The American Cancer Society has created guidelines
for a healthy diet:
1. Choose most of the foods you eat from plant sources. •Eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables
each day. • Eat other foods from plant sources, such as breads,
cereals, grain products, rice, pasta, or beans several times each day.
2. Limit your intake of high-fat foods, particularly from animal sources. •Choose foods low in fat. • Limit consumption of meats, especially those high in fat.
3. Be physically active: achieve and maintain a healthy weight. •Be at least moderately active for 30 minutes or more
each day. •Stay within your healthy weight range.
4. Limit consumption of alcoholic beverages, if you drink at all. •For people who already drink alcoholic beverages, limit
intake to two drinks a day for men and one drink per day for women.
Soy foods fit guidelines 1 and 2 for a health-promoting diet.
What Are Phytoestrogens
and How Do They Work?
Soybeans are rich in a class of phytochemical compounds called isoflavones, particularly the phytoestrogens genistein and daidzein. Phytoestrogens are remarkably similar in molecular structure to the female hormone estrogen. They are thought to behave in the body like estrogen but at just a fraction of the strength of the powerful estrogens naturally produced by the body. Scientists suspect that it’s the relative weakness of these phytoestrogens that may actually work to support and protect our health.
Body tissues that utilize estrogen for normal, healthy function contain estrogen receptors, which bind to the estrogen that circulates in the blood. Researchers have hypothesized that when a diet is rich in soy foods, phytoestrogens may bind to some of these receptors. Phytoestrogens are currently being studied for heart, bone, and breast health.
I hope your week is healthy and productive!
MJ
Check out all the awesome non-GMO soy products at:
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