Silk is delicious, nutritious soy, whether you enjoy it at home or on the road. Our soy foods are made from the freshest whole soy beans available, and delivered at its tasty best to your local grocery and Starbucks.
Yes, Silk is soy. But it’s so much more. It’s the refreshing creamy taste you crave with cereal. It’s the sip of something special in your coffee. It’s where you quench your thirst, and where you dip your cookies. It’s super-nutritious, environmentally friendly and loaded with all the great taste you can handle. So what are you waiting for?
Health benefits – Soy Milk
Soy milk is nutritionally close to cow’s milk. It naturally has about the same amount of protein (though not the same amino acid profile) as cow’s milk. Natural soy milk contains little digestible calcium as it is bound to the bean’s pulp, which is insoluble in a human. To counter this, many manufacturers enrich their products with calcium carbonate available to human digestion. Unlike cow’s milk it has little saturated fat and no cholesterol, which is a benefit. Soy products contain sucrose as the basic disaccharide, which breaks down into glucose and fructose. Since soy doesn’t contain galactose, a product of lactose breakdown, it can safely replace breast milk in children with Galactosemia.
Soy milk is promoted as a healthy alternative to cow’s milk for reasons including:
* Source of lecithin and vitamin E
* Lacks casein
* It is safe for people with lactose intolerance or milk allergy
* Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are good for the heart. (It should be noted that whole milk has just as much monounsaturated fat as soy milk; and while it has less polyunsaturated, it contains the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA that soy milk lacks.)
* Contains far less saturated fat than cow’s milk.
* Contains isoflavones, organic chemicals that may possibly be beneficial to health.
In 1995 the New England Journal of Medicine (Vol.333, No. 5) published a report from the University of Kentucky entitled “Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Soy Protein Intake on Serum Lipids.” It was financed by the PTI division of DuPont, The Solae Co of St. Louis. This meta-analysis concluded that soy protein is correlated with significant decreases in serum cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL, bad cholesterol), and triglyceride concentrations. However, high density lipoprotein (HDL, good cholesterol), did not increase. Soy phytoestrogens (isoflavones:genistein and daidzein) absorbed onto the soy protein were suggested as the agent reducing serum cholesterol levels.[8] On the basis of this research PTI, in 1998, filed a petition with FDA for a health claim that soy protein may reduce cholesterol and the risk of heart disease. The FDA granted this health claim for soy: “25 grams of soy protein a day, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease.” One serving of soy milk (1 cup or 240 mL), for instance, contains 6 or 7 grams of soy protein.
In January, 2006 an American Heart Association review (in the journal Circulation) of a decade-long study of soy protein benefits cast doubt on the FDA-allowed “Heart Healthy” claim for soy protein.[9] The panel also found that soy isoflavones do not reduce post menopause “hot flashes” in women, nor do isoflavones help prevent cancers of the breast, uterus, or prostate. Among the conclusions the authors state, “In contrast, soy products such as tofu, soy butter, soy nuts, or some soy burgers should be beneficial to cardiovascular and overall health because of their high content of polyunsaturated fats, fiber, vitamins, and minerals and low content of saturated fat. Using these and other soy foods to replace foods high in animal protein that contain saturated fat and cholesterol may confer benefits to cardiovascular health.”
