Eat Tofu: 5 Key Points

Tofu is made from yellow beans,,green beans,,black beans, and undergoes processes such as soaking, grinding into a slurry, filtering, boiling the slurry, adding a coagulant, setting, and shaping to become one of the most widely used culinary ingredients.

Tofu and its products have a higher protein content than soybeans, and the proteins in tofu are complete, containing all eight essential amino acids that the human body needs, with proportions close to what the body requires, providing a high nutritional value. Tofu also contains fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. According to traditional Chinese medicine, tofu has a sweet taste and is cool in nature,entering the spleen, stomach, and large intestine meridians, with the effects of tonifying qi and harmonizing the middle energizer, generating body fluids, moistening dryness, clearing heat, and detoxifying. Despite this, too much tofu can also be harmful.

Tofu is rich in protein, and eating too much can interfere with iron absorption,

causing digestive discomfort such as bloating and diarrhea. Normally, the body's intake of plant proteins are metabolized into nitrogen-containing waste products, which are excreted by the kidneys.

With aging, kidney function for expelling these waste products decreases. If one consumes excessive amounts of tofu, leading to an overconsumption of plant-based protein, it will increase the amount of nitrogen-containing waste in the body and put additional strain on the kidneys,

potentially accelerating their decline, which is detrimental to health. American medical experts point out that soy products are rich in methionine.Methionine can be converted into cysteine under enzymatic action. Cysteine can damage the inner walls of blood vessels, promoting cholesterol and triglyceride deposition on arterial walls, leading to arteriosclerosis.

Households love using iron pots for cooking because they can replenish iron;Rice porridge eating raw tomatoes in summer is both nutritious and convenient;white-collar workers are fond of taking vitamin supplements...

The soybeans used in making tofu contain a substance called saponin,which not only prevents arteriosclerosis but also promotes the excretion of iodine from the body. Long-term excessive consumption of tofu can easily lead to iodine deficiency, causing diseases related to iodine deficiency.

Tofu contains a lot of purines; people with gout and elevated blood uric acid levels may experience symptoms if they eat too much, particularly for those suffering from gout who should avoid it. Thus, tofu is good but shouldn't be eaten every day in large quantities.

The elderly, patients with kidney disease, iron-deficiency anemia, gout, or arteriosclerosis should control their consumption of tofu.