The great inventor Henry Ford loved it ? so much so that he got a suit made out of it. And the Chinese changed our idea of good food with a few drops of it. But there’s more to soya than just beans and sauce. Take soya flour. Mixed proportionately with the right amount of wheat flour, it works wonders not only on your daily bread but also on those trying to shed a few extra kilos. In short, soya flour is perhaps one solution that every calorie-conscious individual ? tired with the empty promises of fad diets ? has been looking for.

For Calcutta-based nutritionist Deb Mukherjee, it’s the protein in soya that makes the difference. And he has seen it work like magic for the last 25 years. “Soyabean is a natural protein supplement and can work wonders. Thus, when soya flour is mixed with normal wheat flour in the right proportion, as per the needs of an individual, it creates magic. I ask my patients to make rotis or chapatis out of this special mix and to follow the diet chart that I formulate for them.”

It’s this correct ratio of the two types of flour that sees you lose the flab. Says Nina Singh, senior dietician, B.P. Poddar Hospital and Medical Research Limited, Calcutta: “When two types of flour are mixed together, it’s both tasty and healthy. Soya is rich in protein and as protein is filling, an individual does not feel hungry easily after consuming it. Your hunger pangs are kept under check and so is your weight.”

Protein punch

Nutritionists across the globe consider soyabean to be a source of complete protein, that is, protein that contains significant amounts of all the essential amino acids that must be provided to the human body since the body is unable to synthesise them.

The only other foodstuff that can boast of this honour is the egg, which is also considered to be a natural source for protein ? something most vegetarians in this country still shy away from. Additionally, soyabean is also choc-a-bloc with vitamins, minerals and lots of fibre.

But getting the proportion of the flour mixture correct is very important. Dr Mukherjee believes that most people are not blessed with metabolic systems that allow you to eat everything and still maintain a perfect body weight.

“The tendency to gain weight depends not on the total quantity of food intake but on the intake of individual food types. Depending on an individual’s body requirements, one needs to eat only those foods that will be compatible with his/her metabolic system,” he adds. In reality, our diets often have us consuming more carbohydrates than proteins, more fats than carbs.

This is where soya flour comes in handy. As Lily Mukherjee, a 58-year-old homemaker puts it: “Since I suffer from diabetes and cannot take a diet which is rich in carbohydrates, soya and wheat flour are mixed in a proportion that’s in accordance with my body needs. The soya-wheat flour mix brings down the percentage of carbohydrate and is ideal for me. Moreover, the diet chart I follow sees to the fact that my protein and fat intake is balanced. So I have been able to stay in shape.”

Measure for measure

“The trick is to get the proportion right ? my dietician always had to mix the flour for me,” says Payel Mukherjee, a 20-something soya-flour enthusiast. Agrees Saswati Roy, a Calcutta-based chartered accountant who has tried this diet: “When I started to follow this diet, in about three months I lost about eight kgs. But the day I stopped the diet I started to put on weight again. The secret of it is the flour mix. If you stop consuming the flour and try to follow just the diet charts, it will not work.”

So next time you go out shopping, don’t underestimate that lowly packet of soya flour. After all, Henry Ford knew about the benefits of soya a century ago. But then Ford was a man much ahead of his times.

Bean there, done that

• The word soya is derived from the Japanese word shoyu (soy sauce/soya sauce) and it is grown as food for both humans and livestock.

• George Washington Carver (1860-1943), a US agricultural chemist, discovered that soyabeans are a valuable source of protein and oil.

• Soyabeans are a high-protein legume that belongs to the fabaceae family. Soyabeans reportedly have the highest protein yield per acre.

• Soyabeans are native to southeast Asia, but 55 per cent of the world’s production is in the United States. Other leading soyabean producers are Brazil, Argentina, China and India.

• In China, soyabean has been cultivated and used in different ways for thousands of years. It was considered one of the five holy crops, besides rice, wheat, barley and millet.

• Common forms of soya include soya meal (often used as animal feed), soya flour, tofu, textured vegetable protein, tempeh, soy lecithin and vegetable oil.

MIX ’N’ MATCH

Dos and don’ts of a soya flour diet:

• Do not start the soya-flour diet on your own. Always consult a dietician/ nutritionist first.

• According to regular standards, the ratio in which soya flour is mixed with wheat flour is 1:10. One can also mix a bit of besan (gram flour) along with the soya-wheat flour mix. This will make the mix high in fibre content.

• Usually 500 gm of soya-wheat flour mix is prescribed for 10 days.

• A diet rich in protein reduces sugar levels and brings down the level of cholesterol. It also checks hypertension and controls acidity and flatulance.

• Reports suggest that foods containing soya protein may reduce the risk of coronary heart diseases.