Greetings! In today’s class, we shall begin a new segment about soybeans.
The soybean is rapidly coming to the front as human food in the United States, as well as other countries. There are good reasons for this. It has been the chief source of protein for Oriental peoples for millenniums. It is called the “meat without bones.”
A Protein Food: Soy bean is an abundant sources of protein. One once of soybeans contains 28.4 grams of protein.
Beans vs. Beef : Beef is 14.5 percent protein while the soybean is 42.8 percent protein. Some authorities rate them even higher.
Supplements Meat, Milk, and Eggs: Statements like the following are finding their way into medical literature more and more:
“Soybeans are one of the most valuable and tasty additions to modern menus. They are rich in protein, vitamins and minerals and are readily adaptable to large scale use as a supplement food to meat, milk, and eggs.
“There is an infinite variety in the ways soybeans may be utilized for food and in cooking. They may be served as a vegetable or in the form of flour, soy, oil, margarine, soy sauce, or soybean vegetable milk. Soy flour is being added to baby foods, dehydrated soups, ice cream, cakes and cookies in order to increase the nutritive values of these foods.”
Its Protein Is Adequate: “The protein of the soybean was found to be adequate for promoting normal growth and to be ‘physiologically good.’”
“As Good As Meat, Eggs, and Milk”: The proteins of the soybeans “are as good as the proteins of milk, meat and egg….Some nutritional experts go so far as to say that the soybean protein is akin to human protein and superior to any other known protein…an unequalled source of protein substances for human needs.” In an article describing the soybean, a recent writer said, —“It is thus no longer necessary to keep a cow to enjoy a quart of milk a day or to have cheese or meat.”
Infant Feeding: “Soybean protein is an excellent substitute for animal protein.
“Since the proteins are 85% digestible, soybean products have also given very good results in infant feeding. Macey F. Deming, who has made an extensive study of soybeans, said that when properly prepared in suitable combination, they make one of the best foods for infants.
“According to Dr. T. Brooke, Fort Health Officer at Singapore, soybeans contain the essentials for a perfect diet and in better proportions than found in any other commonly used foods.”
Milk Shake To Steak: News items like the following are frequent
The magazine “Time”, in its issue of Sept. 27, 1943, science department, carried an article entitled “Down With Meat.” It 
referred to government warnings that there is a shortage of meat protein, and to the efforts of food scientists to find supplementary and substitute foods. It reported that Harvard workers announce that we can get along nicely with not more than one ounce of real meat daily, i.e. only a tenth of one’s daily protein need come from meat, eggs, and milk. It also stated that Yale workers assert that soybeans rival meat in protein; that from soybeans, one may secure a great variety of foods from milk shakes to steaks.
Thus there is a sharp trend toward supplementing meat, eggs, and milk with the soybean. Such announcements reveal a rapid change in the thinking of scientific nutritionists who are now demonstrating the soundness of the highest standards taught in this class, i.e. that it is not necessary to use meat, eggs, or milk if we have a variety of the natural foods, including the soybean, and learn how to balance them.
Wheat and Soybean Combined: When the soybean is combined with wheat in proportions of 20 to 80, the efficiency of the wheat protein is increased from two to three times. This indicates that we should find as many ways as possible of working it into foods where wheat flour is used. This is an ideal way of “enriching” wheat flour.
Economy: The most economical way to secure protein is in the soybean, where it costs not more than one-fourth as much as in beefsteak, when purchased in the form of beans or flour.
Rich in Oil: The soybean is from 14% to 24% oil of a very high quality.
“Another of the unique nutritive qualities of green vegetable soybeans is the richness and digestibility of the oil. It is interesting to note that the oil is more highly digestible than most food fats and oils. Thus in spite of the high oil content present in the soybean, the tissues and organs readily oxidize this oil instead of storing it as excess weight. For this reason, the soybean is considered as a nonfattening food and therefore recommended as a food that is valuable in reducing body weight.
“Some nutritional experts claim that the quality of the soybean oil is akin to the fat of animal origin and even superior to butter fats. “Because of these unique qualities, the soybean oil, for human consumption, occupies a place of distinction when compared to other fats and oils.”
Lecithin: The soybean is rich in this important nerve food, one pound of soybean flour containing as much as from 4 to 6 eggs.
Base-forming; Saves Protein: It has been established that when there is a big excess of bases over acids in the food and in the body, the protein in the food is used more efficiently, and that a real minimum for protein requirements can be found only when such an excess of base elements is present.
This excess of base elements over acid in the soybean is given by different authors from 31.24 c.c. of N solution (per 100 grams) to 42.00. “The conclusion to be drawn from these findings is that the alkalinity of the soybean ash is a highly important factor for causing a saving in protein, and this is probably the main part of the explanation why experimental data showed that a human organism is able to store three times as much nitrogen from soybean food as from meat.”
Base-forming; Anti-fatigue: This high alkalinity of the soybean has given it the reputation of being a very potent anti-fatigue food, possibly the very best.
Vitamins: The chief contribution of soybeans to our vitamin needs is in B-1 and B-2. The sprouts are, of course, rich in vitamin C.
Iron; A Blood Builder: The soybean is very effective in regenerating the hemoglobin of the blood and therefore stands at the head of the list of foods to protect against anemia. “It has been established that the iron in soybeans is ‘available’ to over 60 percent, being equal to beef and pork liver, superior to beef muscle, and twice superior to spinach.
Grab a friend and share the wealth, from what you’ve learned in the School of Health! In our next class, we continue learning about soybeans. God bless!