Soya-enriched foods
Our expert Azmina Govindji discusses functional foods - the lowdown on those added extras
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Transcript
Presenter - Why is soya good for you?
Azmina - There is masses of research on soya. The goodies in soya are called phyto-oestrogens. It's a natural plant chemical and there's research to show that the particular active ingredient in soya - I'm going to give you another technical word, it's called isoflavones - has been linked to reduced rates of cancer, such as breast cancer and prostate cancer, and heart disease. So we know, for example, in studies in Japan and China where they eat masses of soya, they actually have correspondingly lower rates of these hormone-related diseases and it's considered that this is because of the soya, because soya acts very much like oestrogen in the body, it's a phyto-oestrogen.
Presenter - So is it good for women with the menopause, for example?
Azmina - Fantastic for women with the menopause. Again, in Japan what they find is that they have fewer hot flushes and mood swings, and here, I think it's 80 per cent of women going through menopause will have hot flushes and mood swings.
Presenter - OK, so what sort of foods can have soya added to them?
Azmina - There are alternatives to milk, such as soya yoghurt, soya drinks, tofu ... there are ice creams now made with soya.
Presenter - So there you are talking about specific foods that are soya-based but can you add soya into, for example, bread?
Azmina - Yes, and there is soya bread. There are a couple of soya and linseed breads. Both linseeds and soya beans have these isoflavones in them. So these are really good if you wanted to have a good source of soya in your diet, making sure your bread is a soya and linseed bread, which as a functional food can actually help you to do that.
Presenter - I think I tried a cappuccino once with soya milk in it rather than milk, and it was horrible!
Azmina - No, I can't get into the soya milk myself, either. I really can't. But there are now really good brands out there and I think what's fantastic is that you can now get frozen soya beans, which you couldn't get before. So you could use these instead of kidney beans in your chilli con carne, for example, and that's another way of getting soya. And there are soya nuts.
Presenter - Just one thing. I do know that soya plantations are being held responsible for the destruction of a lot of rain forests in some parts of the world, for example. Is there a way of identifying whether they come from a sustainable area - soya beans or soya products?
Azmina - That really depends on the manufacturer and whether they choose to declare that on a label. Now more and more people are becoming interested in where their food is coming from, I think manufacturers will begin to respond to that.
Presenter - OK, soya is good for you. Soya-enriched foods are good for you. Now what about plant sterols and stanols? What are they?
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