Rice milk is made by streaming brown rice through a mill stream and filtering out the pressed grain. It is a high-carb alternative to cow's milk. Popular brands, such Rice Dream and The Bridge, have become preferred choices of nutrition for people who are lactose intolerant or have soy allergies.

Calories, Carbs and Proteins

Rice milk has about the same calorie count as that of 2% milk. With about 120 calories per cup, rice milk is the highest in calories of all milk alternatives. The majority of the calories come from carbohydrates. Because of the starchy nature of rice, one cup of rice milk has about 33 grams of carbs, nearly three times the amount in cow milk. Therefore, if you are a diabetic, drinking rice milk is probably not a good idea.

Rice milk is much lower in proteins compared to dairy milk. One cup of rice milk has only about 1 gram of protein. That's why drinking rice milk may be much less satisfying than if you drink regular milk.

Great Heart Nutrition

One of the advantages of drinking rice instead of cow's milk is that it is heart healthy. There are only 2 grams of fat per cup of rice milk, and what's better is that the rice milk fat has been proven to reduce your blood cholesterol. Homemade rice milk has only negligible amounts of calcium, but this deficit is not an issue if you buy fortified commercial brands. Fortified rice milk is also a great source of B vitamins, iron, magnesium and a variety of other minerals.