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How Soy Protein Benefits The Body

By Edna Booker


Those at the top end of sports and fitness are always looking for the latest dietary research and advice to utilize to improve their performance. They know that what we eat affects the body in all kinds of ways. Diet can be used for good general health but also to give optimum health and additional performance. Here we are looking at how soy protein benefits the body.

Meat has traditionally been thought of as the main way to get complete proteins into the body and athletes tend to eat a lot of it. However, in recent years there has been a trend away from this as meat also contains harmful elements, especially when it is produced on a large scale. Many are now looking to plants as an alternative and the legume family is now consumed in large quantities instead.

Soy contains all of these nine missing amino acids and is therefore called complete. There are only a few plants which are complete and so consumption has grown massively in recent years as vegetarians became aware of this. It is also high in other essential nutrients; fatty acids, micronutrients, fiber, calcium and B vitamins. At the same time it is low in fat and cholesterol and so is a great way to get lots of benefits without much harm.

Part of the switch to plant based protein has come about from looking at the diet of people in the far east. Japan has more people who live to be over one hundred years old than any other country. Not only do they live longer they are healthier and more active. Researchers have been looking at their dietary habits to understand the affect of the foods eaten there on health and have found some very interesting things.

Cholesterol has become a controversial issue in recent years. After decades of official dietary advice that everyone should try to lower it there is now growing evidence that too little can also be detrimental. Some of this controversy has come about due to misunderstanding as there are different types of cholesterol, ldl is thought to be the most dangerous. Soy contains phytosterols which help block absorption of it thus keeping overall levels in the body lower.

There are lots of ways to get this beneficial food into the diet. Soy products are widely available now. There are lots of processed foods which contain it such as meat substitutes, soy milk, tofu and vegan cheese. These should probably be consumed in moderation as they are highly processed and have been linked to food allergies and digestive issues.

This is because it contains relatively high levels of the amino acids arginine and glutamine. The first is a stimulant of anabolic hormones which cause muscle growth. Glutamine is great for bodies under stress and aids recovery of the muscle cells.

Eating soy is a great way to get protein without having to eat meat. It is complete and so contains all the amino acids needed by the body for proper function. In countries where the residents consume lots of it their health outcomes and life expectancy are much better than in the west. It can also be obtained as a supplement in powder form for those who need to build muscle mass.




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