If you are choosing between soy, pea, oat, almond, and cashew milks, the short answer is this: pea and soy milk deliver the most protein, almond and cashew milks are the lowest-calorie options, and none of them reliably supplies calcium, vitamin D, or vitamin B12 unless the carton says "fortified." The nutritional gap between these five popular plant-based milks is wide, and the difference between a fortified and unfortified product can be the difference between an adequate diet and a deficiency.
Understanding Plant-Based Milks: A Nutritional Overview
Plant-based milks are made from a range of sources: grains such as oat, legumes such as pea and soy, and nuts such as almond and cashew, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration explains. Because the base ingredient varies so much, the nutrition label varies just as much. Dietitians Australia notes that these products are often fortified with key nutrients such as calcium, iodine, vitamin B12, and vitamin D to support health—but fortification is optional and inconsistent across brands.
The comparison below uses figures for unflavored, unsweetened varieties, drawn from a nutritional fact sheet published by Healthy Eating Research. Actual values vary by brand and by fortification level, so treat these numbers as representative rather than universal. Sweetened or flavored versions can differ substantially.
Plant-Based Milk Nutritional Comparison
The table juxtaposes per-serving values for the five milks alongside dairy milk as a reference point. Reading across the rows, two patterns stand out immediately: protein is concentrated in the legume-based milks, while calcium, vitamin D, and B12 depend almost entirely on what the manufacturer adds.
| Milk | Calories | Protein (g) | Calcium (mg) | Vitamin D (mcg) | Vitamin B12 (mcg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dairy (whole) | 152 | 8 | 306 | 2.4 | 1.34 |
| Soy | 80 | 7 | 300 | 3 | 3 |
| Pea | 80 | 8 | 440 | 6 | 2.5 |
| Oat | 90 | 2 | 350 | 4 | 0.2 |
| Almond | 40 | 1 | 450 | 2.5 | — |
| Cashew | 25 | 1 | 450 | 2.5 | — |
Pea and soy milk clearly lead on protein, at 8 and 7 grams per serving respectively—comparable to dairy milk's 8 grams. Oat milk falls to 2 grams, while almond and cashew milks sit at just 1 gram each. On calories, cashew (25) and almond (40) are the lowest. The calcium and vitamin figures above reflect fortified products; unfortified versions of the same milks would show dramatically lower values.
