What the Flip Is Bean Curd?!

Have you ever been shopping at Whole Foods and stopped near the salad bar area to find a package of what looks like a yummy pasta but is labeled “bean curd”? Well I have.

I’ve tried it, I liked it, and I wanted to know more about it, so I jumped on the magical device we call Google and typed in, what the flip is bean curd?! Well, I didn’t type exactly that but I sure did think it. Heh.

Anyway, turns out bean curd is plain old Tofu skin. What will they think of next. Now I’m not sure if the Whole Foods brand is fermented or not, but I did like the fact that I could eat this instead of empty carb noodles. 

And we all know that I did some research to find out the benefits, if any, of bean curd – so let’s get to it:

Benefits of fermented bean curd (make sure you look into fermented bean curd as this has more benefits than unfermented & processed soy products):

  • Contains iron and calcium
  • Contains 11g of protein for every 100 calories, vs. 8.9 calories of protein for 100 cal of beef (boom)
  • Excellent source of all 8 amino acids, so it is considered a complete protein
  • Believed to lower cholesterol
  • Women going through menopause have been known to increase their consumption of soy products because of the phytoestrogen content (which means this gives them more estrogen when they are lacking it otherwise)

 On the other hand…there are also many studies on the danger of eating soy products and the studies seem to contradict all of the benefits. 

Majority of the studies are saying that fermented soy products like Miso, tempeh and so forth are OK for people that do not have thyroid issues. Yet for those of us that experience thyroid problems, consuming soy products can cause us more harm than good.

 I also found an article on Mercola’s site quoting a doctor who is against using soy products, and her points are quite valid. While the Asian culture eats small amounts of again, fermented, soy products, the American industry is processing the heck out of soy which in turn is not qualifying it as a health food.

To top it off, an article by Harvard T.H Chan school of public health shows the downside of some of the studies performed with soy products. Bottom line: it’s not what we think.

So while there are studies that are both for and against soy products, I’m going to stick with my fermented doses of miso, tempeh and natto, and possibly kicking tofu skin to the curb (even though it tastes great). tears. 

What are your thoughts? Are you for or against soy products?

Sources:

“The Health Benefits Of… Tofu.” BBC Good Food. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.

“AICR’s Foods That Fight Cancer™.” AICR All. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.

“Straight Talk about Soy.” The Nutrition Source. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2015. 

“American Cancer Society Expert Voices Blog.” Cancer.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.
 

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