If you are looking for a nutritious, convenient snack to try as an alternative to less healthy snack foods, roasted soybeans may be worth considering. They are ready-to-eat and rich sources of protein and other essential nutrients. Roasted soybeans are high in calories, and they are healthiest when you eat them in moderation as part of an overall balanced diet.
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Each cup of roasted soybeans provides 68 g protein, or 136 percent of the daily value for protein. The protein from soy is a complete protein, which means that it contains each of the essential amino acids that you need to get from your diet. Protein helps to keep you feeling full because it slows the rate at which food empties from your stomach, so you are less hungry for the next meal.
Each cup of roasted soybeans has 44 g of total fat, with only 6 g of cholesterol-raising saturated fat. You may lower your cholesterol levels and risk for heart disease if you choose unsaturated fats instead of saturated fats in your diet, and roasted soybeans have almost 25 g of polyunsaturated fat and 10 g of monounsaturated fat. Essential fatty acids in soybeans include linoleic acid, an omega-6 fat, and alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fat. Like all plant-based foods, roasted soybeans are cholesterol-free.
Calories and Carbohydrates
Each cup of roasted soybeans weighs 172 g and has 810 calories. The soybeans have 58 g of total carbohydrates, and only 7 g of sugars. Dietary fiber comes from the parts of plant foods that your body cannot digest, and 1 cup of soybeans has 30 g of fiber, or 120 percent of the daily value. Fiber helps lower levels of cholesterol in your blood, and it has a laxative effect to reduce your risk for constipation.
Minerals and Vitamins
Roasted soybeans have 237 mg of calcium, or more than 20 percent of the daily value for calcium, per cup. They also have 7 mg of iron, or more than one-third of the daily value. They only have 7 mg of sodium, but roasted soybeans with salt have 280 mg of sodium per cup. They have 2,528 mg of potassium, or more than half the daily value. Soybeans have more than 10 percent of the daily value for magnesium, and more than 80 percent of the daily value for folate, which is an essential vitamin for preventing neural tube birth defects.