What it your opinion about soy? There is so much conflicting information about soy foods, such as tofu,soy milk, miso, and more refined soy products such as soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein. Do you think soy is as healthy as some claim it is or is potentially "hazardous" to health as some others claim?|||The same as my opinion about aspartame, MSG, GMO, childhood vaccinations etc.: just because some people create a hype with unfounded horror stories doesn't mean these horror stories are true.
If there were any truth in what the horror hype says about soy, for instance all of Japan would be uninhabited by now because of all the infertility it is supposed to cause. And the extremely hyped positive health 'information' is equally unrealistic.
I'm with you. It's not a miracle product nor a health hazard, and it should be consumed like any other food: just don't overdo it.|||I've been having it for many many years and I'm fine, haven't had any health problems. I'm healthier eating more soy than when I ate dairy products. I tend to think it's scaremongering. It's no more unhealthy than meat and dairy, in any case... you can definitely find a lot of information on the health problems caused by both of those, including most of the major killer diseases like heart disease and diabetes, even osteoporosis. If soy has been linked to anything, it's not as bad as those.
If you want to be careful, then stick to fermented soy products, like tempeh and miso, also tofu I think is considered ok - their production process is said to get rid of the nasties. Most of the bad press is about the newer soy products like the textured vegetable protein etc. But I have that as well and live healthily.|||You will find lots of facts and research is cited regarding the health benefits of soy at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine website. Soy has been found to aid in the prevention of diseases common in the western world, and not common in Asian countries which have eaten soy on a daily basis for centuries.
The lies about soy have been started and perpetuated by the meat and dairy industry. Remember how viciously they went after Oprah when she simply stated that mad cow disease was enough to make a person think twice about eating a hamburger?
As with any food, soy is best when consumed closest to it's natural state, less processed is better. Fermented is good, such as already mentioned miso, tempeh, natto, also edamame, tofu, and soy sauce and soy milk are fine. I stick to organic soy whenever possible, as it is the only way to assure non GMO soy is used. In the US, GMO soy is not required to be labeled. Eat processed frankenfoods only occasionally, if ever.|||Gmo, unfermented soy is probably the worst soy out there on the market. However, I truly do not think that soy is bad, and the only people who have had adverse side affects are the ones who completely overdo it and consume a lot of the "bad" kind of it. Soy is in so many different things, regardless of whether or not you are a vegan or a vegetarian you are going to consume it in large amounts. I really don't eat that much soy, I put soy sauce on my rice, I eat tofu occasionally and other than the other products it might be in thats about as much as I consume. I think the omnivores in this section should stop being hypocrites and toting soy as some horrible, extremely bad for you kind of food when they get angry when we post studies done on how detrimental excessive meat consumption is on the human body.
Places like Japan have citizens who eat a lot of fresh, non processed soy and the women in Japan have astronomically lower rates of menopause than North American women, despite the fear mongering "estrogen" claims about soy made by some people on here.|||I don't see what the big deal is about this either. Asians have been eating it for so long, and some consume many products that contain soy in a day. Some people that write these articles barely know what they're talking about. One tried to say Asians only eat 7 grams of soy, and it's fermented. A couple Asians put that on blast and said they eat soy all the time, without any health problems. They love tofu. I also don't think it messed with fertility, sperm count, or causes early puberty. Asian countries are full of healthy people. Of course these articles are coming from Western cultures. I don't think we have the right to point out soy as being the problem, when there are probably other foods or additives that could be causing it.
@Daisy
Just because you don't like the way it taste, doesn't mean it's bad for you. F.Y.I Infants are supposed to drink HUMAN breast milk when they are babies, not cows milk. Cow milk is not for humans, especially growing babies and adults. I agree maybe soy in huge amounts is bad or you, but not the occasional tofu or something like that. I also doubt that soy causes those problems. Ever seen the population of China or Japan? They eat soy all the time, and they're not short of people. Did you ever do your research on what dairy, eggs, and meat caused problems overtime?|||I grew up eating it, and seeing people eat it every day in Malaysia. There, it's normal. Healthy hearty men, women and schoolkids eat it like they eat rice. No big deal. In China tofu is a food eaten for over 8000 years. They have a big population, I don't worry about it. Nor do I eat five lbs of it daily. It does have fat in it.|||I really don't know much about it. I just don't eat it. There are so many other foods to eat I don't see a reason for me to eat it.|||Well maybe it would be hazardous if you ate your weight in it every day, maybe....
Other than that I see nothing wrong with it when it comes to health.
I personally just do not like the taste.|||I am actually allergic to soy. So if that isn't negative I don't know what is. :)|||There is a lot of information on the web indicating soy is harmful, but most of it is biased and unreliable. Studies showing soy is harmful which are based on good science are few and far between. Do a search on google scholar or pub med and you'll see endless references indicating positive outcomes from soy consumption.
A good rule of thumb is to always check the part which says "author affiliations" in the scientific literature. A few times I've found things which I thought looked ok but they were funded by soy companies. I won't reference them because I wouldn't take research seriously if it was funded by an anti-soy group like the Weston A Price Foundation (same reason I never reference PCRM... I don't take research produced by the meat industry seriously so I must apply the same rule to the other side). The problem with funding associations is that these groups would rarely (if ever) allow something they funded to be published if it showed their product was harmful or reflected on them in a negative way. I have found some exceptions, such as this review which was (partly?) funded by a Korean food corp which manufactures soy products, but the abstract states that there is uncertainty regarding the potential negative effects of soy consumption on the human brain: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/art鈥?/a>
EDIT- see daisy's answer for a good example of hysterical anti-soy material on the web. 5 birth control pills per day? LOL. "Some people" can be regarded as an exceptionally reliable scientific source, knowing that daisy would never be dishonest or try and misinform us. Ahem...
The American Academy of Pediatrics say is that if cow's milk is not suitable for moral or health reasons then it is FINE to feed soy formula to your infants. They also address much of the anti-soy nonsense in d-girl's post:
"A recent study of the isoflavone genistein (ie the "oestrogen like chemicals" Daisy cryptically referred to) demonstrated adverse consequences of neonatal exposure in mice; however, feeding of soy formula (and not individual components) has not demonstrated these adverse effects in animals."
"Setchell and Cassidy estimated that the amount of isoflavones ingested by infants fed soy-based formulas on a body weight basis exceeded those reported to increase the length of the menstrual cycle in adult women. However, an increased incidence of feminization in male infants or an increased incidence of hypospadias in high soy consuming populations have not been observed. Even in infants fed soy-based formulas exclusively, the sulfate and glucuronide conjugates of phytoestrogens are identified in plasma, although both of these are rapidly excreted."
"In summary, although studied by numerous investigators in various species, there is no conclusive evidence from animal, adult human, or infant populations that dietary soy isoflavones may adversely affect human development, reproduction, or endocrine function." - Bhatia and Greer et al. (2008). Use of Soy Protein-Based Formulas in Infant Feeding. Pediatrics Vol. 121 No. 5 pp. 1062 -1068 http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi鈥?/a>
So, I could have told you they said it was all good, but isn't it much more convincing to read their own words yourself? But as far as the science indicates, there seems to be a much higher risk of death or injury from having a satellite drop from the sky and crush you than from eating soy.|||I've heard unfermented soy is toxic?
My friend says asians have been eating it for years, butchew could say the same thing about meat!
People have been eating that for millenia and somehow we all survived...
What i don't like; is how and where they grow it, and get it to you, it's not exactly environmentally friendly
First native flora and fauna are displaced by multinationals cutting into the forests to grow soya beans.
Then there is the run off from the herbicides and pesticides they use.
These crops are Genetically modified and can withstand the above mentioned chemicals and flourish, not so the adjacent sea, land and rivers, wildlife and humans. These chemicals are retained and passed onto the consumer.
They use child labour slave labour and the workers are employed in conditions that.
wood not be tolerated in a developed country.
The Soya is harvested with heavy machinery, which needs to be transported there.
The raw crop needs to be transported for processing, and the processed goods have to be distributed.
That blob of tofu could have come 1/2 way around the world, in ships, trucks and trains, spewing out pollutants and hyrdocarbons every step of the way...
So tell me again; what;s so healthy about it?|||I think soy is a dangerous food. I don't knowingly buy soy. It's the first ingredient in the mayo I use, it's in the bread on my counter top, it's in the mix for the cake I made yesterday. So even if I wanted to avoid soy, it's practically impossible.
Miso is fermented, so is some tofu. Asians have been eating fermented soy for a very long time. It's the unfermented stuff that seems to cause problems, not to mention the GMO stuff that's on the shelves now.
I'd agree that some soy is probably fine. But if a teenager has soy cereal w/soy milk and a couple of soy sausages for breakfast, a soy burger and a soy shake for lunch, then mixes up some soy protein powder after track, goes home for a tofu stirfry and some soy ice cream....... That's what's happening today. Growing teenagers are much more at risk for damage than an adult. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has recommended cows milk formula (not whole milk) over soy formula for infants....in part because of the estrogen like chemicals in soy. Some people claim infants are getting the equivalent of five birth control pills every day when they are raised on soy formula.
We know men who ate just one serving of soy a day had lower sperm count than men who ate no soy: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?i鈥?/a>
We know soy can affect women's menstrual cycles:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/106018鈥?/a>
This is a mature, adult man and he was definitely affected by soy consumption: http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/soys鈥?/a>
I don't doubt some people are more sensitive to soy than others. Maybe this guy's problems are a rare happening. But it's a 100% for him. He's lost his sexual identity. Not just his ability to have sex, but the desire to have sex. With all the options available, why anyone would take the chance on eating soy is a mystery to me. Besides the fact it tastes terrible, IMO.
No comments:
Post a Comment