Yo,
It’s a pleasure to have you here with me today. Today you and me will be going over the benefits of soy protein powder.
Soy protein powder has a variety of benefits that are not just narrowed down to your fitness goals. Soy protein powder can provide you with both fitness and overall health benefits.
In other words, you experience benefits both in and outside the gym.
However, experiencing these benefits will depend on your usage and overall diet.
Soy protein powder is a protein powder supplement that is made from soybeans. It contains a variety of vitamins and minerals, meaning that it’s not just pure protein, despite the name.
We’ll go over how this complete protein source (yes, it’s a complete protein source, which is quite unique in comparison to other plant-based protein options) can benefit you both inside and outside the gym. We’ll then go over the risks associated with this product and the best ways you can use this product in order to get these benefits.
For a quick rundown, here are the benefits of soy protein powder:
- Muscle growth and maintenance
- Fat loss
- Benefiting skin health
- Benefiting bone health
- A complete protein source
- Antioxidant properties
- Heart Health
- Anti-cancer effects
- A great alternative
Let’s get into it now.
Fitness Benefits
Muscle growth and Maintenance
At it’s core, soy protein powder is a protein powder. A big emphasis on the ‘protein’ part.
In order to build muscle, among other components such as sleep, training frequency and others; protein is absolutely essential. I would say that it’s the primary reason many people struggle to build muscle.
Protein is the building block of muscle. Without it, you’re not providing your body with what it needs to repair and build muscle. It does not matter if you’re training to the required point to stimulate muscle growth, because if you’re muscles do not have enough fuel to grow, it’s pointless.
Soy protein powder provides you with the extra protein needed to grow your muscle.
Adding this supplement to your current diet to increase your protein intake can boost your muscle growth.
Ideally, you should be able to hit and maybe go beyond your protein goals because of this supplement.
This is the same idea for maintaining your current muscles.
There are protein requirements for growing your muscles (when bulking) and maintaining your muscles. The difference isn’t too large though.
Whether you’re maintaining or aiming to grow your muscles, protein is essential and this is what this supplement provides you.
Getting YOU Abs!
Yes you can read that headline again, I meant what I said.
For you to get abs, you need to be in a fat loss stage, which is also known as being in a caloric deficit. A caloric deficit is when you’re eating less calories than your body needs to maintain it’s weight.
For most people, this means cutting out those high-calorie snacks. This includes nuts, ice cream, French fries and all the other processed fast foods (of course there are lower calorie versions, but that is beside the point).
When you consume protein, the consumption promotes the release of hormones that make you full (known as leptin) and also reduces the production of the hormone that makes you feel hungry (known as ghrelin)
What does this mean for you?
Stay with me here my friend.
Consumption of protein means the hormones that make you feel full are released and the hormones that make you feel hungry are decreased.
This means that you don’t have cravings because you’re satiated.
Therefore, those high calorie snacks are no longer appealing to you.
This then means you can stay in a caloric deficit.
This then means you get your chiselled abs!
Moreover, to ensure that you’re actually losing fat and NOT MUSCLE, you need to be eating a high-protein diet, which of course makes sense as protein is essential to maintaining your muscles (link your post about high protein).
Again, the soy protein powder can help with that.
So not only will this help you feel full and stay in a caloric deficit, but it makes sure you lose fat and not muscle.
Let’s now move onto your overall health benefits. The benefits don’t just stop in the gym.
Overall Health Benefits
Complete protein source and Digestibility
Soy protein powder is a complete protein source. That sounds good, but what does it actually mean?
This means that it contains all the essential amino acids to support growth. It contains all the essential amino acids that the body cannot product on it’s own. According to studies, it is the only vegetable protein that is a complete protein.
A complete protein source is superior to an incomplete protein source because these sources generally have a higher biological value.
In this sense (referring to protein), the biological value of a protein is a measure of its quality and how well the body can use it. Makes sense?
I’ll reword it for you.
The higher the biological value= the more protein the body can use. Not only does this help you with muscle growth and maintenance, but it helps for the other systems that use protein. This includes blood sugar regulation and enzyme production.
This ultimately means this protein source is more digestible than others.
Heart Health
Soy protein powder (also soy protein foods in general) has been investigated and been concluded by researchers to actually promote heart health.
Soy protein powder can lower your low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, which is also known as bad cholesterol. If these cholesterol levels are too high, then it poses a risk for your heart health.
Now, simply having this supplement will not cause a substantial drop, but these levels will be dropped nonetheless. Your heart will still benefit from it.
Cancer prevention
Soy protein powder (and soy products in general) may have anti-cancer effects. In this study, they concluded that soy protein isolate could protect against cancer through “mammary gland differentiation, decreased activation of procarcinogens to carcinogens and regulation of genes in signal transduction pathways underlying tumour initiation”.
In another study that was conducted, it was concluded that soy isoflavones in particular, could reduce the risk to cancer. They found that a higher intake of soy and soy isoflavones were inversely associated with the risk of cancer.
A simple alternative
Soy protein powder is also just a good alternative source of protein. You may be short on time, you may not be bothered to cook a really high-protein meal. Whatever the reason is, soy protein powder is convenient.
It’s an alternative to chicken, beef and other whole foods (it is not superior to whole foods though, they will always be superior).
Have a quick protein shake and that can easily be over 30g of protein.
It’s a good alternative for your daily troubles. It’s something nice to have in your back pocket.
Antioxidant properties
Soy protein powder also has the presence of antioxidants. This has also been studied and published by researchers. The particular antioxidant found in soybeans is known as polyphenols.
Antioxidants are beneficial because they prevent and/or reduce the damage caused by oxidation. They can also support disease prevention.
Although more research needs to be conducted, it is undeniable that this supplement has the presence of antioxidants.
Bone Health
Another crazy benefit is that soy protein can actually improve bone health. When you think of protein powder, you mostly think of muscle and all things related to that.
However, it was found that soy protein is a positive predictor of “total body bone mineral content”. They concluded that regular consumption of soy foods could be useful to improve bone health. Emphasis on ‘could’ though.
Skin Health
Soy protein supplementation has the ability to improve facial wrinkle severity and reduce skin pigment intensity in “postmenopausal women with Fitzpatrick skin types I,II, and III. The study used soy protein isolate with added isoflavones. More studies will occur, but the effects for the study group were quite beneficial.
Risks and Warnings
Allergies
This should go without saying, but if you have a soy allergy, this supplement is unlikely to be beneficial to you because of the intolerance. There are many other protein powder supplements available on the market, so be mindful if you have a soy allergy.
Additives
This depends on the manufacturers, but some soy protein powder have additives. Some of these additives may be undesirable to you, such as sweeteners and thickeners for example.
This is not for all, but it’s definitely real. Some have more than others, whilst some have less.
Be mindful of this.
Genetically modified organisms (GMO’s)
Another thing to be mindful of are GMO’s. If you don’t pay much mind to GMO’s, then of course feel free to skip this part, however, if you are.
Some soy protein powders are sourced from soybeans that are Genetically modified, which means that they’ve been genetically altered. You are likely already familiar with this term.
In fact, the majority of soybeans, particularly in the US, are genetically modified.
Anti-nutrients
Soy protein has been labelled to contain compounds that are known as anti-nutrients. Antinutrients are substances that can interfere with the absorption of nutrients in the body.
This particular antinutrient that is present is known as phytate.
Phytate, or phytic acid, has the ability to decrease the absorption of iron, zinc, magnesium and calcium.
What you need to do
Search for a trusted manufacturer
Find a manufacturer that you trust, or is trusted by others. Don’t just buy from any company, find one that produces this product in a manner that you like. You can also send them an email regarding what they put in it if you’re still confused.
Consult a professional if worried
If you’re worried about all these things still, consult a professional. They will be able to cater your needs in a manner that suits you best.
Identify a plan for how you’re going to consume this
You should also find a plan for how you’re going to consume this regularly. This will enable you to avoid missing days because you don’t have to think about it too much (although it is okay if you do miss days, it’s a supplement anyway.
It may be a protein shake, it could be protein pancakes, it could be protein oats, it could be a smoothie.
I have stuck with basic milk and protein powder, which makes a protein shake. It’s quick and easy.
At times, I’ve mixed it with oats. You should identify a recipe that you favour.
Fix your current diet
One of the biggest, if not the biggest thing you need to do. You won’t get any of these benefits if your current diet isn’t up to standard. You should already be eating a balanced diet with a decent amount of protein.
If you’re eating fast food everyday, and are not already having balanced meals, say goodbye to all the potential benefits.
If you need to consume 150g protein, but are only having 60g, don’t expect the 25g protein (this is an example, you may decide you want a larger serving for more protein) to have a massive impact. Sure, it will boost your protein intake, but it won’t do that much.
If you’re having 130g and you need 150g protein, then the 25g protein from the supplement will do you greatly. This is because you are now finally hitting your protein goals.
First look at your current diet and see if you can improve your current protein intake via other means.
(I’m very confident that you reading this can improve it, you just may not realise it right now and that’s okay)
Change your mentality
Finally, you should change your mentality. Remember that this is a supplement at the end of the day. It’s supposed to be an addition to what you’re already consuming.
Look at it as a bonus to what you’re already doing, not a saviour.
This will help you to avoid creating a dependence on it for progress and instead, looking at everything you’re doing as a whole.
Closing
There we have it, all your benefits for soy protein powder, alongside the risks and warnings associated with it. We also went through what you need to do in order to get those benefits.
I’d love to hear about your own experience with soy protein powder. What went wrong? What went right and everything else in between.
Thanks for reading my friend and I can’t wait to see you again in the future.
Until we meet again.
