Plant milk is a general term for any milk-like product that is derived from a plant source. There is no formal or legal definition for plant milk. The most popular variety is soy milk

Soy milk

Soy milk and sometimes referred to as soy drink/beverage is a beverage made from soybeans. A stable emulsion of oil, water, and protein, it is produced by soaking dry soybeans and grinding them with water...

.

There are a variety of reasons for consuming plant milk including lactose intolerance

Lactose intolerance

Lactose intolerance, also called lactase deficiency or hypolactasia, is the inability to digest and metabolize lactose, a sugar found in milk...

 and milk allergy

Milk allergy

A milk allergy is a food allergy, an adverse immune reaction to one or more of the constituents of milk from any animal...

, religious/spiritual reasons, simple taste preference, veganism

Veganism

Veganism is the practice of eliminating the use of animal products. Ethical vegans reject the commodity status of animals and the use of animal products for any purpose, while dietary vegans or strict vegetarians eliminate them from their diet only...

 and ovo-vegetarianism, and health conditions such as PKU

Pku

The pku, alternatively spelled pzuk, is an Armenian musical instrument, similar to a clarinet. It has been called the national instrument of Armenia. The pku is a single-reed aerophone with seven holes and a one octave range with the open cone of a bull horn at one end.The pku is an ancient musical...

—a rare genetic disorder requiring a low-phenylalanine diet—that makes digestion of animal proteins

Protein

Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

, especially casein

Casein

Casein is the name for a family of related phosphoprotein proteins . These proteins are commonly found in mammalian milk, making up 80% of the proteins in cow milk and between 60% and 65% of the proteins in human milk....

 found in dairy, difficult or impossible. After soy, rice and almond milk are the most common non-dairy milks in the USA, oat

Oat

The common oat is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name . While oats are suitable for human consumption as oatmeal and rolled oats, one of the most common uses is as livestock feed...

 milk is the second most common plant milk in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, sold even in average supermarkets (in opposite to almond milk, which is very expensive, and only found in health food stores). There is also coconut milk, hazelnut milk and milk from peas and lupin.

See also

• Health food
  Health food
  The term health food is generally used to describe foods that are considered to be beneficial to health, beyond a normal healthy diet required for human nutrition. However, the term is not precisely defined by national regulatory agencies such as the U.S...
  
  
• Plant cream
  Plant cream
  Plant cream is a general term for any non-dairy cream analogue that is derived from a plant source. No formal or legal definition for plant cream exists in most countries...
  
  
• Wikibooks Cookbook category for Nut and Grain Milk recipes
• The China Study
  The China Study
  The China Study is a 2005 book by T. Colin Campbell and his son, Thomas M. Campbell II. It examines the relationship between the consumption of animal products and illnesses such as cancers of the breast, prostate, and large bowel, diabetes, coronary heart disease, obesity, autoimmune disease,...