Soy & Nutrition
It is important to monitor what we eat everyday so as to
know its contents and the benefits that we can get from them, hence, the saying
which goes "we is what we eat". Thanks to recent discoveries in the science world,
soybean is a good and better alternative for meat as a source of protein. Even
recent research has noted that soya and other plants of legume family is good
especially for women. Those whose diet has more of these food has proven to be heathier and less prone to receive cancer such as breast cancer and cervival
cancer.
As what has been stated earlier, the soybean or its scientific name Glycine
max is part of the pea family and is a legume -- plants that can take nitrogen
and convert it into protein.And that as far as your health is concerned, that's
as valuable as spinning straw into gold!
Cross-Cultural Comparisons
While people in Western cultures know soy as a superior source of plant
protein, soyfoods have never become the staple of Western diets that they were
in the East. But that could be changing.
Soy protein is now recognized as the only complete protein from a plant
source. That means soy protein contains all of the essential amino acids that
you must get from food. These amino acids are present in just the right balance
to meet your body's need for protein. More good news - soy protein is equal in
protein quality to animal proteins such as meat, milk, and egg proteins.
The second area of interest involves soy and the effect it could have on the
prevalence of several common chronic diseases. These include heart disease and
some specific cancers, among others.
Cardiovascular Disease
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) refers to diseases and conditions that affect
your heart and arteries, including heart attack, stroke and high blood pressure.
Although CVD is a major cause of death in the United States and most developed
countries, not all populations have the same degree of risk.1
Compare death rates from CVD in the United States and Japan, for example,
and you'll see startling differences. CVD death rates for both men and women are
more than twice as high in the United States than in Japan.
Cancer
Epidemiology also reveals significant differences between East and West in
death rates from certain cancers. Breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in
men are the most common cancers and second leading causes of cancer death in
Americans. Comparisons of death rates from these cancers in the United States
and Japan show that, here again, the Japanese have a clear health advantage.
Compared with the Japanese, death rates for breast cancer are more than 2,5
times higher in American women and death rates for prostate cancer are more than
three times higher in American men.2
Soy: The Healthy Differentiator
Researchers began looking for an explanation of the dramatically lower
death rates from CVD and certain cancers in Japan when compared with the United
States and many other Western countries.
Although there are many differences between East and West, a great deal of
interest focused on diet, and specifically soy protein consumption.
On average, Americans consume only 1-3 grams of soy protein a day. The
average soy protein intake in Asia, on the other hand, ranges from about 10
grams a day in China to 30-50 grams a day in Japan and Taiwan.3 As a rule,
Asians average consuming 20-50 times more soyfoods than Americans.
However, when Asians migrate to the West, their diets change over time. In
one survey, the soyfood intake of Chinese people living in China was 10 - 15
times higher than that of Chinese people in California and Hawaii.
Scientists have noted that the risk of many chronic diseases increases in
Asians who move to the West. For example, researchers compared the incidence of
breast cancer in Chinese-American and Japanese-American women born in Asia with
those born in the United States and with American-born Caucasian women.
They found that, compared with Caucasians, breast cancer risk was about 50%
lower in women born in Asia and 25% lower in American-born Asians.6 Other
researchers have noted that as Japanese men move from Japan to parts of the
world where prostate cancer is more common, their incidence increases.
This same trend holds true for heart disease. One study showed that heart
disease mortality was lowest in men living in Japan, intermediate in Japanese
men living in Hawaii, and highest in Japanese men living in California. These
findings support evidence that external factors, including dietary choices,
influence death rates from heart disease.
There's no direct evidence that the reduced intake of soyfoods in Japanese
people who migrate to the West plays a role in their increased risk of chronic
diseases. However, dietary changes in general-possibly including soyfood intake
in particular-most certainly play a part.
Disease & Prevention
Preventing Chronic Disease - the Soy Connection
In many countries, people are living longer than ever before. However, a
longer life span may also increase your chances of developing the chronic
diseases that can accompany aging.
Prevention is the key to improved health throughout your life. Diet is an
essential element in any program of disease prevention. As scientists work to
identify which foods and substances in foods may benefit health and prevent
disease, an increasing amount of research attention is focusing on soy protein.
Cardiovascular Disease
Considerable evidence supports a role for soy protein in reducing the risk
of cardiovascular disease, the number one killer of adults.
Bone Health
Good bone health throughout life helps prevent osteoporosis - a major cause
of disability in later years. Women especially has to pay a bit of attention
here. In women primarily the result of the reduction in oestrogen levels that
occurs during mentruation and also during natural and surgical menopause
resulting from wieght loss or from a toovigorous excercise. Research suggests
that consuming soy protein may help protect bones from becoming weak and brittle
as you age.
Cancer
Although heart disease kills more people, many individuals are more afraid of
cancer. Epidemiological (population) studies suggest that soy may have a role in
reducing the risk of certain cancers.
The Research Continues
Other potential health benefits of soy protein are currently under investigation.
These areas of research include soy protein and diabetes, weight management, and
kidney disease. In addition, studies of the antioxidant activities of the
bioactive molecules occurring naturally in soy protein cut across several disease
states.
Links:
http://www.vegsoc.org/info/soya.html
http://uk.protein.com/
|
