and which is mostly water with flavour and a bit of sugar?

The short version is that the gap between plant drinks is wider than the gap between milk and soya. Soya and almond drink sit side by side on the shelf and have almost nothing in common nutritionally.

What a 250 ml glass gives you

These are rounded averages. They shift with the brand, the fat content and whether the drink is fortified, so the label always wins the argument.

• Semi-skimmed cow's milk: around 8 g protein, around 300 mg calcium, around 120 kcal.
• Whole milk: same protein and calcium, around 150 kcal.
• Fortified soya drink: around 7 g protein, around 300 mg calcium, 90–110 kcal.
• Oat drink: around 2 g protein, 100–130 kcal, 15–20 g carbohydrate.
• Unsweetened almond drink: around 1 g protein, 30–40 kcal.
• Rice drink: under 1 g protein, around 120 kcal.
• Coconut drink: under 1 g protein, 40–60 kcal.

Per 100 ml that works out at roughly 3.3 g of protein for both milk and soya, about 0.8 g for oat and about 0.4 g for almond. Buying almond drink is mostly buying water — the almond content is usually a few per cent.

Calcium comes from fortification, not from the plant

Milk naturally holds around 120 mg of calcium per 100 ml. Plant drinks have almost none of their own; unfortified soya reaches roughly 25 mg. Fortified versions top it up to that same 120 mg, which puts them genuinely level with milk. Research generally shows the added calcium is absorbed about as well as the calcium in milk.

One practical detail most people skip: added calcium settles at the bottom of the carton. If you do not shake it, a decent share of it stays behind.

Milk also carries iodine, vitamin B12 and riboflavin. Plant drinks only have those if someone put them there, and home-made versions have none of it.

Fitting it into the day

An adult needs roughly 1,000 mg of calcium a day. Two glasses of milk or fortified drink cover around 600 mg, and the rest comes easily from yoghurt, cheese, sesame, pulses and greens — broccoli and dark leafy vegetables pull more weight here than people expect.

For protein, training usually means aiming at roughly 1.6–2.2 g per kilogram of body weight. A glass of milk brings 8 g of that, and the cheapest place to slot it in is cooking you already do: porridge made with milk instead of water picks up those 8 g without a single extra step.

If you prefer oat or almond drink, the protein has to come from somewhere else — eggs, yoghurt, skyr, a scoop of powder. There are three quick options in the piece on a five-minute breakfast with 30 g of protein.

Who it suits, and who it doesn't

Milk makes sense if you tolerate it and want a dense source of protein and calcium without thinking about it. Eight grams of protein for 120 kcal is a good ratio, and dairy protein — roughly 80 per cent casein, 20 per cent whey — sits near the top for quality.

Soya is the only plant drink that competes seriously on both protein quantity and amino acid profile. If you are vegan or simply do not enjoy milk, fortified soya is a swap that needs no compensating elsewhere.

Oat drink foams well and behaves nicely in coffee, but it is closer to a liquid carbohydrate than a protein source. Almond drink is the lightest of the lot and perfectly fine when all you want is flavoured liquid.

With lactose intolerance the answer is not automatically a plant drink — lactose-free milk keeps the same protein and calcium. A cow's milk allergy is different: avoidance has to be complete and that belongs with a doctor. Rice drink, because of naturally occurring arsenic, is generally not recommended as a young child's main drink.

Simple combinations

• 250 ml milk or soya drink + 50 g oats + a spoon of peanut butter: around 20 g protein.
• Soya drink + banana + 20 g protein powder, blended: around 27 g protein to take with you.
• Oat drink in the coffee, 150 g Greek yoghurt on the side: the foam you like plus the protein the drink cannot give.
• If you skip dairy entirely, build the protein around tofu and tempeh and pulses.

Common myths

Plant means fewer calories. Rice drink and sweetened oat drink match milk for calories and give you almost no protein for them.

Almond drink is like a handful of almonds. It isn't. Most of the protein and fat never made it into the carton.

Soya lowers testosterone. In men drinking ordinary amounts, the evidence generally does not show that effect. Phytoestrogens are not the same thing as a hormone.

Milk causes mucus and inflammation. In people without an allergy, that isn't supported.

Added calcium doesn't absorb. It does — provided you shake it up off the bottom.

When to see a doctor

Regular bloating, cramping or diarrhoea after milk is worth a proper conversation rather than a self-diagnosis and a permanent ban. Hives, swelling lips or difficulty breathing after a dairy product is an emergency. Also speak to someone if you have avoided dairy long-term without a fortified replacement and you have had a fracture or have osteoporosis in the family.

In short

• Milk: around 8 g protein and 300 mg calcium per glass, around 120 kcal.
• Fortified soya drink: near enough the same, for slightly fewer calories.
• Oat, almond, rice and coconut: 0–2 g protein per glass, calcium only if added.
• Shake fortified drinks before pouring.
• If you skip milk, plan the protein and calcium rather than assuming them.