Eastern cultures have known the benefits of soy for thousands of years, and since 1999, western cultures have as well. In 1999, after exhaustive research, the FDA concluded that eating 25 grams of soy protein daily lowers cholesterol, prevents heart disease and decreases the risks of many cancers. Soy has become well known as a "power food" due to its antioxidants and immune boosting amino acids, and further studies show that there are many more benefits to eating or drinking soy products on a daily basis. The improvement of emotional health is one of those benefits.
Depression
When a person's neurotransmitters (which release chemicals to send information between cells in the nervous system) aren't functioning properly due to depletion he may feel depressed. Depletion of these chemicals can occur for numerous reasons including age, lack of sleep, toxins, hormonal imbalances, stress and genetic predisposition. Soy can be eaten in order to feed the neurotransmitters and encourage the body to begin to make its own neurotransmitters. Your body needs choline to make acetylcholine (an important neurotrasmitter), and choline is only found in egg yolks and soy products or through lecithin, which is made from yolks or soy. The most efficient way to get choline is through eating egg yolks, though lecithin granules can be easily added to food as well.
Tryptophan is made into serotonin which is another neurotransmitter that is crucial to good mental health. It reduces anxiety, induces sleep and contributes to an overall sense of well-being. Soy nuts have high levels of soy protein with 525 mg of soy protein per 3.5-oz. serving.
Menopause
As a result of decreased estrogen levels, menopausal symptoms include hot flashes, night sweats, head and body aches, mood swings, insomnia and irritability. The combination of the physical symptoms of menopause leave many menopausal women feeling emotional ravaged. Women who don't want to take hormone replacement therapy can use soy as an alternative. Soy contains isoflavones, which attach to estrogen receptors and help lessen the effects of estrogen levels that are too high or too low. For this reason soy may also help alleviate PMS symptoms. Over 1,700 scientific publications discuss the health benefits of isoflavones, and the recommended amount per day to provide relief from moderate symptoms is 40 to 80 mg.
Memory
One of the most harrowing emotional experiences for a person can be when they realize they are losing their memory and that they may be headed toward dementia or Alzheimer's disease. One of the essential fatty acids, phosphatidylserine (PS), is crucial to keeping neurons functioning. Elizabeth Somer, author of "Food & Mood," explains that PS can be responsible for "generating new connections between cells, and stirring activity in all brain centers, especially higher brain centers." PS, like most of the essential fatty acids, affects much of the body's ability to function at a high level, but PS's ability to increase communication between cells, restore memory and actually take years off an aging brain makes it a number one choice for improving memory and preventing Alzheimer's and dementia. The body likely needs at minimum 60 grams of PS per day while the typical Western diet contains approximately 130 mg. PS has traditional been derived from bovine brain matter, but because of the possibility of disease from the source, soy is now the most popular method of distillation for creating a product that is safe for human consumption.
