{"id":27200,"date":"2026-08-21T09:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T13:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=27200"},"modified":"2026-07-29T13:27:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T17:27:03","slug":"soy-protein-based-baby-formula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2026\/08\/21\/soy-protein-based-baby-formula\/","title":{"rendered":"Soy Protein-based Baby Formula"},"content":{"rendered":"
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istockphoto<\/p><\/div>\n

by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD<\/p>\n

When a baby in a vegan household can\u2019t be breastfed or needs a supplement to breast milk, a commercial soy protein-based infant formula should be used. Homemade formulas or plant milks are not nutritionally adequate for babies and should not be used.<\/p>\n

Some may wonder how babies given commercial soy protein-based formulas fare.<\/p>\n

A recently published study (1) examined long-term outcomes of children and teens who had been given soy protein-based formula as infants compared to those given cows milk baby formula or breast milk. It\u2019s not obvious if any of the breastfed or soy formula-fed infants were from vegan families.<\/p>\n

What is the study? <\/strong><\/p>\n

This study was conducted in Arkansas where 600 infants were enrolled in the study when they were between 1 and 2 months old. A third of the infants were being breastfed, a third were being given soy protein-based formula, and a third were being given cow milk-based formula. The babies were studied until they were 6 years old. Almost 200 of the original participants agreed to participate in a follow-up study when they were 14-years old. Study participants\u2019 growth and development, body composition, bone health, and reproductive system health were examined (1).<\/p>\n

What did this study find?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A main finding of this study was that children and teens who received soy formula or cow milk-based formula as infants were not markedly different in terms of growth and development, bone health, and reproductive system health. Children who were breastfed as infants had a lower BMI than formula fed children. Adolescents who were breastfed as infants had a lower waist circumference than did those who were fed cow milk formula (1).<\/p>\n

The results of this study suggest that no adverse effects of soy formula were seen in terms of growth, development, bone health, or reproductive health (1).<\/p>\n

Reference:<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. da Cruz LL, Shlisky J, Bellando BJ, et al. Longitudinal evaluation from birth to adolescence of soy protein-based infant formula compared with cow milk-based formula and breastfeeding: A comprehensive summary of findings. Adv Nutr<\/em>. 2026;17:100669.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    For more information about infant formula and about feeding vegan babies see:<\/p>\n

    Feeding Vegan Kids<\/a><\/p>\n

    Homemade Baby Formula is Not Recommended<\/a><\/p>\n

    FDA Provides Updated Information on Infant Formula <\/a><\/p>\n

    The contents of this website and our other publications, including Vegetarian Journal and Vegan Journal, are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD When a baby in a vegan household can\u2019t be breastfed or needs a supplement to breast milk, a commercial soy protein-based infant formula should be used. Homemade formulas or plant milks are not nutritionally adequate for babies and should not be used. Some may wonder how babies given commercial soy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27200"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27202,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27200\/revisions\/27202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}