What Are the Benefits of Soybeans?

Popular in Asian cooking and health foods, soybeans offer protection against heart disease and bone loss while providing essential fiber, protein, healthy fats and other nutrients. This article provides an overview of each of these benefits. Does this Spark an idea?

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Protection Against Heart Disease
- Soybeans can reduce LDL or "bad" cholesterol levels as well as the stickiness of platelets in the blood stream. They may also promote the production of HDL or "good" cholesterol. Because of these and other qualities, soybeans may reduce the risk of heart disease.
Protection Against Bone Loss
- Two meta-analyses, one published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition and the other in Clinical Nutrition, found that soybeans protect against bone loss in menopausal women. These meta-analyses found that consuming as little as 90 mg of soy isoflavones per day can have noticeable benefits.
Fiber
- Soybeans provide two sources of fiber: soluble and insoluble. The soluble fiber in soybeans helps to regulate blood sugar levels and lower bad cholesterol. In the stomach and intestines, insoluble fiber forms a thick gel, which causes feelings of fullness and consequently promotes weight loss. Because it slows down the digestive process, soluble fiber increases the absorption of nutrients into the blood stream.
  
  Insoluble fiber helps to cleanse the innards of digestive waste. It may aid in the prevention of colon cancer and alleviate a number of digestive disorders such as constipation, diverticulitis and irritable bowel syndrome.
Protein
- Soybeans are rich in protein. Their protein content exceeds that of other legumes and even some animal products. The quality of soybean protein is also very high, comparable to proteins found in milk or meat. Unlike other protein sources, however, soybeans are cholesterol free and contain only sparse amounts of saturated fat.
  
  Soybeans also contain all eight essential amino acids, the building blocks of proteins.
Healthy Fats
- Soybeans contain healthy polyunsaturated fats such as linoleic and linolenic. Linoleic and linolenic are essential fatty acids that help the body absorb nutrients. They allow for the production of certain hormones that regulate muscle contraction and cell growth.
  
  Unlike saturated fats, polyunsaturated fats do not raise cholesterol levels---on the contrary, they actually lower them---or thicken artery walls.
Other Nutrients
- Soybeans are chockablock with other nutrients, especially vitamins: soybeans contain vitamin C, vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, and B6, as well as trace amounts of B12 and E. Soybeans also provide minerals, including calcium, magnesium, potassium, and zinc, and a number of protective phytochemicals.

Soya.be: Nutritional Values of Soybeans

Photo Credit http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/CDC_edamame.jpg

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