Your thoughts on Tofu
Posted by Sarah88 on Mar 13, 2007 · Member since Jul 2006 · 140 posts
I have heard several different reports about tofu, whether it is dangerous or beneficial.
I just wondered what people have learned or believe. Also, how often do you eat it?
THanks!
People have been eating tofu for literally millenia, so it can't be bad for you. Some people may be sensitive to it, but then there are allergies in every area. I eat tofu about once every week or ten days because I don't drive and the store that sells it is clear across town. Unless I open a package of tofu gan and then I tend to eat it in sandwiches. We don't have extra firm or silken tofu here.
In my particular case, I find that soy makes me gain weight if I get too much (esp soymilk) but then I am v. sedentary which probably has a lot to do with it.
Some find tofu an acquired taste; experiment and take it slow. I definitely recommend the Tofu Chocolate Pudding on this site.
My gynae prescribes soy isoflavons for all her premenopausal women so tofu is probably good for that sort of thing.
Not all soy products are created equal. There have be bezillions of articles written about this, and I must say my brain fogs up when I read them, but the general point to remember is usually that tofu and tempeh are excellent, easily digested soy products that are very good for you. They are not overprocessed, superheated, extruded, isolated (or lonely). That is the extent of my formal scientific knowledge, but I do know there is a ton of literature out there.
Soymilk and tofu are consumed on a regular basis in my house by everyone in my family (even the boys). We eat other soy-based products too, but none with the frequency of soymilk and tofu. So far my son has displayed no signs that he will need a bra when he gets older.
tofu and tempeh are excellent, easily digested soy products that are very good for you. They are not overprocessed, superheated, extruded, isolated (or lonely).
Thanks for the giggle, jkl, I needed it.
Here's the link for the tofu pudding:
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=11924.0
I was listening to Christiana Northrup, MD talk about the phytoestrogens in tofu. She said that these are not estrogens at all, but connect with SOME of the receptors for estrogen in the body. She said, by all means eat tofu!
I second the other posters. Humankind has been eating tofu for hundreds of years without problems.
I will only add that as far as I am concerned, tofu is a low protein source. It takes 3 oz of tofu to equal the amount of protein in 1 oz of flesh. I don't know about you, but even as the die hard tofu fan I am, I can't eat 9 to 12 ounces of tofu at one meal! I find the biggest benefit of tofu is its relatively low fat ( about 3.4 compared to whole cow's milk at 3.6) and its versatility. You can use silken, some Nayonnaise and make a wonderful low fat ranch dressing. Silken can be used as an egg replacer. It makes a rich creamy binder to a lot of foods too. With whole grains it makes a high protein burger. My current favorite is a spinach souffle with a combo of fresh and silken instead of eggs and cheese. It is wonderful. You can make nice cheesecake type desserts too. I often tell people, I am a woman with 101 ways with tofu. Did I mention you can make a FANTASTIC manicotti filling with it? I won't bore you with all of this, but you get the idea.
Past that, it is a personal preference.
I definitely agree with all other posters-- everything in moderation. All the phytoestrogen "This-food-is-going-to-kill-you-make-you-gay-get-you-pregnant-AND-cause-cancer-SIMULTANEOUSLY" stuff had yet to be proven by any concrete scientific evidence. If you like tofu, eat it. If you don't, there are plenty of ways to get your protein without ever going near the stuff.
The only major issue I have with tofu (and this is coming from someone who eats a little of it at almost every meal, so it clearly doesn't bother me that much), is that it's not the miracle food that it was once touted. The iron and calcium that it seems to be so rich in are binded by oxalates, so your body doesn't absorb them well. So, bottom line there, eat it for it's protein, potassium, magnesium, b-vits, etc., but get your calcium and iron elsewhere. Tempeh, for the record, is a much better source of both, because the little beasties who pre-digest it for you get rid of a bunch of the oxalates, which is also why it's more digestible and intestinally-friendly. :P It's still not quite a miracle food (as there aren't any), but your body will take in more of the nutrients.
Anyway, in summary, eat your tofu-- or don't. It's really up to you. :P
my hubby & I eat tofu 1-2 times a week. My hubby drinks soy milk but I really don't care for it, however I never cared for cows milk either. :)
Since you wanted both sides of the story:
Soy contains Trypsin inhibitors that can cause pancreatic enlargement and eventually cancer; Hemagglutinin, which is a clot-promoting substance that causes red blood cells to clump together; and Phytic acids, which reduce the absorption of many vitamins and minerals. Long fermentation deactivates the antinutritive properties of these substances. Also, in general, it is important to eat foods in their whole forms, as nature intended them to be eaten. Tofu is isolated- it is pure soy protein; none of the original fiber from the soybean, for example, is in tofu. Americans have been fed the example of asians who have been eating soy products for centuries, but they don't eat nearly the amount that has been touted. "25 grams of soy protein a day for heart health" is complete advertising. 25 grams of protein a day from a single source is way too much. Americans eat more soy than they realize- it's stuffed in to 70% of processed food products on the shelf.
Personally, i am slowly using up my last bottle of tamari (it contains a small amount of naturally occurring msg- so does Bragg's fyi). I believe in moderation, as do the above posters, and limit myself to the occational tempeh or miso (whole and fermented).
As for the soy-is-going-to-cause-you-every-problem-you-have-ever-imagined-and-then-some argument, i think that is as rediculous as claiming soy to be a miracle food that will cure your every plight. It is very easy for anybody to skew statistics or flat out lie. When researching the topic, ask yourself whether the source of information is trying to sell you something.
If you do choose to eat tofu, be sure to buy organic, as soybeans are one of the top sprayed and genetically modified crops.
I find the soy is bad for arguement really very silly for so many reasons that just thinking of how long to type it out makes me tired.
I'll just say that I eat and drink tofu every single day and with all my health problems and food allergies, I feel overall better than I have in *years*.
Before you attach to a certain article, check the source, then apply common sense.
If you are looking for legitimate, non-biased studies, there are numerous sites:
http://www.plos.org/index.php
http://www.plosone.org/home.action
http://www.pnas.org/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
And possibly some things here:
http://www.eurekalert.org/
http://www.sciencedirect.com/
The first set is your best resource as it contains the actual scientific research, not just the summaries.
cheers!
MD
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Mahatma Gandhi:
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My understanding is that isolated soy protein is made from a a process that takes the protein out of soybean flakes, whereas tofu is a natural food made from a fermentation process. I always think of tofu like the "cheese" of the soybean world.
And definitely try to find organic, non-GMO tofu!
JKL: Indeed, when trying to describe tofu to the Spanish uninitiated the closest I can get is to call it "soy cheese"...I thought that was pretty naff until I surfed a Mexican tofu site and guess what--queso de soja! So I guess that's the word. For the fermented types anyway, it makes sense.