We all love to snack; I know that I certainly do.  Unfortunately, many of us make snacking choices that are not has healthy or nutritious as they could be.  Instead of choosing snacks that might provide us with a number of nutritional benefits, we often choose to snack on chips or dessert-type snacks.

Soy nuts (also called soynuts) make much healthier options than many of the other snacks we typically choose, including typical peanuts.  While most nuts are a healthier option than many other types of snacks, not all nuts are the same.  For example if we were to compare Revival Lightly Salted soy nuts to typical lightly salted dry roasted peanuts based on similar serving sizes, the results might surprise you.  While soynuts and peanuts have similar calorie content, Revival Lightly Salted soy nuts have about half the amount of calories from fat and about half the amount of total fat.  Additionally, Revival Lightly Salted soynuts have slightly less sodium and slightly more protein than your typical lightly salted dry roasted peanuts.  This is because soynuts are made from soybeans, which are higher in protein than most other vegetables.
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If you enjoy soy as part of your regular dietary habits, then you are probably well aware of the many benefits of soy.  However, many others are just starting to think about adding soy foods to their diet and are really just starting to learn about the benefits of soy.  Soy has been reported in the scientific literature to have numerous benefits, too many to list here.  However, a few of the reported benefits of soy are briefly discussed below.
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As mentioned in a previous blog, soybeans are a nutrient-rich legume.  While soybeans, and other legumes, are best known as excellent plant sources of protein, they also have a healthier fat profile (over 80% of the fats found naturally in soybeans are mono- or polyunsaturated) compared to many other foods and are a good source of a number of essential micronutrients. Despite this, soy consumption in the U.S. is extremely low compared to countries like Japan and China.  A new soy nutrition research paper reviewed current soy consumption levels and estimated the nutritional impact of increasing soy consumption [1].

To determine current levels of dietary soy consumption, the soy nutrition researchers analyzed dietary habit information from the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).  The information was collected from over 5,500 men, women, and children.  Analysis of their dietary habits showed that not counting soy sauce, consumption of soy products was mentioned only 226 times with the most common soy foods consumed being meat replacement soy foods, soy drinks, soy energy bars, soy milk, and tofu.  Overall, soy consumption was about 100-150 times less than the amount of meat consumed by adult men and women.  This analysis also showed that as a population, Americans were consuming too few servings of fruits, vegetables and dairy and too many calories from solid fats and added sugars.

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Soybeans are rich in macronutrients like protein, fat, and carbohydrates and contain a variety of micronutrients such as calcium, iron, zinc, riboflavin, and folate [1].  Some of these are discussed briefly below.

Protein. Soybeans are best known as a rich source of non-animal protein.  In fact, about 37% of the raw soybean consists of protein according to the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 22 [2]. The amino acid pattern of soy protein provides adequate levels of each indispensable amino acid for normal growth and development. The high digestibility of properly processed soy protein and the bioavailability of its amino acids and nitrogen content make soy protein a high quality protein.  The Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS) of soy protein is 1.0, the highest possible score and similar to other high quality proteins.   Therefore, the addition of soy to the diet is a great way to meet all of one’s protein nutritional requirements.

Fat. Soybeans typically contain more dietary fat than other legumes; however, the fats in soybeans are mainly of the healthier varieties.  According to the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 22, raw, mature soybeans contain approximately 20 grams of fat in a 100-gram portion [2].  Of the fat present in soybeans, ~15% is saturated, ~24% is monounsaturated, and ~60% is polyunsaturated; therefore, over 80% of the fat in soy is of the healthier, unsaturated kind.  The predominant unsaturated fats found in soy include linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid, two essential fatty acids. Alpha-linolenic acid is an essential omega-3 fatty acid that is metabolized in the body to form eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in small amounts.

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Although school has started in many places and the Labor Day weekend is rapidly approaching, the summer heat is still in full force for many of us and it often makes us look forward to cooler weather.  Rather than trying to rush the cooler seasons, trying cooling off with this delicious shake.

Ingredients:

• 1 Packet Vanilla Pleasure Soy Shake
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons lemonade

Directions: Combine ingredients in a blender, add 6 ice cubes (or 1 cup crushed ice), and blend until smooth.

This is a delicious, refreshing way to cool down in the summer heat.  If you are feeling care-free and daring, add 1/2 cup of lemon sherbet to the ingredients before blending for a cool and refreshing smoothie!  If you are trying to watch your calories, but can’t resist adding the sherbet, use Revival’s sucralose or unsweetened shake varieties… they offer the same nutritional benefits with fewer calories!

Enjoy your summer while it lasts!

Start enjoying the nutritional benefits of soy with Dr. Tabor’s Revival® soy protein shakes, bars, snacks, and other delicious products.*

Each year since 1994, the United Soybean Board has published the results of an annual survey conducted to assess consumers beliefs and behaviors regarding nutrition.  This survey, Consumer Attitudes about Nutrition, also includes information on consumer attitudes about soy.  I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of these survey results.

Perceptions on Soyfoods and Health: According to the 2010 survey, 84% of consumers rate soy products as healthy.  This is similar to survey results collected since 2007 with 84-85% of consumers rating soy products as healthy each year.  While this is a substantial increase compared to 10 years ago, the current steady level over the last few years suggests that more can be done to increase the awareness of soy’s benefits.  According to the 2010 survey, consumers link soy to being good for the reduction of heart disease risk (FDA heart health claim for soy) (25% of consumers), being low in fat (17%), being a good source of protein (16%), and being ‘good for you’ (14%).

Learning About Soy: Another part of this survey asked consumers how they learned about the benefits of soy.  Not unexpectedly, the most common source of soy information cited was television news (47% of consumers).  Internet news was the second most common source of news on soy (44%) followed closely be magazines, family & friends, and newspapers.  The number of consumers getting information from these sources increased in every instance compared to 8 years ago with the exception of magazines, which decreased.  This nearly across-the-board increase suggests that information about soy is more widely available.  Interestingly, one of the lowest sources of information about soy is the health professional.  Only 17% of consumers learn about soy from their doctors, which is only 5% higher than in 1994.

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Protein, which is made of nitrogen-containing amino acids, is one of the major nutrients used by all the cells of our bodies (Medical Reference 1). Throughout our lives, the protein in our body is being broken down and reformed. The formation of new protein requires both essential (those that our body can’t make) and nonessential amino acids (those that the body can make). Proteins that provide all of the essential amino acids in high enough concentrations are called complete proteins, while those that are low or lacking in one or more of these amino acids are considered to be incomplete proteins. High quality complete proteins provide the best way to meet human nutritional needs.
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Sustainability is a major buzzword in today’s media.  However, sustainability is more than just a buzzword; it it a critical part of meeting the future food needs of the world’s population.  A recent summit, The Sustainable Foods Summit, took place last week with the goal of bringing major food industry thought leaders together to discuss a variety of topics related to food sustainability including sustainability initiatives, sustainable sourcing and packaging, fair trade practices and ethical marketing practices.

One of the topics presented at this summit was the sustainability of soy as a high quality source of protein.  According to a press release, the vice president of global marketing and strategy at Solae, a leading supplier of soy protein ingredients, indicated that not only was soy a sustainable source of high quality protein, but soy production is done with a smaller impact on the environment than many other food production systems.

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