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Why Including Soy Protein in Your Diet is Beneficial To Women

May 3rd, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Women generally know about the benefits to their bone mass of drinking milk and eating foods rich in calcium, but adding soy protein to your diet will also help to keep you healthy and strong.
50mg of soy protein a day is the ideal amount - too much can actually cause problems. While there are supplements available, the best way to get this and any nutrient is through a proper diet. Studies suggest that sources such as tofu are better for you than products like soy milk. So what are the health benefits of introducing tofu as a regular part of your diet?

Bone Health
Loss of bone mass is a serious issue for woman in menopause and perimenopause. If your normal bone mass is not maintained, you’re much more likely to develop osteoporosis. You’ll also most likely to suffer broken bones, which can be devastating to older women. Soy protein contains calcium, along with magnesium and boron, All of these are essential in keeping your bones strong and healthy. In addition to providing these building blocks for your bones, certain chemicals in soy, called isoflavones, may help prevent your bones from breaking down. Getting enough soy everyday is a great way to keep yourself strong.

Hot Flushes
These are a common symptom in women going through perimenopause. Women who suffer from mild to moderate hot flushes can usually decrease their symptoms by getting larger amounts of soy protein. Soy contains phytoestrogens, or plant oestrogens, that can mimic human oestrogen, relieving these symptoms. Many women have experienced good results using soy protein instead of oestrogen replacement therapy.

Heart Health
We all know that high cholesterol is a high risk factor in developing heart disease. While heart disease used to be considered a man’s disease, it is now much more common in women. Deaths in women from heart disease have increased rapidly. Soy protein can help in the fight to have a healthy heart. It has been shown to lower “bad” cholesterol levels. Eating enough soy protein now can not only help you if you already have a heart problem, it can also help prevent one developing.

Cancer Prevention
While the previously mentioned benefits mainly deal with older women, soy can be a great benefit to younger women as well. It is suggested that the phytoestrogens in soy can help prevent breast cancer in younger women by preventing high levels of oestrogen from reaching hormone receptors. While current studies are inconclusive, they are still promising.

Improved Immune system
In addition to all these benefits for women, we also know that soy can improve immune system functions in both men and women. making you less likely to get sick and improving recovery times.

Why not use tofu in a meal at least once a week and reap the benefits of adding soy protein to your diet.

Tips For Cooking With Tofu

March 15th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Many people today are trying to take more control over their health. This usually involves more exercise, watching your weight and eating healthily. Some people make the decision that a healthy diet is one without meat at all, others don’t want to eliminate meat entirely but would like to reduce their intake. Putting this into practice, however, especially in a family, can be quite difficult and many can’t keep up their good intentions over a long period. This is where tofu comes in!
Cooking with tofu enables vegetarians to cook non-vegetarian recipes without compromising on taste, looks or nutritional content. Many of the meat and dairy ingredients can be substitited with tofu, resulting in delicious and interesting meals which all the family will enjoy.
However, there are challenges to cooking with tofu. You will be disappointed if you just substitute the meat in a recipe with the tofu. The finished dish will not have the same taste or consistency. Remember that meat gives its flavour to the dish whilst tofu absorbs the flavours from other ingredients so it is important to add other flavourings and herbs which aren’t required in the original recipe.
A good way of achieving this is by marinading the tofu for a few hours before cooking (after having removed any water in the tofu to make it more absorbent)
With practise, it is also possible to give the tofu the same texture as the meat you are trying to replace. This involves refridgerating or freezing slices of tofu before cooking. Tofu can be made to feel like beef, chicken or even fish.
One very important tip is to make the addition of tofu into your diet slowly, particularly if you have young children or elderly relatives in your family. Soybean is said to contain 16 different allergens. Tofu is made from soybeans. Soy allergies have been increasing lately due to the use of soy infant formula. Reactions can range from couging, sneezing, runny nose, hives, diarrhea to difficulty in swallowing and anaphylatic shock. Take care of the tolerance levels of the very young and the elderly.

How To Store Tofu

March 15th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

A wide variety of tofus can be bought in health food stores, Asian markets and most supermarkets. The firmness depends on how much whey has been extracted. Generally, the harder types are great for substituting for meat, whilst the softer varieties are best for deserts.
Whichever tofu you buy, though, it needs to be stored properly.

What are the best ways to store tofu?
Place the tofu in an airtight container and cover with clean cold water. Then keep in the fridge, changing the water every other day at the minimum, or even better every day.
Don’t keep opened tofu for longer than a week. The taste deteriorates. 

Tofu, Spinach And Noodle Soup - Quick and Easy Recipe

March 13th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

This recipe is quick to make but tastes delicious and is quite filling. The ginger and lemongrass make the soup full of flavour.

Ingredients to make enough soup for two ;
200g dried egg noodles
500ml hot vegetable stock
150g tofu cut into cubes
2 chopped red birds eye chillis
2 tablespoons low-salt soy sauce
50g chopped fresh root ginger
4cm of fresh lemongrass with the stalk removed and the inside chopped very finely
6 medium sized flat mushrooms,sliced
juice of 2limes
4 tablespoons sesame oil
4 large handfuls of well-washed spinach

garnish; 4 tablespoons chopped coriander

Bring the vegetable stock to the boil in a saucepan.
Add the noodles and cook for two minutes.
Add the tofu chunks,soy sauce, chilli,ginger,lemongrass,mushrooms, lime juice and sesame oil.
Cook for four minutes.
Add the whole spinach leaves and simmer for another 30 seconds.
Transfer to two serving bowls and garnish with the coriander.

Improve your Health By Eating Tofu

March 13th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

How do you improve your health by eating tofu?
Tofu is an important ingredient in many vegetarian and vegan kitchens because it is rich in high quality protein. Containing an abundance of essential amino acids, it is a good protein source for those who do not eat any animal proteins. Tofu also is a good source of calcium and some iron. The body absorbs iron more readily from red meat than from tofu, but for vegetarians and vegans, tofu is a reasonable alternative source of iron.
Tofu can also be a very useful ingredient in the diets of people with high blood pressure. It is low in saturated fat, containing about 5%. There is no cholesterol and only very  , making it ideal for those on low salt diets.

Tofu obviously deserves a place in the kitchens of all those trying to eat healthily as well as those following the vegetarian way of life. But it does have a drawback - it can be quite bland and rubbery! This can be remedied with some creative use of flavourings such as garlic, ginger, chilli, lemon-grass and fresh herbs.Tofu acts like a sponge, soaking up all the added flavours resulting in a healthy dish which is also delicious.
Give tofu a try.You could start with tofu, spinach and noodle soup in the recipes category, 

What Is Tofu and Why Is It So Popular With Vegetarians?

January 11th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Healthy eating is constantly in the news, adverts and magazines. We are being warned to watch our diets, especially in the western world where we eat far too much meat. Our cholesterol levels are soaring. Heart attacks, strokes, obesity and diabetes are on the increase. Add to this  the “mad cow disease” scare and worries of damaging hormone levels in animals bred for meat and it is no surprise that many people are choosing a vegetarian diet or at least trying to decrease the amount of meat in their diet.

So is there a good replacement for meat?

You have probably heard about tofu from vegan or health conscious friends and may have wondered what it is like. Tofu is often called the meat of the vegans because it is full of protein and other nutrients that may be missing from a meat-free or low meat diet.
Normally, the standard size of 8 oz tofu has about;
  465mg calcium,
  36g protein,
  330 calories
  20g fat.
As you can see, it provides a very good source of nutrients but it can be an acquired taste. However, it is worth perservering.

What is Tofu?

Tofu is simply processed soybean. There are two main types - (i) silken tofu and (ii) normal tofu. 
The process of making tofu is very similar to the manufacture of cheese. Soymilk is extracted from the soybeans and then curdled. The curds are then pressed to remove the water resulting in tofu.

 Hard Or Soft Tofu - Which Is Best For Cooking?

 The harder version is better for most cooking because it has less water content and is easy to cut, mix and fry while the silken tofu would crumble if handled too much. The soft tofu is  useful for soups, desserts etc where its softness is an advantage.

When cooking with the hard type, you should always try to remove as much water from it as possible. The more water removed the more absorbent it will become and hence, more tastier when cooked in any gravyor sauce.  

Some tofu is excellent for hard fry, some for blending and yet some strictly for desserts. This is why you will need some time to orient yourself and learn the properties of the varieties available. Each brand may have a different type and texture and so it is a good idea to research a little and try different brands before settling down to one  particular one.

The research will help you identify which brand is good for the different types of food. Once you have done this, it will be extremely easy to cook this unusual, yet highly healthy food.
 

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