Nutritional balance of standard soymilk

This article offers descriptive data regarding the nutritional balance of standard soymilk. These data were collected for a research on milk and milk alternatives in New Zealand between 2007 and 2008 (Perezgonzalez, 2008¹).

Standard (original or regular) soymilk is made from soybeans and water, and contains around 3% fat. This article, however, analyzes the nutritional balance of standard soymilk beyond its fat content. Indeed, the average standard soymilk (in this sample) is high in fat but low in saturated fat, but also adequate in protein, low in carbohydrate but high in sugar, low in fiber, and within maximum recommended limits for sodium.

On average, standard soymilk has a nutritional balance of BNI 43.16f, being particularly unbalanced towards excess of fat.

Illustration 1: Nutrition information (standard soymilk)

BNI	43.16f	0.00

Food, 100ml	2008	Ideal
Protein	3.3	3.3
Carbohydrate	6.2	9.2
Sugar	3.0	< 1.7
Fat	3.2	1.9
Saturated fat	0.5	< 0.7
Fiber	0.7	1.0
Sodium	0.064	< 0.067
Kcal	66.8	66.8
kJul	279.5	279.5

Illustration 2: Nutritional profile (standard soymilk)

55%
50%
45%			*
40%			*
35%		*	*
30%		*	*
25%		*	*
20%	*	*	*
15%	*	*	*
10%	*	*	*
5%	*	*	*
mid	p	c	f	fb
max		s	sf		na
5%		*	*		*
10%		*
15%		*
20%		*

ideal % = grey cells; actual % = asterisk (*)

International standards

Standard soymilk appears as somehow unbalanced according to international Recommended Dietary Intakes (RDIs), although less so according to U.S. and Canada's standards, which allow for a higher content of sugars and fat.

Illustration 3: Nutritional balance across different RDIs (standard soymilk)

Standard soymilk	average	43.16	52.22	17.35	33.37	30.16

Product 100ml	Company	BNI	WHO	US/CAN	AUS/NZ	UK
Get Natural calci forte	So Natural	26.05	31.92	8.66	15.59	12.33
So Good regular	Sanitarium	42.46	54.63	27.58	32.55	29.79
Vitasoy creamy original	Vitasoy	46.93	57.80	13.65	37.13	34.93
Vitasoy calci-plus	Vitasoy	57.69	67.57	17.73	47.87	45.69
(Source: Perezgonzalez, 2008¹)

Correlations between indexes tend to be positive (and significant at the 0.10 cut-off point, which seems appropriate given the small sample size), except for the US/CAN index. However, the sample size is too small as for drawing much inference from it.