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When my sister recently announced the joy of carrying her first child, she received a lot of advice. One of the first and most frequent tips to be offered is to begin to drink more milk, a lot of milk. We have all heard the wonders of calcium rich, protein packed, bone-building cow's milk. As a vegan, I was instantly filled with a flurry of questions. Vegetarians, vegans, the lactose intolerant, and the health conscious alike have sought out soymilk as a wise and delicious alternative. I began to ponder whether soymilk could act as a replacement for cow's milk during pregnancy. Would the effects be similar? Would the benefits be the same? Are there any intrinsic dangers in making this substitution?

Today most soymilks found on the market are carefully enriched with vitamins and minerals lacking in the average vegetarian diet. Each soymilk will vary by brand and flavor, however many are now packed with vitamin B12, calcium, and a moderate amount of protein. The soymilk I ordinarily purchase contains 560mg of potassium. It also has 20% or more of the recommended intake of vitamin e, riboflavin, magnesium, manganese, and vitamin d. The fortified versions of soymilk and cow's milk both contain about 30% the daily value of calcium and 25% of the recommended intake of vitamin d.

In addition it has folate which is essential not only during pregnancy, but perhaps even more so in the months prior to conception. Neural tube defects to the brain or spinal cord can occur very early in pregnancy when sufficient folic acid, or folate, is unavailable. Most cow's milks do not contain folate and therefore I would consider this a rather remarkable advantage. Overall, I would consider soymilk a nutritious source of vitamins and minerals for any woman of childbearing age. In addition, to these nutritional benefits a recent study So far I am feeling rather positive about this substitution.

The most common area of concern regarding soymilk and pregnancy is the potential effects of soy on the body's hormones. Soymilk contains a substance called isoflavones. The two most readily available in soymilk are genistein and daidzein. Though typically safe in small amounts, genistein is capable of mimicking and occasionally blocking the estrogen hormone. However, from what I have read it does seem as though the majority of the studies, which involved adverse hormonal reactions to soy, involved the ingestions of rather large quantities. This is to say that in large quantities soy may have the

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