Unless other pathological factors are involved, being overweight comes from mainly three factors: - we eat too much , - we eat the wrong foods (lacking also in variety) , - we do not exercise enough (contribute to muscle tone and a trimmer, healthier body). Excess weight, however, is not just a question of physical appearance, it may hide a number of less visible problems, such as cholesterol clogging the arteries, stress on the heart through having to move that extra weight around and general lack of energy.

The world is full of people who have tried to lose weight at one time or another, for one reason or another. There are plenty of fad diets on offer, all promising high-speed weight loss. There are many problems, however, associated with fad or crash diets. One is that weight is often regained as soon the diet ends. This is because in most diets, the lean body mass is lost, not the fat. Diets are often uncomfortable to bear - constipation, a feeling of being constantly hungry, dizzy, etc., and so many people give up half-way. From a health point of view, however, there is a more serious problem - fad or crash diets tend to be as inadequate as what the overweight person was eating before.

The bottom line is the vital nutrients are not present in the quantity and proportion the body needs to function correctly. Adequate exercise is also necessary to help the metabolism to cope better with the stress.

Even as we lie down and stare at the ceiling, all kinds of activities are going on inside our bodies. Blood and oxygen are being pumped around, old cells are being destroyed and new ones are generated. The body temperature is being kept stable, a myriad of signals are being transmitted between the brain and the body. The latest meal is digested into substances, our body can utilize. Substances that cannot be used are either stored (fats) or passed for elimination. Whether the body will be able to perform all these and other functions correctly depends on the tools provided by the food we ingest.

Metabolism is the sum total of biochemical processes that make function the body. For the numerous metabolic processes, enzymes and other bio-substances are essential.

THE COMPOSITION OF SOYDIET®

The Soydiet is a supplement composed of mung bean sprout and oat bran providing complex of vitamins, minerals, fibers and a number of amino acids.

THE MUNG BEAN SPROUT ( Mung 21 ® )

Biochemistry: bean to bean sprout

The mung bean is well-known in the Orient as the "Golden grain". The plant uses energy from the sun more efficiently than the average plant to produce nutritive substances. These substances will concentrate in the bean that is a storehouse of energy and of biosubstances, a masterpiece of the mother plant in a dormant state. Over hundreds of years, modern scientific researchers have been fascinated with the process when seeds germinate, in other words, when they sprout. Sprouting requires special conditions and when these conditions are met, the bean will be transformed from the dormant state into an active, living state. All the elements of biological importance are present because reserve substances are metabolized to support life. Polysaccharides are transformed into simple sugars; proteins into amino acids; fats into fatty acids. Minerals are in liberated form and vitamins and enzymes multiply intensely. Some substances, such as vitamin C are actually produced by the new plant as they did not exist in the original bean. Certain substances increase in quantity (such as folic acid) compared to it's original weight.

Substances of particular importance for the human body

Just as the young sprout needs substances in bio-available form, so does the human body. The substances in the bean sprout, play an important role in the human body as well.

Let's list below some of the most important substances found in bean sprout:

Free amino acids - arginine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, phenylalanine and valine.

Numerous other amino acids are also present, although in smaller quantities.

Mung bean sprouts contain vitamins B1, B2, and B3, folic acid, C and E.

Sprouts are an excellent source of bio-available minerals and trace elements. Trace elements are present in a low concentration but play a crucial role with vitamins in enzyme functioning.

From sprouts to dehydrated concentrate

Sprouts are prepared from dry bean by soaking them in water. After draining off the water, the soaked beans are placed in a container in the dark for 2 to 7 days. A pound of dry beans yield 6 to 8 pounds of sprout with high water content (95%).

The resulting thick white fibers are dehydrated until humidity is less than 5%. The product is then milled to a fine powder.

While mung bean sprout would normally have a high bacterial count (several million), a special process ensures a low content of bacteria.

OAT BRAN

Recently, clinical investigations have led to the conclusion that heart and coronary diseases can be related to low fiber consumption. A high cholesterol level, a major cause of these diseases, occurs mainly due to unbalanced nutrition with low fiber content. In human blood, cholesterol is an essential constituent, a natural precursor for male and female hormones such as testosterone and estrogen. When the concentration of cholesterol rises too high, it causes arteriosclerosis or clogging the arteries.