How Much Soy Should You Eat?*

Source: Posted Monday, May 30, 2005
Source: infoZine Staff

As part of soy-based diets, the natural substances called soy isoflavones, such as genistein, daidzein and glycitein, have been consumed for hundreds of years and are considered safe.

Washington, D.C. - American Institute for Cancer Research - infoZine - A recent review of the available evidence supports the safety of isoflavones when they're consumed in soy foods.

In fact, not only are they considered safe, eating isoflavones in soy foods like soymilk, tofu, tempeh and soy nuts might confer several health benefits, including reductions in the risk of heart disease, osteoporosis, menopausal symptoms and cancer. If you do not eat soy foods or take supplements, your diet is essentially devoid of isoflavones. But there are other qualities of soy foods that make them highly nutritious.

A Good Source of Protein

The soybean differs from other legumes in the high quality of its protein. When substituted for animal protein in the diet, soy protein - which is low in saturated fat - lowers a person's total and LDL (bad) cholesterol. The Food and Drug Administration allows food labels to claim that a lowfat diet with 25 grams of soy protein a day can lower blood cholesterol levels and the risk of heart disease.

Isoflavones may also contribute to the heart benefits that soy foods offer by directly acting on blood vessels. To obtain the benefits of soy foods, a well-known health expert recommends getting 50 to 75 milligrams of isoflavones a day by eating soy foods. This recommended amount of isoflavones can be reached, for example, with two to three cups of soymilk. Although some processed western-type soy foods, like soy burgers, often have reduced isoflavone content, others can approach the levels found in traditional Asian soyfoods.

The Added Benefit of Omega-3 Fats

Although many lowfat soy products are available, regular soyfoods are often higher in protein and isoflavones. Claims have been made that fermented soy foods, like miso, tempeh and natto, are superior to nonfermented ones because their isoflavones are more easily absorbed by the body. But recent research shows that this is not the case.

There is another benefit to eating soyfoods. Soybeans are one of the few plant foods, along with flaxseeds and walnuts, that provide substantial amounts of one kind of omega-3 fatty acids called alpha-linolenic acid, which may have heart benefits. However, the best thing about soyfoods is: There are now products to suit everyone's tastes and preferences.