While you can eat them whole, soy beans are often used to make a variety of foods, including soy milk, tofu, soy flour and soy sauce. Rich in protein, calcium, iron and B-vitamins, soy foods can provide you with significant health benefits that stem beyond gaining your daily dose of essential nutrients. Soy beans and soy foods can help lower the risk of serious health problems, such as cancer and obesity.
Weight Loss
Soy contains ample source of fiber, a nutrient that makes you feel full and reduces your food cravings. This can have a weight loss effect, as reduced food cravings make you less likely to take in unnecessary calories. In addition, soy foods generally contain fewer calories and fat than alternative products, which allows for maintaining a healthy weight easier, says the Soy Bean web site. Thus, if you or your children want to nibble on a favorite snack, such as chocolate milk, chicken nuggets or pizza, try the soy alternatives of these items. Providing such alternatives to your children can help lower their risk of developing childhood obesity. For best results, try to consume around 25g of soy daily.
Relief From Menopausal Hot Flashes
Soy beans or soy products can also alleviate and prevent the hot flashes associated with menopause. This is due to the isoflavones found in soy beans. Isoflavones, a secondary vegetable substance, can act as estrogens in the body, though they are much less powerful than your body's estrogen hormones. They do this by way of attaching to the same receptors that estrogen hormones do. This increases the levels of estrogen in your body when the hormone level is low, which allows for relief of hot flashes associated with menopause. In fact, scientific research published in 2009 found that isoflavones in soy beans helped to reduce frequency and severity of hot flashes in menopausal women by 50 percent, says the Soy Connection site. Thus, soy and soy-based products are ideal for women who want to ease menopausal symptoms without hormonal treatments.
Lowered Risk of Prostate Cancer
The isoflavones in soy can also help to limit the risk of prostate cancer, the second most common cancer in men. Studies conducted in 2009 found that men who ate soy foods consistently reduced were 30 percent less likely to develop prostate cancer than those who did not, says the Soy Connection site. The isoflavones do this by promoting healthier prostate tissues, says the Soy Bean site.
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