Soy: 10 Reasons Why Not.
Posted on Feb 04 2011 by Liz Wolfe
I became aware of soy when sushi became "trendy." Because my Midwest roots preclude any enjoyment I could derive from raw seafood, I truly appreciated how easily I could choke down a Tuna Roll when it was doused in Soy Sauce.
Somehow, a condiment as ancestrally valued as Soy Sauce led me to believe any and all Soy Hype. I tried soy “peanut” butter, soy milk, and Tofurkey. While traditionally-prepared soy sauce, a fermented product that has been enjoyed by some cultures for centuries, is likely a fine dietary addition, what on earth led me to believe that modern, processed-soy garbage was equally permissible? Because both contained the word "soy," and one of them tasted good?
I was so oblivious to the puppetry imposed on me by profit-driven industries that I never once thought I was being sold a bill of goods. All soy is healthy, right? All soy is good, right?
Oh, so wrong. While, for some, soy sauce is well-tolerated, soy protein is an entirely different animal plant. We need easily-assimilated animal protein – in varying degrees based on the phase of life - but the fact remains that it comes with a biologically-appropriate amino acid profile that is utilized most efficiently by the body. Even traditional vegetarian cultures (Hindus, for example) used protein-filled animal products like raw dairy.
Soy: 10 Reasons Why Not.
1: The soy industry has worked tirelessly to discount the studies indicating that soy can have an estrogenic affect via its isoflavones, or phytoestrogens (plant-based estrogens). Don’t be fooled. Soy can lower testosterone levels in men. Monks regarded tofu as an aid to neutralizing sexual urges (3). Monsanto’s Genetically Modified soybeans were fed to cows who subsequently produced more milk, indicating a hormonal boost from these plant estrogens (6) and proving that soy is a potent hormone disregulator.
2: Tofu has been lauded as a large part of what made the Okinawans so healthy. But it’s now understood that items like lard, organ meats, pork and fish compose a large proportion of the Okinawan diet (4).
3: Soy has devastated many “cottage industries” worldwide, preventing land from being used for local, sustainable agriculture and demanding production for export instead. (6)
4: Soy is one of the most common dietary allergens. While this doesn’t make a product inherently bad, when you stack up the next two factors and consider the unnaturally high “hit” you get of them with modern soy consumption patterns, you’ve got a wellness mess on your hands. These factors are:
5: Protease/Trypsin inhibitors: These interfere with critical digestive enzymes, which can affect protein assimilation and cause pancreatic distress.
6: Phytates: In an individual with compromised gut flora (hint: this is almost everyone), these can bind with important minerals like Calcium, Magnesium and Zinc, keeping the body from utilizing them properly. While some phytates may have beneficial effects in certain pathologies, the volume of soy phytate does not bode well for digestion or health.
7: Soy is present in food that’s not actually food. Salad dressings are full of “partially hydrogenated soybean oil” and meat-replacement products like Tofurkey are made of soybeans, plasticisers like wheat gluten, and fragile, polyunsaturate-heavy canola oil. Soy protein extraction is a complicated, chemical-and-machine-intensive process that leaves virtually none of the original plant intact. This is the soy that appears in meat-replacement products and pet food. Soy Protein Isolate was originally approved only as a binder for cardboard boxes. (6)
8: Soy infant formula alone is devoid of usable calcium, Vitamin A, zinc, Vitamin K, and other nutrients available in breast milk. As a result, it is fortified with supplements from amino acids to vitamins & minerals because it does not contain these naturally. These additives do not mitigate the potential estrogen hit, nor do they make the formula readily assimilated by the body. (6) Soy formula may also have an adverse affect on the infant immune system. (7)
9: Soy can contribute to infertility in humans. (8)
10: The Chinese used soy as a soil nitrogen fixer for other crops, considering it inedible until about 2,500 years ago when they discovered that potent trypsin inhibitors and phytochemicals present in soybeans were disabled through fermentation. (1, 2) But we don’t ferment our Soy Milk soybeans. Soy Milk, Soy Joy bars, and edamame are not the same animal as miso, tempeh, and natto. No, Natto-at-all.
1: The Book of Miso: Food for Mankind
2: KeShun Liu. Soybeans: Chemistry, Technology, and Utilization
3: Sally Fallon and Mary Enig. The 3rd International Soy Symposium
4: Kazuhiko Taira. Take a Lesson from the People of Okinawa.
5: Kahn, EJ. “Staffs of Life V: The Future of the Planet.” The New Yorker 1985
6: Kaayla Daniel. The Whole Soy Story.
7: EJ Eastham. Food Intolerance and Infancy.
8: Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Potential Value of Plants as Sources of New Antifertility Agents.
Filed Under:
