Milk for Runners - Your Planet, Your Choice

Which milk should a runner choose?

Cow’s milk, soya, oat or almond? The answer depends on what you want your milk to do. If you care about both running nutrition and the planet, a few questions make the choice much clearer.

What are you actually getting from that glass?

After a run, would you count on your milk for protein? If so, look at the label before looking at the picture on the carton.

Cow’s milk provides about 3–3.4 grams of protein per 100 ml. Soya milk provides a similar amount and a useful range of essential amino acids. Most oat and almond milks contain considerably less protein. That does not make them poor drinks: it means that, if you choose one, you will need to get that protein elsewhere in your meal.

What does producing it cost the planet?

Now imagine choosing a litre at the supermarket. How much land, water and pollution sit behind it?

Across the measures examined by Our World in Data, cow’s milk has a substantially larger environmental footprint than plant milks. Per litre, it produces roughly three times the greenhouse gas emissions and uses around ten times the land. It also uses more freshwater and causes more nutrient pollution.

So, is one plant milk the environmental champion? It is not quite that simple. Almond milk, for example, performs well on emissions and land use but uses more water than soya milk. The strongest conclusion is that switching from dairy to a plant milk makes a much bigger difference than agonising over which plant milk wins.

Does the carton replace the nutrients you expected from milk?

Here is a question that is easy to miss: what has been added to it?

Plant milks differ greatly. Many contain added calcium, vitamin B12, vitamin D and riboflavin, but you cannot assume that every carton does. Iodine is less commonly added. As a useful guide, look for at least 120 mg of calcium per 100 ml, then check the ingredients and nutrition panel for the other nutrients. Organic plant milks may be unfortified. Shake a fortified carton before pouring, as added calcium can settle.

A fortified drink can help a vegan runner meet their nutrient needs, but it should not be their only plan for getting B12.

So what would you put in your trolley?

If you want one everyday milk that combines a lower environmental footprint, useful protein and familiar milk-like versatility, try an unsweetened, fortified soya milk. It is a strong all-round choice for porridge, smoothies and a drink alongside a meal.

Prefer oat milk in your coffee? Enjoy it. Choose almond milk for its taste? That is fine too. Just ask yourself whether the rest of your diet supplies the protein and nutrients that your chosen drink does not.

The question, then, is not whether a milk comes from a cow or a plant. It is: does it meet your nutritional needs at an environmental cost you are comfortable with? For many vegan runners, fortified soya milk answers both parts particularly well.