It's heavily-processed, sugar-added soybean-based product.

There is a massive difference in the amount of protein you get from milk and the amount of protein you get from soy milk. Beyond that, soy milk has compounds that prevent you from absorbing the scant amount of protein it does offer, and the calcium used to fortify some soy milks is also more difficult to absorb.

In order to reach a comparable calcium content to milk, soy milk must be fortified with vitamins and minerals that have already been through extensive processing elsewhere and transported to the production site.

Comparing soy milk to milk is like comparing fortified water to fruit juice.

There are also substances in cow milk that prevent you from absorbing calcium. Most cow milk is also fortified. Cow milk is also paturized and its fat content is adjusted (i.e. "processed"). Since when is less protein in the standard American diet bad idea? We are a nation of obese people!

Do your homework before you spout off.

Cow's milk is pasteurized to prevent spoilage and bacterial growth, and fortified with Vitamin D to improve the absorbability of calcium. New processes have bee developed to accomplish effective pasteurization at lower temperatures that have less effect on the flavor. (See "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen" by Howard McGee, 2004.) That's it. That's all there is to it.

Soy is a genetically altered seed (quickly destroying biodiversity in farm crops the world over, leading to a gradual loss of "heritage seeds" and potential permanent loss of life-saving food crops) that has to be planted (emissions from heavy machinery), maintained (this crop is one of the heaviest users of petroleum-based pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. Thats why there are no birds, no bugs and no other wildlife in proximity to soy fields.) and harvested (again causing emissions from heavy machinery).

It is then trucked (more emissions) to large, smoke belching factories where it is chemically processed ( bleached, cooked, strained, fortified, yet more emissions, not to mention industrial waste akin to the average paint plant) in many stages before it even resembles something drinkable. Enough sugar is added that you might as well drink a soda.

THEN it is again trucked (emissions, anyone?) to a packing facility, where it is put in tetra bricks, which are essentially multi-layered packages composed of petrochemical-based plastic and metal compounds that can NEVER be recycled and are not biodegradable and cannot be, given the layered structure of those packages.

Non-fat or low-fat milk is an excellent source of protein. If it is heated or cooked, it's well tolerated by the lactose-intolerant. Failing that, Lactaid pills will prevent any problems. I speak from experience here. Vitamin D is crucial not only in the absorption of naturally occurring calcium, but is also necessary to prevent SAD during the winter months.

Questions?

Mike,

At first I was tempted to take your response seriously, and then I read your later post and realized that it's not worth arguing with an ostrich... especially an ostrich who thinks protein is the cause of obesity.