The Sunday Times Lifestyle reported on 11 November, 2001 that the people of Okinawa, an island off the coast of Japan, not only live very long lives, but are also extremely healthy. In addition, practically none of the women on Okinawa take hormone-replacement therapy.

Amongst other relevant things, they eat plenty of soya food, which are extremely rich in flavonoids, exceeding the levels in other plant foods by as much as 1000 times, powerful antioxidants, and have been proven to protect us from cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease. Soya foods are low in saturated fats and high in lecithin which aids in emulsifying and lowering of harmful cholesterol in the blood-stream. Soya foods may even protect us against breast and prostate cancer by virtue of their Diadzein and Genistein content.

All soya foods, including tofu (also known as soya paneer), tofuburgers, soyamilk and soyamilk powder are high in good quality plant protein, containing all 8 essential amino acids.

Deriving our protein from plant sources as opposed to animal sources is certainly the more ecologically-responsible route to follow. Environmental degradation as the result of animal farming is a serious threat to the future of our planet's health, and of course, our own health.

Appearing to be the ultimate "miracle food" of the modern era, a large number of soya foods have been conceptualised over the last 30 years, from margarine to baby foods and meat extenders to medicinal supplementation; the versatility seems inexhaustible. Whilst this has all come about through modern technology, it is interesting to juxtapose these modern foods against the age-old Eastern classics: tofu, soyamilk, miso, shoyu (soya sauce), tamari (wheat-free soya sauce) and tempeh.

Tofu was "invented" in China - perfected in Japan! Japan has twice as many tofu factories as the USA has bakeries - tofu is freshly made daily and widely consumed with relish. The manufacture of soya foods require very specific and well-defined criteria, in order to classify them as "super health foods":

• Beans need to be non-genetically modified (non-GMO), and ideally from organically-grown sources.
• All legumes high in protein like soya beans, chickpeas or mung beans need to have the trypsin inhibitor, understood to interfere with protein assimilation, deactivated. The traditional culinary arts have successfully deactivated this inhibitor: Sprouting, fermentation (miso, shoyu, tamari and tempeh - a staple food of Indonesia), using the coagulant "nigari" in the making of tofu and 5 minutes of airless cooking at a temperature slightly above 1000C for tofu and soyamilk.
• Phytic Acid chelates with some minerals: Calcium, Magnesium, Copper, Iron and Zinc, and thus renders them less absorbable. The unique coagulant, nigari (Magnesium and Calcium Chloride), used for tofu, compensates for this undesirable effect. Nigari is not a factory-made chemical, but a natural extract of sea salt. Traditional tofu dishes, like in Okinawa, have always included sea vegetables, which not only contribute savoury goodness, but also essential minerals, including Iodine.