"Soy Worth a Hill of Beans?"
For over a decade, soy foods have enjoyed the rare privilege of an FDA-approved food label health claim about soy's ability to protect against heart disease.
Now a billion dollar industry, they have a lot of money to fund research touting the benefits of their bean.
And although there is also a U.S. Dry Bean Council representing all the other beans, I think you can get a sense just by comparing their websites, who may have more money to spread around.
So, though you may not soon see ads on TV with anyone exclaiming they are gonzo for garbanzos, there was a study out of Tulane (University) recently that looked at the cholesterol-lowering power of non-soy legumes.
You know, there are all sorts of beans out there. Which did better to lower the number one risk factor, LDL cholesterol, of our number one killer, heart disease: soybeans or non-soybeans?
Soy consumption drops bad cholesterol on average, about four points. Other beans - lentil, lima, navy, pinto, etc. - drop bad cholesterol eight.
Though it's illegal for, say, a baked-bean manufacturer to make health claims on their label, soy isn't special in that regard. All beans are beautiful, and in this case, beat out soy 2 to 1.