A few reasons why you should eat more soy

Studies have shown the various health benefits of eating soy. Tofu is always a healthy alternative to fatty meats. Here's a simple guide to the impact soy can have on your cholesterol level:

Lowered cholesterol levels is just one of the benefits of soy, although recent research found the impact may be less important than previously thought.

• In Canada, food processors can claim that products containing at least six grams of soy protein per serving "provide X percent of the daily amount of soy protein shown to help reduce/lower cholesterol."
• Research shows, however, that soy's benefit to the cardiovascular system is modest, even when you consume a lot of the stuff.
• Scientists began to suspect that eating soy foods may protect the cardiovascular system in the 1970s. Once again, the inspiration came from the East, as studies showed that the soy-loving citizens of Japan and other Asian countries had fewer heart attacks and lower cholesterol levels than people in the West.
• Later, studies in which patients with high cholesterol ate diets high in soy protein showed impressive improvements. Some subjects lowered their low-density lipoprotein or LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels by 20 to 30 percent.

In many of these studies, however, subjects were given diets that not only included soy foods but were also low in saturated fat and cholesterol.

• In many cases, study volunteers lost weight.
• These other factors make it difficult to sort out what actually produced the improved blood cholesterol levels.

When all other influences are considered, it appears that soy's actual impact on cholesterol is rather small.

• Recently a panel of experts looked at 22 different studies and determined that consuming 50 grams of soy protein with isoflavones every day lowers LDL cholesterol by about three percent, on average.
• If that doesn't sound like much, then this news will be really hard to swallow:  to get 50 grams of soy protein, you need to eat up to 750 grams (1 1/2 pounds) of tofu or drink 1.75 to 2 litres (seven or eight cups) of soy milk.
• Yet the panel still believes that anyone will benefit from eating more soy. When you swap a T-bone steak for a tofu burger, after all, you avoid lots of saturated fat and cholesterol.

Although the benefits of soy are modest, it has virtually no downside. Rather than eating other foods full of fat and cholesterol, soy foods are solely beneficial to your cardiovascular health. Regardless of the small benefits, swapping out fatty foods for soy is always a healthy choice.