{"id":675336,"date":"2026-11-05T03:52:15","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T03:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/675336\/"},"modified":"2026-11-05T03:52:15","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T03:52:15","slug":"swapping-dairy-for-plant-based-milks-and-yoghurts-could-risk-health-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/675336\/","title":{"rendered":"Swapping dairy for plant-based milks and yoghurts could risk health \u2013 study"},"content":{"rendered":"

Replacing dairy products<\/a> with plant-based ones, such as oat and almond milks<\/a>, could lead to people missing out on vitamins and minerals, a study suggests.<\/p>\n

Even doing a partial swap may lead to deficiency in nutrients such as iodine<\/a>, which is essential for thyroid function and healthy brains, experts writing in the Lancet Planetary Health journal said.<\/p>\n

The research, which included contributions from UCC’s Cork Centre for Vitamin D and Nutrition Research, also found that children, teenagers, and women appeared to be worst affected by any swap to plant-based milks, yoghurt, and cheese.<\/p>\n

Researchers looked at the risks of dropping dairy in favour of plant-based items, including 146 plant-based milks, 76 yoghurts, and 67 cheese products.<\/p>\n

They examined the effect on micronutrient intake for iodine, calcium and vitamins B2 and B12.<\/p>\n

The researchers also found variations in the extent to which plant-based foods are fortified with added vitamins.<\/p>\n

Some 12% of plant-based items in the research contained added iodine, 61% had added calcium, 46% had vitamin B12, and 19% had riboflavin (vitamin B2).<\/p>\n

The team, from the University of Surrey and Queen\u2019s University Belfast, found that even modest replacements of dairy intake with plant-based dairy alternatives (including fortified ones) led to declines in all four micronutrients, but particularly iodine.<\/p>\n

For example, replacing 20%-35% of dairy products with plant-based ones increased the inadequate intake of iodine among girls aged 14-18 from 54% to 65%, and from 32% to 42% in women aged 19-49.<\/p>\n

If all dairy was replaced, iodine inadequacy rose to 80% in teenage girls and 72% in boys of the same age.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, if all dairy was swapped for plant-based products, inadequate calcium intake rose from 30% in the usual diet to 47% among boys aged 14 to 18.<\/p>\n

Among girls the same age, it rose from 54% to 70%.<\/p>\n

For riboflavin (vitamin B2), if all products were swapped, inadequate intakes in men aged 19-49 rose from 14% to 26%, while the figure was from 29% to 50% for women.<\/p>\n

There was also a meaningful increase to 39% in this group if only half of usual dairy was swapped for plant-based items.<\/p>\n

Calcium is important for building healthy bones and teeth as well as regulating muscle contractions, including heartbeat.<\/p>\n

Vitamin B12 helps keep the nervous system and blood cells healthy, while B2 is important for skin, eyes and the nervous system.<\/p>\n

Dr Katie Nicol, co-author of the study and research fellow at the University of Surrey, said: \u201cNutrition policy must evolve in tandem with environmental targets however it is important that shifts towards more sustainable diets do not compromise on public health.<\/p>\n

\u201cFortification of foods is one way that this could be achieved. However, government policy is needed to make this happen.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Nutrients already in short supply in usual diet of people who avoid dairy’<\/p>\n

Professor Mairead Kiely, from the Cork Centre for Vitamin D and Nutrition Research, said: \u201cVitamins and minerals that are supplied by animal source foods will need to be replaced in a transition to diets that substantially reduce intakes of these foods and replace them with plant-based alternatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlant-based dairy alternatives, unless fortified appropriately, do not contain equivalent amounts of calcium, iodine, riboflavin and vitamin B12 as milk, yoghurt, and cheese.<\/p>\n

\u201cNutrients such as iodine and calcium are already in short supply in the usual diet of people who avoid dairy, and are therefore of public health concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertain population groups, especially adolescents and women of reproductive age, already have low intakes of calcium, iodine and riboflavin.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile moderate population-based reductions in dairy are unlikely to cause problems for most people, among those who already consume little, reductions will further reduce the already inadequate intakes of these nutrients.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr Janette Walton, lead investigator for national dietary surveys in Ireland, said: \u201cWith dietary guidelines now recommending a large shift from animal-based diets to more plant-based diets in response to meeting global sustainability goals, unintended consequences for the health of teenage girls and young women must be considered.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Replacing dairy products with plant-based ones, such as oat and almond milks, could lead to people missing out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":675337,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[12633,21459,103,61,60],"class_list":["post-675336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-farming-dairy","tag-dairy","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=675336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/675337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=675336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=675336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=675336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}