By Jennifer Rigg

Activities editor

For all those students sluggishly going about their school routines after returning from spring break paradise, soy foods may give the boost needed to get through the days until summer approaches.

Lynn Sieck, a graduate assistant for the Nutrition Education Resource and Referral Center, said that foods made with soy may provide the protein students need to get back on their feet.

Tonight at 7 p.m. in Klehm Hall Room 206, Julie Dostal from the Illinois Soybean Association will be speaking on the benefits of soy foods and showing students how to prepare soy meals. The workshop is co-sponsored by the Nutrition Education Resource and Referral Center, the Health Education Resource Center and the school of family and consumer sciences.

“The workshop is hands-on and it’s free,” Sieck said. “Students will actually be cooking and they will experience the different types of soy foods.”

Foods that Dostal will show students how to prepare from soy include salisbury steak, tacos, peanut butter cookies, bread, milk and lunch meats, Sieck said.

Incorporating soy into daily diets can result in a lower risk of heart disease, Sieck said. Soy foods also can reduce the risk of breast cancer in women and it can also lessen menopausal symptoms.

Soy has also been shown to lower the risk of all types of cancer. “(Soy foods) are also a great source of protein in general and also for those who are vegetarians,” Sieck said.

She said that she hopes the students who attend the workshop learn how to make non-meat choices in their diets to help increase their health and she hopes they will become aware of how many different soy products are out there.

“I hope that students can learn how to incorporate (soy foods) into their diets,” Sieck said.