Health behind soy for humans and animals

Two experts in the agricultural value chain, Carla Schultz, owner of Eight Plates Farm in Michigan and a United Soybean Board farmer-leader and Mark Messina, director of nutrition science and research at Soy Nutrition Institute, share the nutritional value and benefits of soy. Carla shares about a recent study by the United Soybean Board found that 7 in 10 consumers say animal diet is extremely or very important when purchasing meat. Mark explains research on the soy's potential to prevent breast cancer and more. 

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Transcript

U.S. Farmers and Ranchers in Action’s Honor the Harvest Forum is September 10th through the 12th at Noo Sun Dairy located just outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. This is a one-of-a-kind experience where executive leaders and agricultural producers meet on a ranch or farm to generate new ideas, partnerships, and actions to advance sustainable food, fuel, and fiber. Showcase your brand to thought leaders across the food and agriculture value chain by becoming an Honor the Harvest sponsor. Learn more at usfarmersandranchers.org/honortheharvest.

U.S. Farmers and Ranchers in Action connects you to the leading minds in agriculture. Join Farm Food and Facts host Joanna Guza to explore the latest and sustainable food, fuel, fiber, and more across the value chain.

Joanna Guza:
The mission of U.S. Farmers and Ranchers in Action is to bring all of American agriculture together with farmers and ranchers at the center to collectively identify and tackle critical long-term issues. We are proud to bring you the leading experts in agriculture on Farm Food Facts and today our focus is on the health behind soy. For humans and animals, the versatility of soy is one of its best attributes, whether it's feed for animals, food for humans, or thousands of the other bio-based products. Soy is providing sustainable solutions. Not only is soy food a nutritious option, it's also our proteins, protein, and an important component of animal diets. Here to talk with us today about the benefits of soy foods for humans and also details about the survey showing the importance of animal diets to consumers when purchasing meat is Mark Messina, director of Nutrition, science and research at Soy Nutrition Institute are also referred to SNI Global. And Carla Schultz, a Michigan farmer who grows soybeans, corn, wheat, dry beans, hay and raises, cattle and hogs. She runs eight plates, farm, a direct to consumer business selling beef, pork and chicken. And she's also a farmer leader on the United Soybean Board. Soybeans and animal protein work hand in hand to share the plate because when all proteins are part of a balanced diet and work collaboratively to nourish the world, everyone wins. Well Mark, to get our conversation started, can you break down the nutritional value of soy food for human diet?

Mark Messina: 

Yes, I'll be happy to do that. I wanna begin by pointing out that the soybean is a legume, but it's very different from most other legumes and pulses and beans. The soybean is higher in protein than other beans. It, and it's much higher in fat. Most beans are almost fat free, whereas about 50% of the calories come from fat in the soybean. And I actually think that's an advantage because the fat provided by soybeans is extremely hard, healthy. The fat is comprised of a relatively small amount of saturated fat, a modest amount of monounsaturated fat. The predominant type of fat is what's referred to as polyunsaturated fat, and that's the type of fat that lowers blood cholesterol levels. Also, the fat contains both essential fatty acids, the omega six fatty acid, which is an essential one, linoleic acid and an Omega-3 essential fatty acid. And that's pretty important because Americans get about 40% of their intake of both of these essential fatty acids from consuming soybean oil.

And if it wasn't for soybean oil, it would be very difficult for Americans to actually meet the requirement for the essential Omega-3 fatty acid, linolenic acid. So from a macronutrient standpoint, referring to carbohydrate protein and fat, the soybean is really quite unique. It's also a good source of a variety of vitamins and minerals such as potassium, which is important for lowering blood pressure. And it's a really good source of a variety of B vitamins. The protein in soybeans is of a higher quality than other plant proteins. You know, in general, animal protein is of higher quality than plant protein. That's not the case with soy. It's equal in quality to animal protein. So the soybean really has a lot going for it.

Joanna Guza:
Right? It can really help you diversify your diet, whether you wanna do some of that soy base or some of that animal protein. We also have with us Carla Schultz, can you explain from the animal perspective, why do animals consume soy and what benefits does it provide them?

Carla Schultz:
Yeah, great question Joanne, and thanks so much for having me today. I think it's no secret that poultry, livestock and seafood, that US soybean meal is the best source for that protein and nutrients. And we've done some extensive research on that that says the US soybean meal products contain more nutrients than soybean meal of other origins. There are some reasons for that. We know that we have high quality soybeans right here in the US and when we look at the moisture nutrients and uniformity, it's far superior to those. On a global scale in the soybean meal itself, it contains amino acids which are critical to the growth and development of an organism. We also know it's very cost effective in supplying the 10 essential amino acids that these animals otherwise cannot produce on their own. We also know there are additional benefits that it provides superior levels of energy for animals on a livestock farm. I know for myself and my own perspective when I'm walking through my own hog barn that I'm looking for overall body condition. I'm looking for overall health and even overall energy in the piglets on our farm. And we get all of those from using our US soybean meal base, which I'm very proud to support and be a farmer of. We grow soybeans then use that on that feed side,

Joanna Guza:
Right? It's, it's providing so much whether that's for our animals or for human health. Now Mark, I'd like to go back to you. Is there a popular way that humans consume soy? And what health benefits does it offer the human? I know you kind of mentioned that in your first answer too.

Mark Messina:
One of the nice things actually about soy foods is that there are so many different types. So soy is actually very easy to incorporate into the diet. So you have the traditional Asian soy foods such as tofu and soy milk. These foods have been consumed for many centuries. You also have the fermented products and fermented foods are very hot these days because there's a lot of focus on the relationship between the bugs in our gut, the microbiota, microbiome and overall health. So you have some fermented products like miso, which comes from China and Japan. And then you have Tempe, which comes from Indonesia. It's actually their national food. And then you have the more modern soy foods which are made using concentrated sources of soy protein. So you can take the bean and get rid of most of the carbohydrate and most of the fat leaving concentrated sources of soy protein, often referred to as soy protein isolate and soy protein concentrate.

And these can be serve as the basis for a wide range of projects. Everything from energy bars to meat alternatives, meat substitutes, and then the protein itself is often added to breakfast cereals, for example, to boost the protein content of these foods. So there's a lot of ways to get soy to the diet, which is just really one of the advantages of the, of the soybean. And then there are a lot of health benefits coming from those foods. So for example, I mentioned that soy’s a really high quality protein. We've also done work showing that soy protein promotes gains in muscle mass and strength and individuals undergoing or engaged in resistance exercise program to the same extent as animal proteins do. Soy protein directly lowers blood cholesterol levels. This is an attribute of soy protein that has been studied for more than 50 years. And in 1999, the US Food and Drug Administration officially or formally recognized the cholesterol lowering effects of soy protein when it approved a health claim for soy foods and coronary heart disease. So there's a lot of other benefits. I I don't know if you want me to go on, but there, there's benefits for skin potentially for breast cancer prevention. So I'll let my partner here answer her next question and then maybe I'll continue with those benefits. 

Joanna Guza:
Yeah, I mean we, we love listening to you, Mark, you have so much that you're sharing with us. And I think even one thing from some of your initial answers, you made the comment about omega threes and that really hits 'cause I feel like everyone's always looking for that Omega-3. And for me, I always thought salmon or you know, fish I would get my Omega-3 from. But you can say we can be getting that from soybeans.

Mark Messina:
Absolutely. And again, Americans get over 40% of their intake of omega threes from soybean oil because soybean oil is so widely consumed. Soybean oil actually provides 7% of our total caloric intake, which is a, just a huge amount. So it plays an extremely important role in the US and world food supply

Joanna Guza:
And animals are the number one customer to soybeans. So we're gonna go back to Carla and get the farmer perspective. And so a recent study by United Soybean Board found that seven in 10 consumers say that the animal's diet is extremely or very important when they're purchasing their meat. Can you share more about that?

Carla Schultz:
Yes, absolutely. I thought it was really interesting Mark's answers to all of the ways that soy food is used in human health. In animals, obviously they don't have the choice of what they're choosing every day. So we as farmers get to make that choice for them. And of course we want them to have the highest quality food, both for rate of gain and for overall performance. So we know from consumers that those consumers value soy fed meat. They say it's healthier of higher quality, more nutritious and better tasting from that survey that we took. We also know that consumers are looking for meat from animals fed a high quality nutritious diet and raised humanely, which is definitely the majority of farmers across the US want the best for their animals on their farm, right? They know that if they're feeding their animals the highest quality food they're gonna get the highest quality meat that's going to be sold onto the market.

Also, consumers are, they say that knowing the animal was raised humane and domestically as top mind for consumers. And I think that's really interesting as we look at the shift of generations as well. They really want to know as we look into the younger generations, they wanna know how their food was raised, they are willing to pay a different price point for that as well. So we know that 73% of consumers want to learn more about where their food come from, which I think is an exciting number that we can connect. And so some of those major components might be to make the con a connection to consumers, whether they be on social media, whether they be face-to-face, whether they be on podcasts like we're doing today. There are so many ways to communicate that message. And we do know that 56% of consumers are willing to pay more for a product that is good for the environment. So I think we all need to be aware of the survey that we took and the results that are out there for consumers looking to purchase more soy fed meat from us farmers.

Joanna Guza:
And before we jump to Mark, Carla, I'm interested as you're hearing Mark, explain the health benefits for humans. Do you see and feel that like with your animals, the same health benefits? I mean, you're thinking about their health and their future. Are you seeing some similarities from humans to animals?

Carla Schultz:
Absolutely. And one of the biggest components is meeting with a swine nutritionist and consulting with them, right? So you think we have a plate at our own table, all of us as humans, and we have to decide, you know, what's the best in our diet that's gonna make us feel, feel great and perform the best. And so we do that with our animals as well, because there are choices on the market. It's not that we have to choose soybean meal, but we always come back to that because it does perform very well. It has a nutrients that livestock needs. And so we can compare that on a human base to an animal base and then choosing the right food for an animal.

Joanna Guza:
Mark, let's do a deep dive now. What research have you been a part of that shows the impact of soy on human health?

 Mark Messina:
I sort of got a kick out of the question that you asked Carla about whether she's observing these benefits in the animals because one of the more fascinating and intriguing benefits of soy is a reduction in facial wrinkles. So if she's seeing that in the animals, I'll be quite impressed. But there's actually a, a pretty long history of investigating the effects of soy and various soybean components on skin health. At the first, one of the first clinical studies was published almost 20 years ago. And just very recently, the organization for which I worked the Soy Nutrition Institute global funded a study that did show in postmenopausal women soy significantly reduced wrinkles in comparison to the control protein, which was casing, which is the primary protein in milk. It also increased the hydration of the skin and it increased collagen synthesis, which is the protein in the skin that gives the skin its structure.

And unfortunately that protein, the synthesis of that protein decreases with age, which is one of the reasons we  develop wrinkles. So this was a six month study in post-menopausal women. It really would be interesting to perhaps see a follow-up study to determine whether maybe even a longer intervention would have a more dramatic effect. That would be quite fascinating to see if in fact you could actually prevent, not only reduce wrinkles, but prevent the onset of new wrinkles. So there's a lot to be learned. But essentially all of the studies in this area that have been conducted, which now total nine studies have consistently shown that soy does have this potential benefit. I know it's more of a vanity issue than really a public health issue, but it tends to get a attention quite a bit. So we did fund that study. We, we've also fund several analyses to show, for example, as I mentioned before, that soy protein promotes gains in muscle mass and strength.

And there has been some misinformation about soy that's rampant on the internet. We've done a, a very large statistical analysis of 41 clinical studies showing that soy doesn't have any kind of adverse effects in men like lowering testosterone levels. We also are funding several studies looking at the effects of soy on liver fat. And this is really an important public health issue because about 25 to 30% of the people globally have liver fat, which that's fat in the liver that's not supposed to be there. This is a global epidemic, especially in the United States. And that accumulation of liver fat can actually lead to cirrhosis and even liver cancer. So we have a couple studies. One is looking at soy, the effect of the soybean components called isoflavones. We actually, which actually may benefit pigs. There's quite a bit of research for preventing infections and so on.

So we're looking at the effects of these isoflavones on liver fat. And we're also looking at the effect of soybean oil on liver fat accumulation. And the thinking is that we all know that it's very difficult to lose weight and to chronically keep that weight off, it's not that difficult to lose weight, it's hard to maintain that weight loss. So if you can't do anything about the weight gain, perhaps you can deal with the complications of overweight and obesity, which is liver fat accumulation. So I'm really excited about that. And then there's one final area, which is the role that soy may have in preventing breast cancer. And this is a area that I've studied for about 30 years and there's some very exciting information indicating that if you consume soy early in life that's during childhood and adolescence, you may dramatically reduce your risk of developing breast cancer later on in life.

Joanna Guza:
Wow. Quite remarkable. All the work that is being done and continues to be done. And you know, we thank you Mark for your, you know, devoting your career and, and working with soybeans and, and finding these solutions. We have two more questions as we wrap up Farm food facts. Carla, from the farmer perspective, what future items are you focused on with growing soybeans and its impact on animal nutrition?

Carla Schultz:
Well, I'm going to go back to Mark's new invention of skin cream with soybeans for hogs, maybe he mentioned the less wrinkles. I thought I could probably use that in my older saws, which have had multiple pivot litters. Some of them could definitely use that too. So that, no, on a more serious note because we really could use that. But looking at the impact that some future items containing soybean when we look at value added products in the human sector, right? There are so many products out there when you're looking at what could we capitalize on when we're looking at ingredients, really, and that's the same thing with animal nutrition as well. So it's looking and shifting toward a total value-based ingredient decisions on the components of the feed itself, right? And it's honing in on those maybe growing varieties that capture more of that value added ingredient for, or that will benefit hogs or any livestock in the future, which I think is really something to look at.

Overall, we use that soybean based, but really we have to think about how are those nutrients inside that, can we take them out and will they benefit the animals on the, the end result where you'll eat that meat in the store or see it in the grocery store line? And I don't exactly know. And Joanna, I'm just gonna say this, I'm not the scientist that's working on the research of that, but I know as a farmer, I'm looking forward to that research and innovations that's being done on that back end so that I can utilize it on my own farm, right?

 Joanna Guza:
It directly impacts your livelihood, the future generations that might take over the farm. Now Mark, last question. From your researcher perspective, what future items are you focused on in soy and its impact on human health?

Mark Messina:
Again, I wanna reiterate and emphasize there's so many ways to get soy into the diet. I really hope that everybody can manage to incorporate at least one serving per day. Two servings per day would be ideal. And this could be just having soy milk with your cereal in the morning or some edamame, the green soybeans, the immature soybeans, which are really sweet and most people really enjoy them. So one serving, hopefully everybody can manage and two would be ideal. And I think that we really need to focus more on the skin health, the breast cancer prevention. And then the other area is osteoporosis because about 27% of women in this country over the age of 65 actually have osteoporosis. And that can lead to fractures. And if you end up going into the hospital and you're older and you have a hip fracture, oftentimes the mortality rate is, is is very dismal.

Within a year, a large number of people that go in for hip fractures actually end up dying. So you wanna avoid those fractures. And there's some pretty interesting information that, again, those soybean isoflavones, which are really unique to soy, may promote bone health. And it's also important to recognize that the calcium from foods like tofu and soy milk is extremely well absorbed. And, and oftentimes calcium absorption from plants like spinach is extremely poor. So calcium is, spinach is loaded with calcium, but it's not a good source of that mineral 'cause you don't really absorb it. So Popeye was probably making a mistake focusing so much on spinach, it should have been consuming some soy in there. So I think the bone health is a, is a real promising area.

Joanna Guza:
Right. This has been really interesting hearing both perspectives from the researcher to the farmer. This episode is proof of the connectivity that US farmers and ranchers brings to the table when we have the entire supply chain and we get to talk about some of these challenges and these opportunities that we have in agriculture. Well, we appreciate your precious time and if you enjoyed listening to our podcast, please subscribe and rate us on your favorite podcast app. Tune in again. I'm Joanna Guza for Farm Food Facts.