A lot of people love Asian food, but they would prefer it comes without the soy sauce. The good news is there are many options for substitute for soy sauce. Truth be told, soy sauce is not as healthy as some believe it to be. Since soy sauce is genetically modified, it carries all of the risks coming with the process of genetic modification.
The answer to the problem is coconut aminos. You might not know it, but many Asian food dishes contain coconut aminos as a substitute for soy sauce.
People in Asia also do not like to add hormone-riddled soy sauce to their dishes as much as you do not. Coconut aminos contain two ingredients, organic coconut tree sap, and organic sea salt.
And the best part is coconut aminos are extremely healthy. They carry their own set of benefits. Let’s look at them.
Is soy sauce bad for you?
Some people still want soy sauce. Before we get to the benefits of coconut aminos, let’s talk why you would need to substitute soy sauce.
The fact of the matter is that there is no scenario in which soy sauce is good for you. Soy is the most common phytoestrogen in the Western diet. Going into medical terms, phytoestrogens are endocrine disrupts, which means that they mimic or antagonize biological estrogen. Because of their link hormonal cancers, phytoestrogens are not something you want.
The second reason why you do not want soy sauce is because not all soy is created equal. According to a study, 93% of soy products in 2010 in the US was genetically modified and contained many unknown components. Put it simply, it is almost impossible to find non-GMO soy in the US.
Traditional soy sauce, made in Eastern countries, is made via fermentation and takes months to get the final product. In the US, soy sauce is made through synthetic fermentation. That being said, let’s take a look at some of the benefits of coconut aminos.
Benefits of coconut aminos
Improve your heart health
All coconut products protect your heart and improve your health. That applies for coconut oil, coconut flour, and coconut aminos. Your heart feels the difference. Coconut support production of HDL (good) cholesterol, which contributes to healthy heart. In addition, coconut also contains antioxidants that vastly improve the health of your heart. To summarize, consuming coconut aminos improves your heart health and regulates your cholesterol.
Reduce risk of diabetes
There have been many studies trying to find out the cause and risk factors for diabetes. One study, conducted in 2015, showed that diet rich in soybean products might contribute to higher risk of diabetes. On the flip side, diet rich in coconut products reduced the risk.
In addition, a diet rich in coconut products reduced the risk of other metabolic issues. Now, that doesn’t mean that you can start consuming coconut and you will take care of the diabetes problem instantly. However, over time, a steady diet of coconut will improve our metabolic processes.
Improve the immune system
All coconut foods are rich in antioxidants. And as well know, a healthy dose of antioxidants will boost and strengthen our immune system. They protect us from the harmful effect of free radicals. The medical term is that coconut “reduce oxidative stress”.
By doing this, coconut effectively strengthens the defense of your body. Your body is now more than prepared and armed with assets to fight off illnesses and diseases. Some of the problems that oxidative stress causes include heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
Reduce risk of colon cancer
There was a time when high-fat diets were considered as a risk for colon cancer. And that is still true. However, coconut products are loaded with saturated fats, essential fatty acids that your body cannot produce on its own. There are several health benefits of consuming saturated fats, but the most important thing is they allow your body to use both forms of unsaturated fats.
With that, they reduce the risk of colon cancer. One explanation scientists give is that coconut products allow saturated fats to maintain intestinal barrier integrity.
Help you lose weight
Coconut also helps with losing weight. There is a link between diabetes and weight loss. And while coconut helps with both, the link here is a protein called adiponectin. Fatty tissue produces this protein. Once the protein is produced, it is then secreted into the bloodstream where the protein regulates some of the metabolic processes. Some of the processes include controlling glucose levels and fatty acid oxidation.
The level of adiponectin in the bloodstream is linked with the amount of body fat. That means the more of the protein you have, the lower your body fat content is.
But back to the coconut aminos benefits, they support production of adiponectin in the bloodstream.
Help with polycystic ovarian syndrome
Coconut products naturally treat polycystic ovarian syndrome. The reason is coconut affects your insulin resistance issues. They are common in patients with diabetes and patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome. Just for info, this syndrome is the No.1 cause of infertility in the United States.
Promote mental health
Coconut is also high in the protein inositol. This is the protein that has positive effect on people suffering from panic disorder, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and other mental conditions.
This protein has the same effect as SSRIs, and comes without the side effects.
