Written by Alix Devine, Purple Trumpet Marketing
April is National Soy Foods Month. There are many ways to incorporate soy into your diet. Some traditional soy foods include soymilk, soy nuts, edamame and even soy protein powder.
Soy protein is used in baked goods such as cookies, bread and crackers. It helps improve texture, helps hold moisture, reduces crumbling, and enhances nutrition. Soy is also used in breakfast foods, such as hot cereal and breakfast bars. To improve nutritional value, it is also used in pasta.
There are many health benefits to having soy in your diet. It helps reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering blood cholesterol and increasing flexibility of blood vessels. The FDA stated “25 grams of soy protein in a daily diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol can help reduce total and LDL cholesterol that is moderately high to high”.
Soy has all the amino acids that one’s body needs to make protein. Some good sources of calcium are soy milk, tofu and soybeans. Soy is also a good source of fiber, potassium, magnesium copper and manganese, omega 3, omega 6, b vitamins, fatty acids and polyunsaturated fat. Soy beans are being studied for relieving menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, maintaining healthy bones and helping prevent prostate, breast and colorectal cancers.
Soy protein also comes in powdered form called soy protein isolates. It is a dry powder that has been separated from other parts of the soy bean. It is made by de-fatted soy bean flakes that have been washed with either alcohol or water, which removes most of the sugars and dietary fibers. It contains all the essential amino acids and high protein for growth. After this process, 90 – 95% of the isolate is protein and almost carb free. Soy protein isolates have no cholesterol and little to no saturated fat.
Now that you know more but soy, would you consider adding more of it to your diet? If so here are some recipes to get you started.