http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/diet/southbeach
review.htm>
Northwesternutrition ‘‘Nutrition Fact Sheet: The South
Beach Diet.’’ Northwestern University. January 2007.
http://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/nutrition/
factsheets/southbeach.html
United States Department of Health and Human Services
and the United States Department of Agriculture.
‘‘Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005.’’ January 12,
2005.http://www.healthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines
WebMD. ‘‘The South Beach Diet.’’ June 2005.http://
[http://www.webmd.com/content/pages/15/96038.htm](http://www.webmd.com/content/pages/15/96038.htm>)
Tish Davidson, A.M.Southeast Asian dietseeAsian diet
Southern African dietseeAfrican diet
Soy
Definition
Soy is a general term for products made from
soybeans. Soy products include tofu, tempeh, soy oil,
natto, miso, soymilk, and edamame.
Purpose
Soybeans are the most widely used beans in the
world. They are a good source ofproteinand contain
no cholesterol. Soy is a complete protein. It contains
all the essential amino acids that the body needs, and
in this sense is different from most vegetable proteins
and nutritionally equivalent to animal protein. Unlike
animal protein, soy contains no cholesterol and is low
in saturated fat. Soy is a heart-healthy choice and has
met the United States Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) requirements to make that claim on certain soy
product labels.
Soy is believed to promote cardiovascular health,
but many other health claims are also made for soy.
Some of these claims remain unsubstantiated, are
under review, or are in dispute. These health claims
include that soy:
promotes weight loss
helps prevent certain cancers
helps slow bone loss
Description
Soybeans are the seeds of the plantGlycine max.
This plant is native to China, where it has been culti-
vated for about 13,000 years. From China, soybeans
gradually spread to other areas of Asia, where soy is
now a major part of the diet of millions of people.
Intense breeding has produced a number of variants
(cultivars) of the original plant, some which have a
higher oil content and others which have a higher pro-
tein content. Soybeans may be green, yellow, brown, or
black in color, but all variations are edible.
Soybeans were introduced into the United States
in the mid-1700s. George Washington Carver (1864–
1943) experimented with them before he began his
famous nutrition research on peanuts. Today the
United States is the world’s largest grower of soy-
beans, producing almost 84 million metric tons in- However, most soybeans grown in the United
States are pressed to make soy oil. After the oil is
extracted the beans are ground into meal and used as
livestock feed.
Soy products are part of the daily diet of many
Asians. However, soy has only become readily avail-
able in mainstream food stores in the United States
since the 1990s. In 1979 the first major company,
Vitasoy, introduced soymilk into the United States.
Since then, the number of soy products has soared.
The Soyfoods Association of North America esti-
mates that sales of soy products in the United States
increased from $300 million in 1992 to $3.9 billion in
2004, and sales were expected to continue rising
through the end of the decade. Between 2000 and
2006, 2,500 new food products containing soy were
introduced to the U.S. market.
Nutritional value of soy
Soy is a nutrient dense food, and it is the least
expensive source of complete dietary protein. It is
relatively low in calories and contains no cholesterol,
saturated fat, or trans–fat. One cup (172 g) of cooked
soybeans has about 300 calories and contains the fol-
lowing nutrients. The percentage DV is the percent of
the daily requirement that 1 cup of cooked soybeans
meets for the average adult.Soy sources Amount of soy protein
1 cup (8 ounces) soymilk 10 grams
4 ounces tofu 13 grams
1 soy burger 10–12 grams
1 soy protein bar 14–gram average
1 soy sausage link 6 grams
¼ cup roasted soy nuts 18–20 gramsSoy(Illustration by GGS Information Services/Thomson Gale.)Soy