Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Soy is good food
from Cincinnati Enquirer
The cookie and gravy binge is over, folks. It's time for fresh vegetables and tofu.
No groaning, now: Soy foods (tofu is just one food made from the beans) are among the current "it" foods of healthy eating. Whether you snack on very fashionable fresh edamame, or use the ever-more-clever soy products that mimic other foods, getting more soy into your diet is an essential building block of healthy eating.
Think about this:
Eating soy protein can lower cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart disease.
Women of menopausal age benefit from soy, as it seems to help alleviate hot flashes and other symptoms, as well as protect against osteoporosis and breast cancer.
Men should know there's good evidence that soy is helpful in preventing prostate cancer.
Soy researchers, including one at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, have found a link to soy preventing male pattern baldness.
If that doesn't convince you, what will?
But it doesn't mean you have to eat tofu. There are lots of "normal" foods you can make healthy by using soy products.
Amy Sigg Davis, chairwoman of the Ohio Soybean Council, grew up on a farm where Landen is now. Her father grew some of the first soybeans in Southwest Ohio, and she still grows soybeans on her land in Lebanon. She's also a home economist by training.
"About 15 years ago, I decided to introduce soy to my family," Davis says. "When I told them that, they acted like I was introducing mud pies. So I just began to substitute soy milk and soy cottage cheese and soy sour cream. I figured out how to use soy in scalloped potatoes and cheesecake. I'm just a plain cook, but I like the challenge of making things healthier by using soy products."
In fact, her advice is pretty simple: "If your recipe calls for something white and liquid, use soy milk. If it's white and squishy, use tofu."
Many soy products carry a health claim approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: "Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol that include 25 grams of soy protein a day may reduce the risk of heart disease. One serving of (whatever the food is) has (amount) grams of soy protein."
Twenty-five grams of soy protein is a lot.
"It is hard to do every day," says Connie Cahill, spokesperson for the Ohio Soybean Council. "I recommend starting with trying for maybe 10-15 grams. You can get that with one of the great energy bars based on soy. Or have a quarter-cup of soy nuts as your afternoon snack."
Even if you don't manage to get 25 grams in a day, using soy instead of other forms of protein will improve your overall diet.
