AHA Recommends Soy Daily
N E W O R L E A N S, Nov. 13, 2000 -- It’s official. TheAmerican Heart Association wants you to eat soy.
The recommendation adds soy to the growing list of foods,such as orange juice, bananas, leafy green vegetables andoatmeal, that most people should try to eat every day.
Heart disease is the single biggest killer in the UnitedStates and many industrialized countries.
John Erdman, a professor of food science and humannutrition at the University of Illinois in Urbana, said peoplewho eat soy cut at least some unhealthy meat from their diets— but also add some goodies.
He noted many studies have shown that Asians, who have ahigh intake of soy and a low intake of meat and dairy, haveabout half the rates of cardiovascular disease as do Europeansand Americans.
Studies have also suggested that substituting soy foranimal protein can reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL), theso-called bad cholesterol, lower triglycerides, another measureof blood fat, and raise the good “HDL” that carries fat out ofthe bloodstream.
A recent study published in the American Journal ofClinical Nutrition showed that eating 20 grams of soy a day canreduce levels of cholesterol in as little as nine weeks.
Making the Health Claim
The greatest effects are seen in people with high bloodcholesterol, and Erdman said there is little risk that peoplewith lower cholesterol can push it too low by eating soy.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now allowsmakers of food products that are low in fat and that contain atleast 6.25 grams of soy to put a health claim on the label.
“We encourage people to use soy that is natural,” Erdmansaid — as opposed to taking capsules that claim to contain soyprotein. He said complete soy seems to have a variety ofingredients that act together to lower cholesterol.
He urged the food industry to develop more tasty foods thatinclude soy, although he added that many had come on the marketin recent years. “Many Americans do not appreciate the beantaste of soy,” he said. “Taste rules. People do not buy thingstwice unless they taste good.”
But he noted that Americans are turning to soy in greaternumbers, with sales of soy products up 45 percent in recentyears in mainstream supermarkets — not health food stores.
Easy ways to get soy into the diet include using soy milk,which contains about 6 to 8 grams in an 8-ounce serving.
Bit of a Nutty Taste
“Soymilk has a bit of a nutty taste,” Erdman said. “Soymilkis very, very nice in cereal.”
Three ounces of tofu — which is winning favor inrestaurants and on supermarket shelves — has 8 to 10 grams ofsoy protein per serving, Erdman said. Soy burgers can containanywhere between 10 and 18 grams each.
Soy flour, usually de-fatted, is also a good source.
Erdman said the studies show the earlier one starts, thebetter, so the American Heart Association recommends encouragingchildren to eat soy.
Compounds in soy that may help make it healthy includephytic acid, saponins, which may help the body excrete morebile and cholesterol with it, and the amino acid arginine,Erdman said.