Rice Milk or Soy Milk

Aidge · August 2009

The pedi gave us an option, but I keep hearing negatives about both. How to choose? We are still not 100% sure DS is allergic to milk, but b/c of his recent symptoms, he wants us to try something in place of it in the interim to see if the symptoms stop (other than formula). TY!

1MusicMaker · August 2009

I would say rice, just because I have heard about all of the extra estrogen hormones in soy milk. I would feel nervous giving this to DS.

nooniesgal · August 2009

We are on Soy and have had no problems with it. You can log on to 8thcontinent.com for a $1 coupon or silk's site for a $.75 coupon if you want to try one to see how ds would like it. I really haven't done much research on rice milk because soy worked so well for us.

jenuine · August 2009

1MusicMaker:
I would say rice, just because I have heard about all of the extra estrogen hormones in soy milk. I would feel nervous giving this to DS.

According to our pedi, nothing has been proven here.

Our pedi recommended soy over rice since soy has more nutrition. DD drinks 3+ sippies of organic soy milk with DHA added a day and loves it. Does your LO have a complete dairy alergy? DD is alergic to cows milk, but not dairy products so eats lots of yogurt, cheese, ice cream, etc, which helps get her protein and calcium.

I'd ask your pedi for their opinion.

Rah · August 2009

swooping in with a report i just found on rice milk...i literally was looking this up before you posted this...(in a nutshell if your dc isn't allergic to whole milk than you should stick to whole milk)

Whole cow milk contains natural calcium that is more easily absorbed and bio-available than calcium from other sources. It contains the "good" fats that are crucial to both infant and toddler development; a reason why pediatricians recommend whole milk for a minimum of the first 2-3 years of age. Whole cow milk is also a great source of protein, another nutrient that is crucial in healthy development. Vitamin A and B12, along with some other B Vitamins, are also found in whole milk and these vitamins are essential in sustaining proper growth.

Rice Milk in particular is low in fat which is not recommended for those under 2 years of age and it is also low in (if not completely devoid of) protein. "It contains more carbohydrates as compared to cow?s milk, but less protein and calcium and no cholesterol and lactose. Commercial brands are often fortified with Vitamins A and D, some B vitamins, calcium and iron."

Recently, in May of 2009, the UK Standards Agency recommended that children under the age of 4.5 years not drink rice milk. This recommendation came, not only due to the nutritional inferiority of the rice milk, due to levels of arsenic found in many brands of rice milk.

"As a precaution, toddlers and young children between 1 and 4.5 years old should not have rice drinks as a replacement for cows? milk, breast milk, or infant formula. This is because they will then drink a relatively large amount of it, and their intake of arsenic will be greater than that of older children and adults relative to their bodyweight.

This is both on nutritional grounds and because such substitution can increase their intake of inorganic arsenic, which should be kept as low as possible. A daily half pint or 280 millilitres of rice drink could double the amount of the more harmful form of arsenic they consume each day. There is no immediate risk to children who have been consuming rice drinks and it is unlikely that there would have been any long-term harmful effects but to reduce further exposure to arsenic parents should stop giving these drinks to toddlers and young children." Learn more at the FSA's website

1MusicMaker · August 2009

jenuine:
1MusicMaker:
I would say rice, just because I have heard about all of the extra estrogen hormones in soy milk. I would feel nervous giving this to DS.

According to our pedi, nothing has been proven here.

I'd ask your pedi for their opinion.

Well, actually, there is no debate whether there are estrogen hormones in soy milk--they're there. However, there are also a lot of extra hormones in non-organic cow's milk...

However, something is causing little girls to get their period earlier and earlier every generation, and this seems like a red flag (among probably many, many other factors).

melissa-n-paul · August 2009

DD has milk allergies, amoung egg and nut too. We use soy milk and love it. I was nervous for the same reasons but I have NO other option other than rice milk or formula. Shes 16m old and I want to put her on formula (nothing wrong with it, i just BF for 13m and felt it was silly to then have to turn around and use formula as a toddler all of a sudden). Pedi was in favor of soy and she did well with it. I tried rice milk as well, just to use as an alternate to go back and forth but it made her really grumpy and I assumed she did not tolerate it well. I asked our pedi and a dietician, as well as another pedi in the field about this issue with the hormones and ALL said that there was no proof of it and that it was mainly, if at all, an issue for little boys as they get older. Most importantly they all agreed that rice milk does NOT provide nearly enough of the same nutrients or protiens as cows milk or comparitable to soy. Good luck!

Aidge · August 2009

Thank you all. Yes, the estrogen issue does bother me, especially with everything I have read and heard. The weird thing is that when I nursed him for 10 months, he had no reaction to the dairy I was eating, nor did he have a reaction to whole milk yogurt or milk-based formula. Ugh, I just do not know what to do.

SweetMonkey · August 2009

just to make things even harder for you.. we go goat and almond milk (cows and soy did not work out, but we are hoping to try cows milk again)

so if you don't like the sound of rice or soy you can look into goat and almond

WYEngTeacher · August 2009

My DD has a milk allergy, so I've done a bit of research on this issue. Our pediatric nutritionist and allergist have rec'd both soy or rice, but said absolutely not to give her some of the other products that I've seen on here. We can't give almond milk because she already is prone to allergies. Our specialists feel there is not enough credible research into hemp milk.

Anyway, onto your specific question, I would definitely give Soy milk IF you can get your child to drink it. Our doctors seem to feel it is the more nutritious option. Also, as a PP wrote, there is a new UK study about high arsenic levels in rice milk which really upsets me. I've posted about it several times on here before... I've gone to all our drs/specialists about it and haven't gotten much info at all yet. Our nutritionist is still trying to get more information, but the bottom line is that the AAP hasn't made any kind of statement yet about how the UK study impacts us. I really worry about those findings, though, which is the primary reason I would give soy if you can get your DC to take it..... However, it really doesn't taste so great, and I have never been able to get DD to drink it. Therefore, I reluctantly give FORTIFIED rice milk (vanilla flavor) because that's simply all I can get her to drink. If you use rice, definitely get fortified. I've done side-by-side comparisons to cow's milk and the vitamin/calcium components are all actually the same or even higher. However, like PP's mentioned, it simply doesn't have the fat content that we'd like (or protein, I think...?). I am trying my best to get her those good fats in other foods such as olive oil. ?

WYEngTeacher · August 2009

P.S. If your DC is, in fact, allergic to dairy, do NOT give goat's milk as a PP suggested. The proteins are too similar to cow's milk, as I was told by our allergist.

LoriFalce · August 2009

A couple other options I saw for the first time today: oat milk and sunflower milk. A friend was picking up oat milk for her son who has a whey allergy. I had never ever heard of it at all.

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