Vegetarian Advice: Tofu, Dieting and Nutrition

Question: Nutritional advantages? Can everyone eat tofu? Should tofu be limited? - J.S.

Savvy Vegetarian Advice:

Dear J.S.,

Tofu is a concentrated source of vegetarian protein, high in calories from fat, and may be hard for some people to digest, but it can be eaten by anyone, as part of a balanced diet, unless they happen to be allergic to soy, or have low thyroid - a lot of soy with low thyroid can cause weight gain and fatigue.

Soy is a major allergen, and tofu is made from soybeans. Tofu, tempeh, soy milk and soy sauce are whole soy foods, as opposed to highly processed soy protein isolate, so could be less of a problem.

Tofu should be limited in everybody's diet. Although tofu is complete protein - it has all eight essential amino acids, there is no advantage to eating tofu. There are many other ways to get adequate plant based protein, and from a nutritional point of view, it's not a good idea to go overboard eating one food, including tofu.

All the best, Judith Kingsbury, Savvy Vegetarian

Response from J.S.

Thank you for your response. I am dieting and trying to limit my calories to 1200 or less per day. I always thought that I could eat as much as I want of vegetables in one day and still be eating a low calorie diet. Here are the vegetables I like to indulge in: Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Green Peppers, Brussel Sprouts

Is it ok to indulge with these vegetables and still remain on a low calorie diet?

Could you tell me what you think of these tofu noodles. Is it ok to eat as much of these as you want?

Thanks - J. S.

Answer from J. Kingsbury

Hi J. S. Those noodles are pretty high in sodium, as with most packaged food, and probably have preservatives, and stuff like msg or other flavor enhancers - maybe limit your intake to a couple 4 oz servings a day (not entire bags).

All the veggies you mentioned are fine to eat, as much as you want. You could get a little more adventurous in your choice of veggies, if you wanted to, as most veggies are pretty low cal, except avocados, which are great anyway for Omega-3 oil.

I thought the hungry girl site was a bit weird. I'm not a believer in low carb high protein diets. Most carbs, especially whole grains aren't high in calories and you need them to maintain energy. Excess protein is hard on your kidneys. Fats from any source are high in calories, as in the sauces, oils, cheese, meat etc that go with the pasta, but you still need some good fats.

The point is to have a balanced low cal diet. If you want a good low cal vegetarian diet, try Anne Collins diet site. There's a fee to join, but it's very reasonable. Rather than get caught up with expensive packaged diet foods, this might be a better way to go.

There's good vegetarian weight loss info in the book, Becoming Vegan, by Vesanto Melina and Brenda Davis.

I've also attached the SV Report on Vegetarian Nutrition, in hopes it might be helpful.

Good luck with your diet! Judith Kingsbury, Savvy Vegetarian

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