Soy Many Ways

Tuesday, October 01, 2002

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Soy is an inexpensive way to add protein to your diet, and it may help reduce calories, saturated fat and cholesterol when substituted for meat. The October issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter offers these ways to include soy in your diet:

Tofu: Use this spongy soy product in stir-fry dishes or scramble it like an egg. You can crumble partially thawed tofu into recipes that call for meat. It absorbs the flavors of the foods with which it is cooked.

Soy burger: It looks and tastes similar to ground beef.

Roasted soy nuts: These are available in a variety of flavors and taste similar to peanuts.

Soy milk: Use it with cereal or in coffee or a smoothie. Check that it's fortified with calcium and B vitamins.

Soy flour: Substitute this for up to 20 percent of the total flour in baked goods.

There are some concerns about the use of soy supplements or foods highly fortified with soy due to conflicting studies about soy isoflavones and breast cancer. However, including soy foods as part of a diet low in fat and cholesterol seems to pose no health risk.

Shelly Plutowski
507-284-5005 (days)
507-284-2511 (evenings)
e-mail: newsbureau@mayo.edu

Mayo Clinic Health Letter is an eight-page, monthly newsletter of reliable, accurate and practical information on today's health and medical news. To subscribe, please call toll-free 800-333-9037, extension 9PR1.

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