Soy milk and cow's milk each have something going for them. While they both work well with breakfast cereal, soy milk is naturally lower in calories and saturated fat whereas cow's milk is a better source of natural calcium. Soy milk has a longer shelf life than cow's milk, which can be to your advantage if your household does not include any heavy milk drinkers.
Calories
The calorie content varies by type of cow's milk and soy milk. Cow's milk can have anywhere from 90 to 150 calories per 8-oz. serving. The difference in calorie content is attributable to percentage fat. The number of calories in soy milk also varies because of proportional differences in fat and sugar. An 8-oz. serving of soy milk can vary between 70 and 130 calories per cup.
Fat
Fat is one way people distinguish among types of milk. Whole milk has the most fat, with 8g fat per 8-oz. serving. Low-fat milk has 5g fat per serving and reduced-fat milk has 2.5g fat per serving. The U.S. Department of Agriculture allows any milk containing up to 0.5g fat to be labeled as skim or fat-free. Soy milk comes in regular and "light" versions as well, with regular soy milk having 3.5g fat per 8-oz. serving and light soy milk varieties having around 2.0g fat per serving. The fat in cow's milk is split between saturated and unsaturated, whereas the fat in soy milk is mostly unsaturated. Cow's milk has 5mg cholesterol per serving; soy milk like all plant-based products has no cholesterol.
Sugars
The sugar content of cow's milk is relatively steady at 12g sugar per 8-oz. serving. These 12g comprise lactose, a dissacharide composed of glucose and galactose. People with lactose intolerance cannot break down lactose into these two constituent monosaccharides and experience an upset stomach and intestinal tract as a result. The sugar content of soy milk varies depending on whether or it has been sweetened. Specifically, the sugar content in soy milk ranges from 6g to 12g per cup. This sugar is composed of fructose, a plant-derived monosaccharide.
Calcium
Both soy milk and cow's milk can be good sources of calcium. Naturally, soy milk has little calcium -- only 60mg per 8-oz. serving. This is much less than cow's milk which has approximately 300mg calcium per serving. Accordingly, manufacturers use powdered calcium to boost the calcium content in enhanced soy milk, bringing it up to around 300mg which is 30 percent of the recommended daily allowance for this mineral. Skim milk has the highest calcium content.
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