Why Soy?

Since prehistoric days, soybeans have been a staple crop for civilization. Today, soybeans are the most grown legume in the world. People all over the world continue to enjoy soy through like soymilk, okara, tofu, natto, and tempeh. As a whole food, soybeans are nutritionally balanced, and like all legumes, contain lots of fiber, which 95% of Americans are deficient in. By making soy milk at home, we can further ensure that we’re eating fresh, selecting high-quality soy beans with fewer pesticide residues, avoiding unwanted additives, and saving money. You might be surprised at just how many health benefits soybeans have!

Protein-Packed

Protein has been in vogue for a while, but it’s usually the highly processed, high profit-margin foods that get the most advertising and attention. What traditional societies all over the world have known since prehistory, though, is that the humble legume is a rich source of protein. Soybeans are one of the most protein-rich legumes, coming in at 33% of calories from protein, compared to lentils (27%), black beans (26%), and chickpeas (21%). That means that on your plate, a 1-cup serving of beans will get you 15-33 grams of protein.

Protein helps you feel full and rebuild your cells. While evidence shows that nearly all people in developed countries are getting plenty of protein, certain groups such as athletes often pay extra attention to optimizing their intake. By consuming protein in the form of a whole food, you get not just protein but a range of other nutrients that help you meet your needs.

Minerals and Micronutrients

It’s not just macronutrients like carbs, protein, fat, and fiber that matter. Minerals are essential to our health as well. A cup of cooked soybeans contains:

• Copper: 113% DV
• Iron: 54% DV
• Magnesium: 41% DV
• Phosphorus: 35% DV
• Zinc: 27% DV
• Potassium: 23% DV
• Selenium: 20% DV

And in vitamins:

• Thiamin (B1): 45%
• Vitamin B6: 14%
• Riboflavin (B2): 41%
• Folate: 58%
• Vitamin K: 24%

These nutrients help support energy, metabolism, immune health, sleep, and more. Imagine each soybean as a tiny vitamin capsule, full of essential nutrients!

Fiber—The Neglected Super-Nutrient

Adults are recommended to get a minimum of 25-38 grams of fiber a day, yet a staggering 95% of Americans fail to meet this guideline, getting merely 13-18 grams. For perspective, ancestral humans may have consumed over 100 grams of fiber per day, and more recent peasant diets easily hit 60 grams per day. What are the consequences of not getting enough fiber?

Fiber feeds a healthy gut microbiome—the symbiotic culture of trillions of microbes living in your gut. A healthy microbiome gives a long list of benefits, which modern science is only beginning to understand. We’ve learned that your gut microbiome helps heal the gut, fight off infections, synthesize vitamins, and regulate your immune system. It is further linked to benefits for heart disease, diabetes, mood, digestion, energy, and skin health. Without a robust gut microbiome, your body misses out on the beneficial compounds they create, and is left vulnerable to bad microbes colonizing your gut.

How come so many of us are fiber-deficient? In the modern world of hyper-processed foods, fiber is often left off the table. By turning grains into refined flour, fruits and vegetables into juices, and discarding vegetable peels, fiber is lost. But most of all, a majority of us simply aren’t eating enough whole plants.

If you’re looking to up your fiber intake easily, and without resorting to supplements, what are the best sources? It’s a common misconception that foods labeled “whole grain” will get the job done, but they often contain less fiber than people assume. It’s certainly a good idea to choose whole grains over refined grains, but don’t forget the real heavy-hitter of fiber: legumes.

Just one cup of cooked legumes provides 10-20 grams of fiber, depending on the type. Even on the lower end, soybeans provide a whopping 11 grams of fiber per cooked cup. By consuming that fiber in the form of unstrained, home-made soy milk, you provide lots of fiber in the form of small particles for your gut bacteria to chow down on.

Combatting Phytoestrogen and Phytate Misinformation

Controversy over the healthfulness of soy has developed in primarily the Western world. The compounds of interest have been isoflavones (a type of phytoestrogen, plant compounds that resemble the human sex hormone estrogen) and antinutrients (plant compounds such as phytates which interfere with the absorption of nutrients in soy).

Research actually shows that isoflavones do not have estrogenic effects in the body. In fact, because they can bind with estrogen receptors, they may even have an anti-estrogenic effect. Evolutionary biologist Grasyna Jasienska hypothesizes that populations consuming lots of isoflavones have evolved to make more estrogen to counteract the anti-estrogenic effects of those foods. This supports the evidence that amongst East Asians, who historically consume soy, soy consumption is correlated with lower breast cancer risk.

In a nutshell (or edamame pod), the most alarming studies have focused on dosing animals with large amounts of isolated compounds from soy, while studies that focus on whole-food soy in real human diets have quite consistently positive findings.

Another item of concern for some is phytic acid, a substance that reduces nutrient absorption, and is found in most plant foods. It’s not all bad, though: phytic acid is also an antioxidant, and may promote healthy insulin response. The key here is that while phytic acid may slightly reduce the absorption of some nutrients, the very food that it comes from also provides nutrients, making it a net positive! Don’t forget: population studies overwhelmingly show that eating plants is healthy. Don’t let cherry-picked, misinterpreted science confuse you.

That being said, you can still reduce the phytic acids in foods. Soaking, fermenting, sprouting, and cooking all do so. That’s part of why the cooking program of our SoyaJoy and SoyaPower machines ensures that the soybeans are cooked for 20 minutes at heat high, which deactivates phytates. Soaking soybeans overnight and discarding the soaking water further reduces phytates and fermentable oligosaccharides (a molecule that can lead to gas!).

Get your nutrients right from the so(y)urce!

Overall, soybeans are a nutritional powerhouse. By making your own soy milk at home, you can make sure that you’re getting a multitude of health benefits on a daily basis, for less cost and packaging waste than store-bough soy milk. Our powerful blending technology breaks down soy pulp fine enough for many to drink without straining, preserving the option to keep in that extra fiber and protein. Check out our Recipes for delicious ways to incorporate homemade soy foods into your daily diet!

If this isn’t enough information, check out some of the below articles for more!

Healthline – Is Soy Bad For You?   –  a good summary of the nutritional content, health effects, and concerns.

Good Housekeeping – Is Soy Good Or Bad For You? Here’s the Science-Backed Answer– a very readable and thorough discussion of soy

Runner’s World – Is Soy Bad For You? – another good rundown of nutrition, concerns, health research, and advice