Is soy milk good before bed?

Soy milk before bed could help you sleep better at night. It’s packed with minerals and isoflavones, which have a beneficial effect on sleep quality.

Soy milk as a late night snack promotes weight loss

Soy milk and other soy products are good for weight loss. Due to its great nutritional value, soy milk can control appetite, increase metabolism, and improve body composition. Actually, soy milk is particularly rich in protein, minerals, and antioxidant compounds.

In addition, soy milk is pretty low in calories. In fact, it has fewer calories than cow’s milk. We lose weight only if we consume fewer calories than we burn.

Soy milk is a great plant-based alternative to cow’s milk

Many people drink a glass of cow’s milk before bed. Soy milk can be a great plant-based alternative.

Not only, soy milk has fewer calories than cow’s milk, but also, it’s particularly rich in calcium.

Furthermore, soy milk is much lower is saturated fats than cow’s milk. Actually, cow’s milk, dairy, and animal foods are the main sources of saturated fats.

However, we should consume them in moderation. According to the American Health Association, we shouldn’t consume more than 13 g of saturated fats a day. Higher amounts significantly increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.[1]

Just a glass of whole cow’s milk contains about 4.6 g of saturated fatty acids, or 35% of the upper recommended daily intake!

Soy milk before bed helps you sleep better at night

In addition, drinking a glass of soy milk before bed is good for you because soy milk is rich in compounds that can help us sleep better at night.

Minerals & vitamins

Above all, soy milk is packed with minerals. For instance, it’s a great dietary source of magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, potassium, and selenium.

Magnesium in soy has a beneficial effect on sleep onset latency, early morning awakening, snoring, sleep duration, and daytime falling asleep.[2,3]

High iron intakes may have beneficial effects on restless legs syndrome, general sleep disturbances, and sleep disordered breathing. Iron deficiency is associated with sleep disorders.[4]

Potassium and calcium may improve sleep quality as well. Potassium, magnesium, and calcium are essential for improved sleep.[7,8,9]

Also, selenium deficiency may lead to insomnia and sleep difficulty.[10]

In addition, soy milk vitamin B12 is usually fortified with vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 may improve sleep quality as well.[11]

Soy isoflavones

Moreover, soy is the richest food in isoflavones. These are powerful antioxidant compounds with many health benefits.

For instance, soy isoflavones may control glucose and insulin levels, support blood vessel health, reduce inflammations and the risk of cardiovascular heart disease, cancer, menopausal symptoms, and osteoporosis.[12,13,14]

In addition, soy isoflavones are positively associated with optimal sleep duration and quality. Therefore, drinking soy milk late at night may have a potentially beneficial effect on sleep status.[15]

Sugar

Furthermore, soy milk is pretty low in sugars. It contains fewer sugars than cow’s milk. Soy milk contains only 0.6 g of sugars per 100g, or about 1.4 g per glass.[16]

Hence, soy milk is keto-friendly. It’s a great ingredient for keto smoothies.

On the other hand, cow’s milk isn’t good for a ketogenic diet. It contains 4.8 g of sugars per 100g, or 12 g per glass.

Reducing sugar intake could be beneficial for a good night’s sleep.[17]

What’s the best time of the day to drink soy milk?

As soy milk is rich in protein, minerals, and antioxidants, we can drink it at any time of a day. Besides dinner, the best time to drink soy milk is at breakfast, or after exercise!

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