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Soybean, Soymilk and
Health
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by Dr. Minyang Wang
I highly recommend diet therapy, believing that good eating habits not
only are essential for good health but also help treating some chronic
diseases. Sometimes when I was not feeling well, I would adjust my diet or
drink some tea. Unless absolutely necessary, I would not take medications.
Through the years, many health conditions of mine such as constipation,
joint pain, high cholesterol, heel pain, and ischemic heart disease have
been improved as a result from my practice of diet therapy. I will get
into details in the future. Today I would like to talk about soymilk. I
drink soymilk every morning. As a matter of fact, I used to drink regular
milk. But as getting older, I begin to get the stomach gas problem after
drinking milk, which is a symptom of lactase deficiency. Thus I have to
buy lactose-free milk, which is more expensive than regular milk. It makes
me feel that I just pay more and get less. Therefore, I switch to soymilk,
a traditional Chinese healthy drink. I have done some extensive research
to make sure that soymilk can replace regular cow’s milk in terms of
nutritional values. I would like to share this information with you and
recommend soymilk, which is economic and also nutritious, to those who are
lactose intolerant. Soymilk is rich in soy protein and it can lower blood
cholesterol level. According to a study conducted in the US, soymilk is
higher in protein than regular milk. A 30-50 grams per day of soy protein
can considerably lower total cholesterol, undesirable low-density
lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides while not affecting the
beneficial high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Soymilk contains plant
estrogens that may provide an alternative to estrogen replacement therapy.
As women reach their 50s, the decline of ovarian function and estrogen
production can cause osteoporosis and high risk of experiencing a
fracture. Low estrogen level is associated with atherosclerosis and
coronary heart disease. In recent years, it is often suggested by doctors
that women in their 50s, especially those with menopause syndrome take
estrogen because of low estrogen production. This is called estrogen
replacement therapy. But there are some side effects, among which,
increased risk of cancer is most concerned about. This is the reason why
plant estrogens start to attract more attention in the medical society.
Studies show that plant estrogens (isoflavones) can be extracted from soy
beans. There are evidence suggesting that isoflavones can improve
conditions such as hot flashes, sweating and anxiety, associated with
menopause syndrome. They may also help fighting osteoporosis and lowering
cholesterol level.
Home-made Soy-banana drink
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I was not
aware of the existence of plant estrogens before I took estrogen.
Initially I was hesitant when my doctor suggested me to take estrogen. But
my doctor thought that because I did not have a family history of cancer,
the estrogen replacement therapy should do more good than harm. So I
started to take estrogen. Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with breast
cancer five years later. There was no way that I could go back to make a
different choice. But I hope my life experience will provide some helpful
information to you. Soybean products are considered as both food and
medications. They are nearly fat free and rich in nicotinic acid.
Nicotinic acid may be used to prevent oral ulcers. It also helps to treat
skin diseases, Alzheimer’s disease and depression. It is believed in
traditional Chinese medicine that eating soybean products helps people
produce saliva to quench thirsty, and also calm the spirit, clear the
throat, reduce weight and slow skin aging. Now let’s compare soymilk to
cow’s milk. Both are rich in protein, though soymilk contains plant
protein and cow’s milk contains animal protein. Soymilk is higher in
protein than cow’s milk. Because our body can not digest animal protein as
well as plant protein, animal protein often gets accumulated in our body,
which is discovered to be the reason of allergic reaction. Come to think
of it, Chinese rarely drink milk in the past. I had worked in the hospital
in China for years and rarely seen patients with allergic rhinitis. But
here in the States, almost everybody has some sort of allergy. Three to
five years after we came to the US, we would develop the most prevalent
disease here, having runny nose, watery eyes and sneezing. My husband and
I live under the same roof, but he drinks milk and I drink soymilk. He
suffers every day from symptoms of allergy such as watery eyes and
sneezing. He has to take different western allergy medicine during the day
and at night. Even so, these medications do not always work. I, on the
contrary, only occasionally have allergy during springtime. And this did
not happen until seven years after I came to the States. I would also like
to talk about calcium. Soymilk has approximately the same amount of
calcium as does the regular milk. But soymilk also contains many
microelements such as magnesium, copper and manganese. The amount of these
microelements in soymilk is several to tens of times greater than that in
cow’s milk. These microelements are very important in maintaining healthy
bones. A study found that women who took 40 grams of soy protein per day
greatly increased the bone mineral density in their spines in six months.
In addition, soymilk is cholesterol free and high in fibers. It may also
improve our body’s response to insulin and help to lower blood glucose
level. Therefore, soymilk and soybean products are the best source of
protein for diabetic patients. Before I finish, I want to share with you
the pleasure of making soymilk at home. There is this kind of soymilk
maker that can make fresh and warm soymilk in 18 minutes. And besides the
soymilk, you can also get the soybean dregs, which you can not buy from
any stores. Soybean dregs can be fried, and can be used to make cakes and
bread. It is fun to try something different once in a while, not to
mention that soybean dregs are effective for easing constipation. Soybean
dregs also make wonderful fertilizer for your flower or vegetable garden.
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