Your health,
minus the dairy.
Do you actually need dairy to be healthy? The doctors and dietitians at Plant Based Health Professionals UK say no — here's the evidence, claim by claim, with every source cited below.
Real doctors. Real references. ♡
Our health section is proudly supported by Plant Based Health Professionals (find out more)
Calcium without the cow
Calcium matters — dairy doesn't. UK adults need around 700 mg a day, and a fortified plant milk habit gets you there comfortably.
Dairy isn't the gatekeeper
There's no scientific evidence that getting calcium from dairy specifically improves bone health or prevents fractures — and the countries that drink the most milk have some of the highest fracture rates.
Willett & Ludwig 2020, NEJM · Michaëlsson et al. 2014, BMJ
Easy maths: 700 mg
Fortified plant milks carry ~120 mg of calcium per 100 ml — matching dairy — and calcium from fortified soya milk is absorbed just as well as from cow's milk. PBHP suggest at least 400 ml of fortified plant milk or yoghurt a day, alongside calcium-set tofu (280 mg per 80 g portion), kale and tahini.
PBHP bone health factsheet · Zhao, Martin & Weaver 2005, J Nutr
The nutrition, matched
Soya milk stands shoulder to shoulder with dairy — and the UK's official nutrition advisors have run the numbers on the rest.
Protein: level pegging
Soya milk delivers 3.3 g of protein per 100 ml — right beside cow's milk at 3.4 g — complete with all nine essential amino acids.
PBHP plant milks guide · Michelfelder 2009, Am Fam Physician
Oats with benefits
Oat milk brings beta-glucans — the soluble fibre linked with healthier cholesterol levels in controlled studies.
Önning et al. 1999, Ann Nutr Metab
The official verdict
The UK's Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition assessed plant-based drinks and found typical soya, oat and almond drinks may mean less saturated fat and energy, and more fibre and vitamin D. And dairy isn't required at any life stage.
SACN & COT assessment, GOV.UK · EAT-Lancet Commission
A swap your heart can measure
This one isn't just observational — swapping cow's milk for soya milk has been tested in randomised controlled trials.
Tested in 17 trials
A 2024 meta-analysis of 17 randomised controlled trials found that replacing cow's milk with soya milk improved LDL cholesterol, blood pressure and inflammation (CRP) — even when the soya milk was sweetened.
Erlich et al. 2024, BMC Medicine
Saturated fat, skipped
PBHP's doctors note that the saturated fat in dairy raises blood cholesterol — a driver of heart attacks and strokes — while most plant milks are naturally low in saturated fat.
Plant Based Health Professionals UK
Lactose: the global majority
For most adults on Earth, dairy is the uncomfortable option — not the default.
Most adults, worldwide
An estimated 60–70% of the world's population is lactose intolerant — think bloating, cramps and worse. After weaning, most humans simply stop making the enzyme that digests milk sugar.
Anguita-Ruiz et al. 2020, Nutrients · NHS
Beyond lactose
Cow's milk protein is also among the most common food allergens, and dairy intake has been associated with acne in a meta-analysis of observational studies.
BMJ 2021 · Aghasi et al. 2019, Clinical Nutrition
Plant milk: the comfortable default. ♡
Soy, hormones and the actual data
Worried soya will mess with your hormones? PBHP's doctors point out the hormone story actually runs the other way.
Check the dairy aisle
Cow's milk naturally contains oestrogen — dairy cows are milked through pregnancy — plus growth factors like IGF-1, and higher IGF-1 levels have been linked with breast cancer risk. Higher dairy intake has also been associated with increased prostate cancer risk in large cohort studies and meta-analyses.
Shi et al. 2004, Int J Cancer · Orlich et al. 2022 & Aune et al. 2015, Am J Clin Nutr
Soya's track record
In the Adventist Health Study, swapping cow's milk for soya milk was associated with up to 32% lower breast cancer risk, and regular soya milk drinkers showed markedly lower prostate cancer rates. A 2024 meta-analysis links soya milk with around 25% lower total cancer incidence.
Fraser et al. 2020, Int J Epidemiol · Jacobsen et al. 1998 · Nutrients 2024
One word: fortified
The whole trick to plant milk nutrition fits on a carton label. Here's what PBHP's dietitians say to look for.
The carton checklist
Choose fortified and unsweetened. Most non-organic plant milks are fortified with calcium (120 mg per 100 ml), vitamin D, B2 and B12 — but note that organic versions usually aren't fortified at all.
PBHP guide to plant-based milks
Iodine, the quiet one
Dairy is one of the UK's main iodine sources, so swap smart: some plant milk brands now fortify with iodine, or a supplement of up to 150 µg covers it. UK adults need 140 µg a day.
PBHP micronutrient guidance
B12 & vitamin D
PBHP advise a B12 supplement for everyone eating fully plant-based (and everyone over 50), plus the UK-standard 10 µg of vitamin D daily through autumn and winter.
PBHP bone health factsheet
Babies, kids and plant milks
Guidance written for PBHP by a consultant paediatrician and a paediatric dietitian — worth reading in full if you're feeding small people.
Under 12 months
Breastmilk or infant formula only — supermarket plant milks are never a main drink for babies. Soya-based infant formula is safe, with growth and development comparable to cow's-milk formula.
PBHP · Vandenplas et al. 2014, Br J Nutr
Toddlers and up
From 12 months, calcium-fortified unsweetened soya milk can gradually take over; from age two it's PBHP's recommended default plant milk. One caveat: hold the rice milk until age five, due to arsenic levels.
PBHP, Martinez-Biarge & Hallam, updated 2025
Convinced your body's on board?
Seven days, one swap, zero pressure. See how it feels.
Join the 7-Day ChallengeDoctor-approved doesn't mean boring. ♡
Sources & citations
Content on this page is informed by the published work of Plant Based Health Professionals UK and the peer-reviewed studies they cite:
- Is dairy necessary for good health? — Plant Based Health Professionals UK
- Dairy: a nutritional and sustainable food group, or unnecessary and unethical? — Plant Based Health Professionals UK
- A guide to plant-based milks — Rosie Martin RD, Plant Based Health Professionals UK
- Getting calcium on a plant-based diet — Lisa Simon RD & Isabelle Sadler, Plant Based Health Professionals UK
- Bone health factsheet — Rajiv Bajekal & Lisa Simon RD, Plant Based Health Professionals UK
- Plant milks for babies and children — Dr Miriam Martinez-Biarge & Paula Hallam RD, Plant Based Health Professionals UK, updated June 2025
- Willett WC & Ludwig DS — Milk and Health — New England Journal of Medicine, 2020
- Michaëlsson K et al. — Milk intake and risk of mortality and fractures in women and men — BMJ, 2014
- Zhao Y, Martin BR & Weaver CM — Calcium bioavailability of calcium-carbonate-fortified soymilk is equivalent to cow's milk — Journal of Nutrition, 2005
- Erlich MN et al. — Substituting soymilk for cow's milk and intermediate cardiometabolic outcomes: meta-analysis of randomised trials — BMC Medicine, 2024
- Fraser GE et al. — Dairy, soy, and risk of breast cancer: those confounded milks — International Journal of Epidemiology, 2020
- Jacobsen BK, Knutsen SF & Fraser GE — Does high soy milk intake reduce prostate cancer incidence? The Adventist Health Study — Cancer Causes & Control, 1998
- Soy product consumption and the risk of cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis — Nutrients, 2024
- Orlich MJ et al. — Dairy foods, calcium intakes, and risk of incident prostate cancer in Adventist Health Study-2 — American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2022
- Aune D et al. — Dairy products, calcium, and prostate cancer risk: systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies — American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2015
- Shi R et al. — IGF-I and breast cancer: a meta-analysis — International Journal of Cancer, 2004
- Anguita-Ruiz A et al. — Genetics of lactose intolerance: an updated review — Nutrients, 2020
- Aghasi M et al. — Dairy intake and acne development: a meta-analysis of observational studies — Clinical Nutrition, 2019
- Vandenplas Y et al. — Safety of soya-based infant formulas in children — British Journal of Nutrition, 2014
- Michelfelder AJ — Soy: a complete source of protein — American Family Physician, 2009
- Önning G et al. — Consumption of oat milk lowers serum cholesterol — Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism, 1999
- SACN & COT — Assessment of the health benefits and risks of consuming plant-based drinks — GOV.UK
This page is general information, not medical advice. For guidance on your own diet or health, please speak to a qualified health professional.