Tofu, Good Food for People Living with Type 2 Diabetes

Tofu delivers high quality protein from a vegetable source, soy beans.  One half-cup serving of firm tofu, about 4 ounces or 1/3 of an average 14 ounces package, contains 10.1 grams of protein.   The recommended daily intake of protein is roughly 56 grams for men and 46 grams for women.

Here's how tofu stacks up against other protein sources.
     1/2 cup cow's milk contains 5.1 grams of protein
     one large egg contains 6 grams
     4 oz ground beef contains about 26 grams of protein


Tofu has few calories, 94 per serving.  Compare that to the 4 ounce hamburger patty with 331 calories; the egg, 70 calories; 1/2 cup of 2% milk has 60 calories: and 4 oz of cheese packs 320 calories.  You can think of it this way.  For every 100 calories, tofu gives you 11 grams of protein while ground beef gives you 8.9 grams of protein.  Meat has a little bit better fat to protein ratio than cheese.   100 calories worth of cheese is worth only 6.2 grams of protein.  The differences are in the fat.

Our one half-cup serving of firm tofu contains 5 grams of fat.  Low fat tofu is also commercially available, and contains 1.5 grams of fat per serving.  The fat in tofu is vegetable fat, soybean oil, and it is cholesterol-free.  Our 4 oz beef patty slams us with 15 grams of fat and 113 mg of cholesterol.
Another beautiful thing about tofu:  a half-cup serving of firm tofu contains about 227 mg of calcium or about 22% of the RDA.  Different brands and forms of tofu may have less.  Silken tofu contains approximately 133 mg, again depending on the brand.  Calcium is important for everyone.  For diabetics, it is essential for your body to make best use of blood glucose in your muscles