Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.91.970325155733.24517A-100000@fox.ksu.ksu.edu> Date: Tue, 25 Mar 1997 16:00:21 -0600 From: kerry miller <mailto:astingsh@KSU.EDU> Subject: New Uses for Soybeans: `Miracle Bean' Plays Major Role in Foods To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
New Uses for Soybeans: `Miracle Bean' Plays Major Role in Foods, Medicine, Industry; Third Largest U.S. Crop Helps Prevent Illnesses
WASHINGTON, March 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers keep discovering new uses for the soybean in the medical, nutrition, and industrial fields. The "miracle bean," as the soybean is often called, continues to solve a variety of life-sustaining problems for a growing population, while it produces many new uses not commonly associated with an agricultural product. When most people think of the soybean, products such as tofu, bean curd, soy sauce and miso come to mind. Few people realize that soy products are also used as inks, diesel fuel, paints and adhesives; that soy is a low-fat source of protein and supplier of essential vitamins, and that studies have shown that a high soy diet can reduce the risk of heart attack, cancer, bone disease and kidney disease. In medical and health circles, the soybean is being touted as a staple and highly nutritious food source that may help prevent serious illnesses. Scientists attribute the soybean's positive health effects to the bean's high concentration of isoflavones. Isoflavones are compounds described by one health study as "possessing a myriad of biological properties that can affect many biological and physiological processes." The principal isoflavones found in soybeans are diadzein, genistein, and glycetein, all considered nutrients. A recent University of Illinois study called isoflavones "dietary constituents that are effective in decreasing risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer." Isoflavones are unique to soybeans. Scientists say people who do not eat soy have virtually no isoflavones in their diet. An annual international symposium on soy and health, the "International Symposium on the Role of Soy in Preventing and Treating Chronic Disease," recently focused on soy's role in preventing heart disease, cancer, kidney disease, and osteoporosis, as well as the positive effects soy may have on pre- and post-menopausal women and infant health. "There is very good evidence that soy protein may protect against cardiovascular disease, stroke, and heart attack," Dr. James W. Anderson, a leading soy expert from the Metabolic Research Group, VA Medical Group, University of Kentucky, said. Dr. Mark Messina, chairman of the symposium, added, "Substances almost exclusively found in soyfoods have been shown to reduce the risk of breast, colon and prostate cancer." Dr. Messina and others have noted that soy contains all three "macro-nutrients" for good nutrition -- protein, carbohydrates and fat -- as well as vitamins, calcium, folic acid, iron, and other minerals. Natural Vitamin E, made from soy, has also been the focus of studies in the prevention of heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes and aging, among numerous other health conditions. One of soybeans' greatest contributions is as a source of protein. Soy is one of the few crops that has large quantities of both proteins and energy (in the form of oil). Soy protein has the ability to bond with fat and water to produce meat products such as soy hamburgers and hotdogs, as well as non-meat substitutes such as yogurt, mayonnaise, ice cream, and fat-free desert topping. In China and other countries that lack red meat sources, soy is an important dietary source. Because China lacks the technology and expertise it needs in agriculture, most of its soy is imported, mostly from the United States. In other countries where religion does not allow the consumption of red meat, soy also plays an important dietary role. Soy protein products and refined soy oil have also produced important industrial uses. Most visibly, refined soy oil is now used in printing ink, used primarily in many newspapers. Many environmental experts have said that soy ink is more environmentally sound than petroleum ink when paper is being recycled and de-inked. Refined soy oil and soy bean protein products are also currently being used as paints, cosmetics, epoxies and adhesives, diesel fuel, disinfectants, fungicides, pesticides and leather substitutes, among many other uses. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, soybean production in the U.S. totaled 2.38 billion bushels in 1996, the second highest production level on record behind the bumper crop of 1994. Soybean production represented the third largest U.S. crop, behind corn and wheat, and had the second largest value, over $14 billion per year. The Department of Agriculture also found that the average yield per acre, estimated at 37.6 bushels in 1996, was the second highest yield on record. Advancements in bean genetics and farming techniques have made it easier for farmers to grow more beans per acre in recent years. The Archer Daniels Midland Company, Cargill, Inc., the Central Soya Company and the Ralston-Purina Company are among the leading producers of soy in the United States. Most U.S. soybeans are grown in the Midwestern states, with Iowa and Illinois being the two largest producing states. Twenty-nine U.S. states currently produce soy beans.
(Foods for the Future provides factual information to the media concerning food products, health and nutrition. It is a project of the T. Dean Reed Company and is supported by U.S. agribusiness.)
SOURCE Foods for the Future
CONTACT: Dean Reed of Foods for the Future, 202-223-3532 _________________________________________________________________