![]() If you have questions or comments about this American Heart Association News story, please email. If you do that, Sun said, tofu can be "a very healthy food, almost universally." People should avoid preparations with excess sugar, salt or saturated fat. Not all those ways are good for you, though. "I mean, there's almost unlimited ways to incorporate tofu in your diet," Sun said. He likes using soft tofu in soups and firm tofu – frozen and cut up – in a traditional Chinese hot pot.įoodies celebrate tofu for its ability to absorb the flavor of whatever it's cooked with. He and his family eat "probably three servings per week," Sun said. "For the vast majority of people, it should be reasonable to incorporate tofu in their daily diet without any issues," Sun said. Similarly, the American Cancer Society sees no dangers from eating soy. But concerns that soy can cause infertility or other problems in men are "not based on science at all," Sun said. Still, tofu and other soy products also make some people wary because isoflavones function like a weak form of the hormone estrogen. health care professionals and found that those eating at least one serving of tofu a week had an 18% lower risk of heart disease compared with those who rarely ate tofu.Īnd in a 2021 study in the European Journal of Nutrition that included about half a million people in China, those without a history of cardiovascular disease who ate soy four or more days a week had lower odds of dying from a heart attack compared with people who never or rarely ate soy. Sun was senior author on a 2020 study published in Circulation that looked at data from more than 210,000 U.S. The FDA began re-evaluating the heart health claim in 2007, and in 2017 proposed revoking it.īut research has continued. Then, a 2006 AHA science advisory concluded that cardiovascular benefits from soy isoflavones were "minimal at best." In 1999, the Food and Drug Administration allowed soy products to claim they were protective against coronary heart disease. ![]() Those are flavonoids – plant-created chemicals that are associated with a variety of health benefits.īut tofu, soy products and isoflavones "do not have a consistent positive image in the United States," Sun said, because of a complicated history. Tofu and other soy foods also are primary source of isoflavones. Tofu also contains all the essential amino acids your body needs and is rich in minerals and vitamins, including calcium, manganese, iron and vitamin A. Federal dietary guidelines include tofu as part of a healthy vegetarian dietary pattern, and a 2021 American Heart Association scientific statement emphasizes choosing plant-based proteins for heart health. The high level of protein makes tofu a good alternative to animal-derived meat. Most of that fat is of the healthy polyunsaturated kind. Department of Agriculture, half a cup of firm tofu offers 21.8 grams of protein with 181 calories and 11 grams of fat. Seasonings may vary, but "they all fall in the umbrella of tofu," Sun said. Across Asia, it's served fried, marinated and stuffed. In China, where tofu may have originated around 200 B.C., it takes on many additional forms and flavors – sheets and sticks, fermented and smoked. "Silken" tofu is unpressed and can be as thick as custard, while firmer varieties can be more like a soft cheese. supermarkets, you're likely to see a few varieties sorted by firmness, which reflects water content. Tofu, sometimes called bean curd, is mostly soybeans and water, plus a coagulant such as calcium sulfate, that's pressed into a block. Qi Sun, an associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard T.H. It's also true, despite some rumors you might have heard, that tofu can be an excellent part of a healthy eating pattern for most people. It's true that health experts' passion for tofu can be seen as a bit of an on-again, off-again affair. But later, after you checked it out online, you began to worry that a long-term relationship might get complicated. It seemed like such a simple, honest food when it caught your eye in the grocery store. National Hypertension Control Initiative.Pets and Your Health / Healthy Bond for Life.
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