Take Tofu to Titillate Your Ticker – Tofu versus Red Meat
Here is the story everyone has heard. The story of tofu versus red meat. Running starts with your heart. Your heart is responsible for delivering that oxygen rich blood to your muscles and keep you flying to the finish line. Keeping your heart healthy should be a primary concern as an active runner from the 5K to the marathon.
Substituting tofu for red meat in your diet may be a step in the right direction.
Researchers at Deakin University in Australia found that the risk of heart disease is reduced by eating tofu rather than red meat. The researchers studied 45 males from the age of 35 to 62. The subjects ate 150 grams of red meat a day for one month. The subjects then switched to tofu, eating 290 grams of the soy based food for another month. The two diets are similar in calories, protein, carbohydrates and fats.
When the tofu replaced the meat, the subjects showed a decrease in levels of cholesterol and triglycerides. The subject also showed a slowed oxidation rate of LDL (bad cholesterol). Less oxidation of LDL means less artery clogging plaque is formed.
How about protein? Here red meat comes out ahead. Meat has three times the protein as tofu buy that comes at the cost of added fat.
More study is needed in this area before solid conclusions can be made, but this research confirms what vegetarians have been saying for years.
