How Soy Protein Benefits The Body

By Edna Booker


Those at the top end of sports and fitness are always looking for the latest dietary research and advice to utilize to improve their performance. They know that what we eat affects the body in all kinds of ways. Diet can be used for good general health but also to give optimum health and additional performance. Here we are looking at how soy protein benefits the body.

Meat has traditionally been thought of as the main way to get complete proteins into the body and athletes tend to eat a lot of it. However, in recent years there has been a trend away from this as meat also contains harmful elements, especially when it is produced on a large scale. Many are now looking to plants as an alternative and the legume family is now consumed in large quantities instead.

Soy is a legume. This whole family of plants is nutritious and people should eat plenty of them. Legumes are high in proteins, micronutrients, B vitamins, fiber and omega fatty acids. They are also low in fat and cholesterol and so are a great way to get lots of nutrients without the bad stuff.

Western scientists have been interested in the dietary habits of Asian people for many years as they have such excellent health. In the far east people live longer, more active lives with lower levels of disease. This has long been thought due to their lower consumption of meat and higher intake of soy and vegetables.

Cholesterol has become a controversial issue in recent years. After decades of official dietary advice that everyone should try to lower it there is now growing evidence that too little can also be detrimental. Some of this controversy has come about due to misunderstanding as there are different types of cholesterol, ldl is thought to be the most dangerous. Soy contains phytosterols which help block absorption of it thus keeping overall levels in the body lower.

Soy powders are used by more and more body builders and sports people to aid in recovery after a workout. It was maligned for many years as research suggested that maybe soy lowered testosterone levels but this has now been shown to be negligible. The benefits outweigh the negatives. Soy is really the only plant with complete proteins and so can be used to build muscle mass.

This is because it contains relatively high levels of the amino acids arginine and glutamine. The first is a stimulant of anabolic hormones which cause muscle growth. Glutamine is great for bodies under stress and aids recovery of the muscle cells.

There are lots of ways to get soy proteins into the body. Drinking shakes after a workout is a great way to help the body recover and build mass. It is also easy to incorporate into the diet. Fermented soy foods are really great for the body as they contain probiotics in addition to the nutrients we have mentioned. These probiotics help with maintenance of the digestive system and absorption of nutrients so that the body gets the benefit of everything consumed.




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