Soy Benefits

Soy offers a host of health benefits and processing advantages

Not many legumes offer as many health benefits as the soybean. This high protein, lower carbohydrate natural dietary replacement for animal protein can help reduce childhood obesity, promote weight loss and diabetes management, battle heart disease, lower cholesterol and provide heart-healthy fatty acids, reduce blood pressure, promote stronger bones and reduce menopausal symptoms, lower the risk of breast, prostate and colon cancer.

Encouraging children with healthy nutrition habits should include starting them on a diet that includes soy foods. Parents can fight childhood obesity with soy, which provide important vitamins, minerals, fiber and protein. In our weight conscious world, soy offers satisfying fibers that reduce hunger cravings. Soy may also contain fewer calories, making weight loss more attainable. It has a lower glycemic index, which helps blood sugar levels remain more stable, resulting in easier diabetes control.

Heart health is on everyone's mind, as cardiac disease is the number one killer of American men and women. Some positive heart effects from soy include lowering harmful LDL levels of cholesterol and offering essential omega-3 fatty acids. Many middle-aged and elderly women have lowered both systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels by consuming soy.

Soy has been proven to reduce menopausal hot flashes as well as helping protect bones from becoming weak and brittle. Teenagers who eat soy could be protected from breast cancer later in life. Soy isoflavones, rich in antioxidant compounds such as phytochemicals, have been linked to reducing the risk of breast, colon, and prostate cancer.

Although soy is by no means a cure-all, it is quickly becoming known as a health protector, thanks to studies showing the improvements of many ailments and additional benefits it provides.

Soy ingredients offer processing advantages, too

While soy ingredients significantly enhance the nutritional profile and marketability of foods, they also provide benefits on the formulation and processing side. Easy to handle and store, with long shelf life at room temperature, soy ingredients can also function to:

• Control texture
• Enhance moisture retention
• Reduce total ingredient costs
• Provide a clean, consumer-preferred label