Happy National Tofu Day! 7 Health Reasons to Love the Soy Protein

Tofu has been given a bad rap throughout the years, but now this soy-based protein is enjoying a new popularity, as health-conscious consumers are turning away from meat and looking for plant-based alternatives to add to their daily meals. Want to love it? Let these seven health facts convince you to become a fan of tofu.

Tofu has gone mainstream, and sales of it have skyrocketed in recent years. One reason is the growing consumer awareness that diets high in red meat and dairy have been linked to increased risk of heart disease and diabetes.

While tofu has recently been catapulted into popularity, experts hope this centuries-old, soy-based food maintains its new position on the tables of mainstream America, especially considering its health benefits and versatility in cooking. In case you need convincing about tofu’s super-plant powers, here are seven facts to win you over.

Many people mistakenly believe soy can raise breast cancer risk, or impact the recurrence of breast cancer. Here’s why: Soy is a uniquely rich source of isoflavones, the naturally occurring plant chemicals that are classified as phytoestrogens (plant estrogens), and in one lab test on mice, isoflavones stimulated the growth of tumors. Yet there are flaws in assuming that soy creates this effect in humans.

“Not only do mice metabolize isoflavones differently than humans, but isoflavones also differ from the hormone estrogen,” says Mark Messina, Ph.D., M.S., president of Nutrition Matters in Pittsfield, Mass., adding that clinical studies show that neither soy foods nor isoflavones increase breast cancer risk and appear to lower it.

In fact, one study found that higher soy consumption was associated with a 30 percent lower risk of developing breast cancer, since the plant version may protect women from making estrogen and drives down breast cancer reoccurrence: A review of "11,000 women from the USA and China show[s] that post-diagnosis soy intake significantly reduces recurrence and improves survival."

The European Food Safety Authority and the German Research Foundation have concluded that isoflavones do not adversely affect breast tissue. What’s more, Messina says, “observational studies show women who consume soy after a diagnosis of breast cancer are less likely to die from their disease or suffer a recurrence.”

That may be why the American Cancer Society, American Institute for Cancer Research, and World Cancer Research Fund International have all concluded that breast cancer patients can safely consume soy. It might even be wise for kids to eat more tofu as well. “Although speculative, eating tofu early in life (childhood or adolescence) appears to reduce breast cancer in life,” Messina says. Soy is among the healthy foods to eat to lower your risk of cancer.

In 1999, the FDA awarded soy foods a health claim for reducing the risk of heart disease. Why? “Soy protein directly lowers blood cholesterol levels,” Messina says, adding that 25 grams of soy protein a day (there are about 10 grams in one serving of tofu) will do the trick. Soy foods like tofu are high in healthy polyunsaturated fat, and when you replace foods like animal protein that are high in artery-clogging saturated fat, blood cholesterol levels are reduced.