WHY YOU SHOULD INCREASE YOUR SOY INTAKE IN 2020

February 02, 2020

WHY YOU SHOULD INCREASE YOUR SOYA BEAN INTAKE IN 2020

Hi everyone, my name is Manny and welcome back to another moment of musing but this time is going to educate you. Yes! You probably know about this, but I discovered that a lot of people don’t know about this important topic or rather, they choose to ignore it. I say we increase our level of interest and knowledge about things we formerly ignored.

Today, we’re going to be discussing your increase of interest in this very important topic of your health. An by that I mean soya bean which actually helps your health. So, if you would put on your nerdy glasses, grab a non-fizzy drink because we're trying to be healthy, crack your knuckles and get ready to be aware of why I want you all to increase your soy intake in 2020.

First off, some people might want to ask, what is soya beans, Manny? Ridiculous question, I know… It's an awesome question actually. Sadly, some people do not know what it is, or they don’t realize that they know it.

Soya beans is a legume, it is a bean of light creamy colour, very smooth, you’ve definitely seen it. Here’s a picture to help you remember it fully. If you are in Nigeria, you have probably seen it more than a few times when picking your beans before cooking.

Right, soya beans is actually very good for our health and I’m going to explain how below;

The first thing you want to know about soya bean is that it is good for all age groups and basically has so many health benefits. I mean the health effects of soy has been vigorously researched for over 25 years and apparently, over 2000 articles on it are getting published every year. Wow! A lot of people are getting educated.

Soya beans also known as soy, can be prepared into various forms like the soy flour or powder, soy oil, soy milk, engine lubricant (interesting…), eco-friendly fuel, supplements and so on. Although, we should be aware of the form that is most beneficial to us.

Soy -as I’d begin to call it in this post to sound fancy- is as I earlier mentioned, a legume from Asian origin and I’d have you know, people who eat it outside Nigeria (as I feel we have little to no vegetarians in Nigeria) do so to replace meat. Soy produces at least twice the protein of any major vegetable and can therefore be used to replace meats for vegetarians.

Soy is high in fibre, high in protein, low in saturated fats, it does have its percentage of carbohydrates. It’s a rich source of various vitamins and minerals and helpful plant compounds like "Isoflavones" which would help in reducing the symptoms of menopause and risk of prostrate and breast cancer.

· If you’re wondering why I keep emphasizing the amount of protein in soy, it’s because that’s what they make Tofu from which is soy milk curd taken by vegetarians. The Protein Digestability Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS) of soy protein is the nutritional equivalent of meat, eggs and so on.

It is rich in vitamin D, F, A, B12 and so many other nutrients.The phytochemicals in soy prevents blood clotting from taking place, and it helps in protecting the heart against oxidization.

If you have gout though, you might want to reduce your soy intake as it has significant amounts of purines (a class of organic compounds) which can make your condition worse. If you discover you have allergic reactions to soy, go see your doctor.

Soy is good for babies and children. The amount of calcium in soy milk is equivalent to the calcium in cow milk. It saves calories, it blends so well with other ingredients that your children might not even notice you changed something in their diet. You just have to make it fun for them.

And the best part? It’s cost effective which made me wonder why people are seemingly not aware of it. There was a time I walked round the market and found only two places to get soy powder, it was funny. It actually wasn’t.

Now that we’re sufficiently educated on the very important subject of soy beans… you can contribute to conversations and maybe when you see soy beans being sold on the street, you can remember the pretty picture you saw on Manny’s blog and buy it, just so you can look at it.

You can share this post on your social media platforms, like it and please comment down below because I would like to know what you thought of it and what you feel should be discussed on my blog. See you next time on MATOE!