RD, My roommate wants to know if there really are any benefits to eating garlic. Also, I'm a soy type of guy. Are manboobs in my future?1. Yes, there are real benefits to garlic. While "white foods" are often shunned (white flour, baking potatoes, etc.) garlic and onion can unfortunately get lumped into this category too. But they are good. REAL good. They have cancer fighting properties among other things. If you do a lot of sauteeing, I would recommend not cooking garlic and onion first (as is often done), but rather throw them in last so you don't cook all the goodness out. Are you with me?
2. I don't think you will get manboobs from eating a lot of soy. I don't THINK. Research on soy is mixed with good and bad. But I usually turn to those cultures who eat A LOT of soy and rest assured if it was truly terrible, we would see clear evidence in those populations. No such evidence as far as I can tell. What I recommend, is doing it like they do, i.e., avoid super processed soy products as much as possible (soy sausage, soy burgers, soy ice cream, TVP products, etc.) and stick to tofu, tempeh, soybeans, even unsweetened soy milk. And get organic, not GMO-laden. That isn't to say you can never eat the crazy soy stuff, just don't make it a staple in your diet.
Also, try other alternatives like almond milk, rice cream, when possible. This is more because variety is always a good thing. Too much of one thing is not advisable in general.
Hope that helps. Good luck!
