When Cooking Light magazine sampled firm tofu brands for its 2010 Taste Test Awards, two organic products achieved top honors:

1. Melissa’s Organic took the grand prize for its “slight nuttiness” and “meaty consistency.”
2. Nasoya Organic placed second for its softer texture, which “still stands up to wok-browning.”

Los Angeles-based Melissa’s makes three types of organic tofu: Soft, Firm and Extra Firm.

And a longstanding belief about soy is that it’s bad, because eating too much of it lowers testosterone in men and has an estrogen-like effect.

Now, no guy wants to grow man boobs. So here’s some great news. A new report seems to disapprove the rumor.

Published ahead of printed in the journal Fertility and Sterility, researchers reviewed the findings of 15 studies and found despite the claims that soy lowers testosterone levels. Soy consumption had no significant effect on testosterone.

The scientists point out for some of the studies the amount of soy consumed exceeded that of a typical diet, such as the Japanese, which might explain the problem. No diet should be super heavy in just one food. Obviously, that might throw things out of whack!

It’s important to note. Compounds in soy—like isoflavones, mentioned in this research—have been linked to improved bone density in women and many other benefits. Soy is cool, very cool.

Via Food Navigator.