Wednesday, 8 July 2015

How Soy Protein Benefits Athletes

By Edna Booker


Proteins are an essential part of a balanced diet. Many people think of meat when they think of them but many plants contain high levels of them. Those who have decided not to consume meat and fish need to make sure that they get enough of all the necessary proteins from plants. Soy protein benefits the body in almost the same way as meat because it is complete.

Meat has traditionally been thought of as the main way to get complete proteins into the body and athletes tend to eat a lot of it. However, in recent years there has been a trend away from this as meat also contains harmful elements, especially when it is produced on a large scale. Many are now looking to plants as an alternative and the legume family is now consumed in large quantities instead.

Soy is a legume. This whole family of plants is nutritious and people should eat plenty of them. Legumes are high in proteins, micronutrients, B vitamins, fiber and omega fatty acids. They are also low in fat and cholesterol and so are a great way to get lots of nutrients without the bad stuff.

In the East in countries such as Japan, Malaysia and China where people eat lots of soy it has been observed that their health outcomes are much better than for people in the west. For example, Okinawa has the highest concentration of people over one hundred years old in the world. They have lower incidence of cancer and heart disease and are more physically active throughout their lives.

One of these is that a diet low in meat but high in beans and vegetables leads to lower cholesterol, less cancer and much lower levels of heart disease. Athletes and body builders have been able to use this research to improve their diets and overall performance. Use of supplements has also helped bring about this improvements.

Soy powders are used by more and more body builders and sports people to aid in recovery after a workout. It was maligned for many years as research suggested that maybe soy lowered testosterone levels but this has now been shown to be negligible. The benefits outweigh the negatives. Soy is really the only plant with complete proteins and so can be used to build muscle mass.

Fermented soy foods are a better option as they are easier to digest and also contain probiotics which aid absorption of nutrients. These are found in a variety of forms such as, miso, tempeh and nattoo. Miso is an extremely versatile ingredient and can be eaten in soup but also used as a flavoring for other meals as it has lots of umami and is almost like beef in its taste.

Another method of ingesting it is to take a supplement. Powders are now widely available and are used by body builders and athletes who want to increase strength and build muscles. It seems strange to some people that body builders might be vegans but it is entirely possible and there are a growing number of athletes who are shunning meat proteins in favor of plant ones.




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