Sustainable living refers to the activities that help meet the present needs of resources without compromising on the share of future generations. It involves thoughtfully utilizing your resources to prevent over-consumption.
One such dietary source that requires sustainable usage is proteins. It is due to their impact on the environment in the form of carbon dioxide emission, energy expenditure, and other related factors. Such effects call for the usage of eco-friendly protein sources like soy-based foods. Read on to find out the ways soy products meet the sustainability criterion.
What Are Soy Products?
One of the most crucial sources of plant-based proteins is soy foods. It arises from a species of legume native to the Eastern Asian region. Amongst the high-protein sources, soy-based foods possess the highest protein content. Also, it appears to be an entirely sustainable protein and eco-friendly in various ways.
Some soy protein sources you can include in your diet are tofu, tempeh, and soy milk. Not to forget, it possesses a high net protein utilization and can lead to maximum efficiency in the human body. It’s about time you replace the animal-based protein sources in your diet with plant-based ones.
Potential Benefits Of Soy Foods
Did you know soy foods possess many essential nutrients crucial for your well-being?
Soy protein is more environment-friendly than animal-based proteins due to many factors. Also, soy foods can lower the risk of heart disorders and other lifestyle issues.
Studies reveal that soy protein might help reduce excess cholesterol and provide much-needed fiber. Such nutrients contribute to smooth gut mobility, prevent constipation, and prevent inflammatory bowel disorders. Besides the health benefits, soy protein is efficient for the environment and its conservation.
Soy Products & Sustainable Protein
Here’s another reason you should use soy protein as a common source of protein. Soy products are eco-friendly due to their low greenhouse gas effect and high protein efficiency.
1. Conserves More Water
When it comes to sustainability, water conservation is an essential factor. Soy-based proteins require much less water for their growth and development. Also, producing soy-based foods is easier and more reliable than other sources like animal protein.
Studies reveal that soy utilizes around 2500 gallons of water for every ton of soy protein production. On the other hand, animal proteins require over 10-times more water than soy sources. Such low water utilization reflects the sustainability and future-friendly nature of soy products.
2. Plant-Based Proteins
Another top-notch benefit of consuming soy-based protein is its plant-based and ecological nature. Plant-based proteins are highly efficient and cause minimal harm to your surroundings. Also, it leads to many potential health benefits related to your cardiac and immune processes.
Soy proteins contain many potent amino acids like threonine, methionine, and valine. Further, it promotes body metabolism, improves gut metabolism, and strengthens immunity. You must consider soy protein a go-to source for its environmental and non-polluting nature.
3. Higher Protein Content
Most people think animal protein contains the highest amount of protein content. However, soy-based foods are the predominant protein source due to their top-notch amino acid profile.
Research suggests that soy foods contain around 40% protein by weight. Also, soy-based products possess a higher net protein utilization rate. It means that the conversion of proteins into usable amino acids is higher in these sources. All these factors confer a high sustainability and environmental nature to soy foods. Make sure to include soy foods in your diet for maximum protein consumption.
4. Energy Efficiency
When you think of sustainable resources, energy efficiency holds the maximum value. Soy-based products are quite energy-efficient and demand lesser energy as compared to others. Also, soy protein reverses around 4-5 times more energy to the human body in the form of calories.
While animal protein provides around 100 kilocalories, soy-based proteins contribute to more than 400 kilocalories for the same quantity. It’s about time that you begin to take sustainable decisions in your dietary habits. For this, switching to soy-based proteins may be the ideal choice. Try replacing animal-based proteins to minimize health issues and load up on your body’s nutrient reservoir.
5. Lower Greenhouse Gas Effect
Another potential advantage of choosing soy foods over other protein sources is the lower greenhouse emission.
Every resource emits a certain amount of greenhouse gas as an outcome of its growth and development. But soy proteins release around 80% less greenhouse emissions than animal proteins.
You require around 50% less land area to grow the same amount of soy proteins as animal-based ones. Along with this, soy protein production demands lesser fossil fuels and other resources. Hence, soy-based proteins make a sustainable, environmental, and efficient source of dietary nutrients.
Bottom Line
Proteins are the important building blocks that deal with antibody production and immune functions. Also, protein content is essential in muscle development and bone mineral density production.
Plant-based proteins provide better health benefits and possess environment-friendly properties. Amongst the plant sources, soy-based foods are sustainable and account for the least pollution. It leads to minimal usage of land and conserves water to the fullest. Also, soy products reflect energy efficiency and emit minimal greenhouse effects compared to others.
You must opt for sustainable sources of protein in the form of soy foods like tofu, tempeh, and soy milk. Grab your share of soy foods to increase immunity and meet the protein requirements daily.
