Coconut Milk vs Soy: Which Is Less Inflammatory?
Coconut Milk
Soy
Soy is less inflammatory than coconut milk, and the distance between them is short. Both replace dairy without lactose and without milk protein, which is the part most people react to.
Soy comes out ahead on what it puts back. It carries complete protein and fibre, where canned coconut milk is mostly fat, with about three times the saturated fat of a spoon of butter in half a cup. Coconut milk still earns its place in the kitchen, and it is the one plant milk allowed from day one on the autoimmune protocol, a strict elimination diet. Drink the soy, cook with the coconut milk, and check the can for carrageenan, a seaweed gum that can bother an already sore gut.
Side by side
| Coconut Milk | Soy | |
|---|---|---|
| Inflammation Score | Medium · 4/10 | Low · 3/10 |
| Category | Beverages | Legumes |
| Serving size | 1/2 cup (120 ml) canned, full fat | 1/2 cup cooked soybeans (90 g) |
| Key nutrients | Lauric acid, Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), Manganese, Carrageenan (in some brands) | Isoflavones (genistein), Complete plant protein, Fibre, Linoleic acid (soybean oil) |
| How often | — | Most days, as edamame, tofu, tempeh or miso |
On the AIP diet
Coconut Milk
Coconut milk is allowed during the elimination phase of AIP, and it is the plant milk the protocol leans on. Nothing in it comes from dairy, grains, nuts or seeds. The catch is the can: guar gum and carrageenan are both off the list, so check the label. Full fat coconut milk with two ingredients, coconut and water, is the one that fits.
Soy
Soy is not allowed during the elimination phase of the Autoimmune Protocol. Every legume goes in that phase, and soy takes the most with it: beans, tofu, tempeh, miso, soy milk and soy sauce all leave at once. It also comes back late in the reintroduction, if at all. Coconut aminos stand in for soy sauce, and the protein comes from meat and fish.
What each one brings
Coconut Milk
- No lactose, no milk protein and no grain, so it suits almost every elimination diet
- Nudges bad cholesterol down, which coconut oil on its own does not
- Most of its fat is the medium-chain kind, which the liver burns quickly
- A can with two ingredients is one of the least processed milks you can buy
Soy
- Protein as complete as meat, with no cholesterol and little saturated fat
- Fibre that stays with the protein in whole soy and feeds the gut bacteria
- Isoflavones, plant compounds that behave more like antioxidants than hormones
- Tempeh and miso are fermented, so part of the bean is broken down already
Watch out for
Coconut Milk
- Half a cup canned carries about three times the saturated fat of a spoon of butter
- Some brands add carrageenan, a seaweed gum that can irritate an already sore gut
- Carton versions are mostly water, with almost no protein to replace milk
- Sweetened drinking versions hide sugar behind a health food label
Soy
- Most soy eaten today arrives as oil or powder inside packaged food
- Soybean oil is the fat behind a lot of fried food
- Soy sauce brings plenty of salt and little of the bean
- A common allergy, so it is always named on the label
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