The soybean, a seemingly unremarkable legume related to clover and alfalfa, is an fact an extraordinary food product. In aaddition to its use as a food source for humans, soybean is also commonly used as feed for a large percentage of the world’s liverstock. Soy is even used as an ingredient in a wide variety of industrial products, including inks, paints, fuels, plastics, cosmetics and textiles.

Perhaps most important of all,however are the potential health benefits that soy has to offer. Scientists are discovering that soy may play a key role in preventing common diseases and promoting better health care worldwide.

Unfortunately,althrough there has been an increase in soy consumption over the past ten years, too many people are still hesitant to consider soy as a legitimate source of protein and other nutrients, unwilling to change their unhealth eating habits and fearing that preparation of soy based foods will interfere with their on the go lifestyle.

Nutritional Benefits
Althrough soy is best known for its high protein content, it is also low in saturated fat, cholesterol free, high in dietary fiber and rich in vitamins and minerals. Research has shown that soy plays an important role in the prevention and treatment of chronic disease.

Populations that abtain much of their protein intake from soybeans have lower rates of coronary heart disease, cancer and osteoporosis than populations that get most of their protein from animal sources. Studies show that isoflavones, which are phytochemicals unique to soybeans, reduce serum cholesterol levels and the risk for coronary heart disease. Isoflavones have also been found to inhibit growth of cancer cells and reduce the risk of osteoporosis in women.