Today’s topic is a food that has been both demonized and hailed as life saving...
Soy, namely tofu.
It is one of those touchy topics that sometimes makes people a bit uneasy. It has been wrongfully implicated as cancer causing and unhealthy… and I would like to talk about that today. I will lead you to some information that will explain some of the regularly asked questions.
But first….
I feel like I was meant to write about this. This morning in my yoga class, I was taken by the words of my teacher. In fact, I left promptly after class to write down what she had said. “Your truth is your happiness, your fulfillment and your purpose.”
Wow. In my late 40s I am definitely exploring what is important to me and am acting on my desire to share my interest in health with those who are so inclined to listen. I feel it is so important that I write these posts and hopefully make an impact on those of you who are reading them. This whole food, plant-based eating world is a special little secret that everyone needs to be let in on!
Something personal….
Lately I have been contemplating whether I should continue with a weekly activity that I have been engaged in for the past 6 years… Meals on Wheels. In fact, I came so close to resigning that last week after I picked up the food I was delivering and found the dessert was doughnuts, I wrote a resignation email using Siri as I drove. I have yet to send it.
I am torn delivering food containing animal products, few if any greens and sugar laden desserts, knowing it isn’t doing these clients, mostly seniors, any favors. What they need is more fruits and vegetables, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds!
Then… I reflect that I would never have met Rhonda, cue the “Pink Jacket” blog post, or Bill who lost his wife a year ago next month, who I share lunch with each week, Corey, the 93 year old gardener living in her own home, who I met 6 years ago, the now 99 year old female world war fighter pilot or the sweet, independent Ukrainian Baba who, last month, presented me with a beautiful pair of slippers she handknit… Had I not been delivering for Meals on Wheels I would never have met any of these people. They couldn’t have changed my life for the better, and I couldn’t have tried to make theirs any brighter.
So, this leads me to.…breast cancer.
Today on my route, as I once again debated sending the email to resign, I arrived for the first time at the doorstep of a family who had ordered an usually large amount of meals. As I approached, I noticed that there seemed to be quite a lot of “stuff” stored around the entrance and I made a mental note to stay at the door, hand off the food and not enter, for fear of the unknown… You know what I am saying.
As the door opened, a lovely lady in her early 40s, I would guess, greeted me. She seemed shy and awkward and appeared to be hiding something that looked like a medical attachment coming from under her shirt, behind her back. I offered to put away her food when she mentioned she was not well and had trouble lifting anything. She apologized for the look of “this awful thing” she was fumbling with. She thanked me for bringing the meals, explaining that they were really a life-saver for her family. She confided that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer 8 weeks prior and had just undergone a double mastectomy. Shocker. Wow. I could see the gauntness of her chest, the covered up scars. Now that I let myself really look at her, she wore a simple grey t-shirt and you could tell beneath it, they were gone. Just gone. I thought, what an awful feeling that must be, to be told you are sick, that it is a deadly kind of sick and that they have to take part of you off… that you will never ever be the same. It must be gut wrenching.
It could be my mom, my friend, it could be me, it could be you. In fact, last week a friend of ours, who is a mom of two young children, was diagnosed with the same dreadful cancer. She will be facing the identical surgery, undergoing a similar, life changing ordeal.
The question is, what can we do? How can we live our lives so that we can jump into the “healthy cue” and be spared from all of these diseases? I’m determined that it’s not going to be me or any members of my family. I know there are a lot of factors, so it is so important to me to recognize them and be proactive everyday. I want to see my grandkids’ kids! I don’t want to be like another one of my clients who has Parkinson’s disease and dementia in her 70s. She is waiting to go into a home where everything is strange and will have to leave her husband and home she has known for years. I don’t want to be my dad, taken at age 51 from Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Nope, it’s not going to be me. I will persevere, beat the odds and live like my grandmother did, to a ripe old age of 92, only I’d like to make it 100. So that is my mindset, hopefully it works. The truth is though, none of us know, we can only do our best.
So that is my reason for sharing these posts. I’d like to share the healthy impact made available from whole food, plant-based eating. I truly hope that some of the information I share will positively impact you and your family.
So, let’s get down to Soy… is it healthy or not?
When my girls were young I had them drinking organic soy milk for years. (Organic so that the soybeans are not GMO, and no sprays were used.) They loved it and it was perfect for them to drink the years after they were weaned. It took the place of cow’s milk in our house. That was before the real explosion of plant milks. Then one day, I started to hear rumblings of soy maybe not being so good for you. I heard talk that it caused men to have “manoobies” and young girls to enter puberty sooner because it raised their estrogen levels. WHAT! I thought I was doing the right thing! So, I quickly switched to almond milk and told them they could no longer have their beloved soy milk.
It was the media that did it. You know, you hear it on the radio or in a magazine and BAM!, it’s gospel… It is sad that as a society we are much more likely to have our opinions molded by media than by science. We need take charge of our health by not getting duped by hearsay or big companies throwing their weight around.
Below are two videos featuring four renowned plant based doctors discussing soy and why it is not to be feared. If you are pressed for time, here is a summary of what they say:
Soy is good for you.
~ Soy helps to prevent bone loss and reduces the risk of breast cancer.
~ It contains phytoestrogens that are protective against cancer.
~ It has been shown that women who have breast cancer and consume soy have lower cancer recurrence rates, live longer and do better than those who do not consume soy.
~ Soy is a healthy source of protein especially for young women and is protective against breast cancer.
~ Buy organic or non-gmo soy products.
~ Instead of being worried about soy, people should be concerned about cheese and dairy. It contains elevated levels of estrogen not helpful for the human body.
It is best to choose whole food when selecting soy options. Some of these are:
- edamame (the whole soybean)
- tofu
- tempeh (pictured below)
- miso (fermented soy)
- canned or dry soybeans
- soy nuts (dried and roasted soybeans)
- soy milk – try to avoid brands with carrageenan and too many ingredients you can’t identify
- soy flour- made from whole ground soy bean
(list from NutritionStudies.org)
Dry or canned soybeans can be used in the place of black beans or other legumes. Tempeh, which is a fermented soy product works great in recipes calling for meat.
What soy products should I avoid?
It is important to avoid isolated soy protein as this is a highly processed soy food often found as the base for prepackaged protein powders, vegan hot-dogs, sausages and sliced “meats”. Processed soy can be hiding behind the names: Hydrolyzed vegetable protein, hydrolyzed plant protein, hydrolyzed soy protein, textured soy protein or textured vegetable protein. Avoid these, or eat very infrequently. Here is a list of other names soy may go by.
It is also important to limit foods containing soybean oil. Most of these foods will not be organic or GMO free. 93% of the soy crops grown in the U.S. are genetically modified.
What nutrients does tofu contain?
Here is a chart from Wikipedia for the nutritional value of approximately 1/4 of a regular sized container of tofu. As you can see, tofu is high in both calcium and iron. Two minerals many women struggle to get enough of.
| Amount Per 100 grams 0.25 block (116 g) 0.5 cup (124 g)100 grams |
| Calories 76 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 4.8 g | 7% |
| Saturated fat 0.7 g | 3% |
| Polyunsaturated fat 2.7 g | |
| Monounsaturated fat 1.1 g | |
| Cholesterol 0 mg | 0% |
| Sodium 7 mg | 0% |
| Potassium 121 mg | 3% |
| Total Carbohydrate 1.9 g | 0% |
| Dietary fiber 0.3 g | 1% |
| Protein 8 g | 16% |
| Vitamin A | 1% | Vitamin C | 0% |
| Calcium | 35% | Iron | 30% |
| Vitamin D | 0% | Vitamin B-6 | 0% |
| Cobalamin | 0% | Magnesium | 7% |
| *Per cent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs. |
How much soy should I eat?
According to Dr. Michael Greger (as he explains in this video), it is safe to consume up to three to five servings per day. He mentions soy is actually protective against breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men.
What can I make with tofu?
You can literally make anything with tofu…. It can take the place of meat on the barbeque or in stir-fries, be the main event in curries, tacos, burritos, wraps and quiches. You can make it into croutons, put it in dips, add it to any bowl you serve, or if you are like my daughter, cut it in strips and take it to school for lunch uncooked. Tofu can be an ingredient in desserts- cakes, ice cream, mousse, “cheesecakes”, custards, even icing! So, don’t be afraid!
Last night I used tofu to make a mushroom, onion and rice pie. Everyone loved it, including a non plant-based, meat loving guest, who raved about the flavour. Watch for that recipe coming soon!
How do I cook tofu?
Now, you are probably wondering what the heck do I do with it?
I’ll admit it is a bit daunting to bring home a chunk of tofu sitting in a package of water when you have never cooked with it before. have no fear, it’s really not that difficult. Check out this great article about the different types of tofu and their best uses.
I use mostly 4 types of tofu. Tofu does not need to be cooked but cooking it gives it more flavour.
- smoked – most dense, easiest to use. Can be lightly fried and added to veggie bowls. My daughter likes to slice it and eat it directly from the package.
- extra firm or firm– quite dense and easy to fry up and add into dishes such as stir-fries
- medium firm– this is probably the one I enjoy the most. You can crisp up the outside by lightly frying or air-frying (my favorite!) It is a bit more tender than the firm but still holds together quite well.
- silken (or lite firm)- this is best for using to make plant-based mayonnaises, sauces or dips and is also good for making desserts. You can even buy silken tofu in dessert flavours such as peach mango, almond, coconut and banana!
I generally keep it simple… Drain the tofu container, remove the block of tofu and give it a good squeeze to remove the excess water. Cut it in half then place it on a clean tea towel. Wrap it in the tea towel and stack something heavy on it, like a cast iron pot or cookbooks for 30 minutes or so. If I don’t have time, I just cut the tofu into the sizes I need and continue to press the tea towel into them to remove the liquid. I once asked my sister in law, because I couldn’t find something heavy to press the water out, if she would sit on the tofu for me? 😉 Luckily she’s not the type to take it personally. We had a good laugh about that one!! I’ve also found that it’s not always necessary to get all of the water out and that leaving some water in can keep it more moist.
Tofu tends to take on the flavour of whatever sauce/marinade or spices that you add to it. You can add your favourite peanut sauce, sweet and sour sauce, hot sauce, ginger or soy sauce and spices (I love using steak spice) to a bowl with the tofu for a few minutes, then fry in a non-stick pan using little or no oil. Tofu can also be baked, or grilled. Essentially, you can treat it a bit like a piece of meat.
My favourite, as shown below, is to use my Airfryer to cook the tofu. Very little oil, if any is needed and the chunks come out crispy and soft inside. Even my one daughter who doesn’t like tofu will eat these! Airfryers are also great for making fries. They come out crispy and delicious and completely guilt-free.
Tofu cooked in an air-fryer for about 20-25 minutes stopping to toss halfway through.
Still have more questions about soy?
Click here to read an article from the World’s Healthiest Foods Website that will cover everything you ever wanted to know about soy! Read here for information from the American Cancer Society on how eating traditional soy foods may reduce the risk of breast cancer.
Here is an article written by Terri Edwards, a plant-based blogger whom I met a couple of years ago. She has some great recipes and ideas for how to cook tofu.
In Conclusion
I hope this helps you to no longer be fearful of soy. If you enjoy the taste of soy in any of its less processed forms, eat it freely (no more than 3-5 servings a day – according to Dr. Greger). If you aren’t a big fan, don’t sweat it, find other beans or legumes that you do enjoy and eat more of those!
“Your truth is your happiness, your fulfillment and your purpose.” -Drew Hertz