Eat Tofu Daily And Cut Your Heart Disease Risk; Know Other Health Benefits

Tofu which is quite similar to paneer is a great source of protein for vegetarians. It can be added to your salads, chat and much more. Tofu is generally gluten free with optimum amount of iron and calcium. Tofu is a great option for vegetarians to add more protein to your diet. A recent study has highlighted the benefits of adding tofu to your diet for your heart health.

Tofu and heart health

If you want a healthy heart, eat tofu daily as eating food that contain higher amounts of isoflavones is linked to a moderately lower risk of heart disease. Isoflavones are a type of polyphenol found in legumes, including soybeans, chickpeas, fava beans, pistachios, peanuts and other fruits and nuts.

Soybeans are the richest source of isoflavones, and soy foods and ingredients contain varying concentrations of isoflavones.

After eliminating a number of other factors known to increase heart risk, the researchers found that consuming tofu, which is high in isoflavones, more than once a week was associated with an 18 per cent lower risk of heart disease, compared to a 12 per cent lower risk for those who ate tofu less than once a month.

Published in the journal Circulation, the study from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital analysed data from more than 200,000 people who participated in three prospective health and nutrition studies; all participants were free of cancer and heart disease when the studies began.

The favourable association with eating tofu regularly was found primarily in young women before menopause or postmenopausal women who were not taking hormones.

"Despite these findings, I don't think tofu is by any means a magic bullet. Overall diet quality is still critical to consider, and tofu can be a very healthy component," said study lead author Qi Sun from Harvard University.

The study found no significant association between soymilk consumption and lower heart disease risk.

Other health benefits of adding tofu to your diet

Not just better heart health, tofu can offer you other health benefits like-

1. It is a great source of protein for vegetarian which can also be added to your weight loss diet

2. Tofu can also help you maintain healthy cholesterol levels and fight bad cholesterol

3. It can also help you reduce the risk of diabetes

4. Being a good source of calcium, it can help you boost bone health

5. Adding tofu to your diet can also help you boost kidney health

6. It will provide you several essential nutrients

(With inputs from IANS)

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