Soy milk is nutritious, but dietary precautions are necessary: ​​Taboos and scientific methods for drinking soy milk.

110. Soy milk is nutritious, but dietary considerations are important.

Soy milk is one of the most common and nutritious drinks in daily life, and it is also a popular beverage. Many families have even bought soy milk makers and learned to make soy milk at home.

Soy milk contains eight essential amino acids, making its nutritional value comparable to that of cow's milk. However, despite its abundant nutrients, improper consumption can harm one's health.

Things to note when drinking soy milk

Do not add brown sugar to soy milk. Brown sugar contains an organic acid that combines with the protein in soy milk, causing the protein to denature and precipitate. White sugar does not have this effect.

Do not use soy milk to cook eggs. The trypsin in soy milk will combine with the mucoprotein in eggs to produce a substance that is not easily absorbed by the body, thus greatly reducing the nutritional value.

Soy milk should be consumed in moderation. About 300 ml is generally sufficient. Excessive consumption can lead to indigestion of the protein, causing symptoms such as diarrhea and bloating.

Soy milk is considered cooling in nature, so people with poor kidney function, belching, or indigestion should drink it sparingly. Additionally, soy milk can produce gas due to enzyme activity, so people with diarrhea or bloating should also limit their intake. Furthermore, people with chronic superficial gastritis or acute gastritis should avoid soy products to prevent excessive stomach acid secretion, which could worsen their condition or cause bloating. Because soy milk is entirely made from soybeans, which are rich in purines and considered cooling, people with a weak constitution, experiencing symptoms such as fatigue, gout, mental exhaustion, or general weakness should also limit their soy milk consumption.

Soy milk should never be consumed with antibiotics such as erythromycin, as the two can easily undergo antagonistic chemical reactions. There should be at least an hour between drinking soy milk and taking antibiotics.

Some people like to use thermos flasks to keep soy milk warm, but this method is actually not scientific. The warm and humid environment inside a thermos flask is most conducive to the growth of bacteria, and it can also cause the saponins in the soy milk to dissolve in the limescale inside the thermos flask, which can be very harmful to human health if consumed.

If you frequently drink soy milk, you should pay attention to zinc supplementation. Soybeans contain lectins, saponins, and inhibitors, all of which can affect health. Therefore, the best way to consume soy milk is to heat it. However, long-term consumption can easily lead to zinc deficiency, so it's important to eat more zinc-rich foods regularly.

Never drink raw soy milk. Many people like to buy raw soy milk and heat it up themselves. When they see the soy milk bubbling, they think it's cooked, but this is just the organic matter in the soy milk expanding and forming bubbles when heated, not boiling. The soy milk is not cooked at all. Drinking undercooked soy milk is very harmful to your health, as it can cause problems with protein metabolism and severely irritate the gastrointestinal tract. To avoid this, simply boil the soy milk at 100℃.

Drinking soy milk scientifically and reasonably

(1) Sesame Black Soybean Milk

Ingredients: 10g each of peanuts and black sesame seeds, 1200ml water, 80g black beans, and sugar to taste.

Instructions: Soak black beans and peanuts overnight; put the soaked black beans, peanuts and black sesame seeds into a soymilk maker, add an appropriate amount of water, blend and cook until done, then filter with a soymilk strainer before serving.

Efficacy: Moisturizes and beautifies the skin, darkens and nourishes hair, tonifies the lungs and regulates Qi, lubricates the intestines and promotes bowel movements, and nourishes the liver and kidneys.

(2) Peanut soy milk

Ingredients: 45g peanuts, 45g soybeans, 1200ml water, 200g milk, and sugar to taste.

Instructions: Soak soybeans overnight and set aside; put the soaked peanuts and soybeans into a soymilk maker, add an appropriate amount of water, grind and cook until done, then filter with a soymilk strainer before serving.

Efficacy: Harmonizes lung qi and replenishes deficiency.

When making homemade soy milk, you can add other beans in moderation. For example, you can add red beans, black beans, or mung beans. Since these beans have a lower oil content than soybeans, the resulting mixed soy milk will have a much lower oil content than pure soybean milk, making it less harmful to your health. People with kidney disease or gout should avoid drinking soy milk altogether, and those with kidney problems should also consume it sparingly.